Kent Wilkinson is closing his clothing shop, which has been in business for 92 years in Ottawa.
After 92 years of dressing Canada’s prime ministers, Governors General and television news anchors, Centretown tailor G.L. Myles is closing its doors.
Changes in fashion and technology have put the art of suit-making on the brink of extinction, says current owner, Kent Wilkinson, who bought the business back in 1978.
“People are down dressing and it takes you three days to make a suit if you’re not automated,” says Wilkinson.
“Probably nine out of 10 people don’t need a hand-made suit anymore. People with normal shoulders and the normal stance are usually very easy fits.”
These days, Wilkinson is busy packing up what remains of his store.
There’s not much left now; just a neatly folded pile of leftover fabric and a dozen or so boxes by the front door, waiting to be taken away.
The deserted clothing racks and barren shelves show the skeleton of a business that has dressed the city of Ottawa for almost 100 years.
In its nearly century long history, G.L. Myles has made more than just suits.
The company was responsible for manufacturing army fatigues during war times.
Today, Myles still makes the gown worn by the Speaker of the House of Commons and many other government uniforms.
In his decades of experience, Wilkinson, 67, has also dressed several of Canada’s prime ministers. He says that of the lot, the best dressed were John Diefenbaker and Lester B. Pearson, whose bowties hold iconic status in Canadian history.
Wilkinson says his most stylish customer was former CBC anchor, Don Newman.
“Don has the right figure to wear clothes and he has his own ideology of what he wants in a cut and colour,” says Wilkinson.
Newman’s first encounter with Wilkinson was quite by chance. An invitation to the presentation of the Nobel Prizes in Sweden called for a white tie dress code.
“The only people I had ever seen wear a white tie in Ottawa played in the symphony at the National Arts Centre,” recalls Newman.
“I knew that Myles made clothes so I went down to see Kent. That was the first thing I had made there and subsequently whenever I needed a suit I went to him. It’s really too bad he’s retiring.”
Wilkinson isn’t quite retiring.
Aside from some of the financial troubles G.L. Myles has faced in recent years, the veteran haberdasher is also battling multiple myeloma, a strain of bone marrow cancer.
In light of the store’s closing, Wilkinson has received an outpouring of support and best wishes from customers who have been coming to him for years.
He says he gets phone calls and emails daily and one particularly loyal 92-year-old patron travelled on foot to deliver a 15-year-old bottle of scotch to thank him for the years of service.
Michel Liberty, who has been dressing the windows of G.L. Myles for the past 14 years, says that the support has been overwhelming.
“People from 17 to 95 have been coming in expressing their regrets that the store is closing,” says Liberty.
“Through the years he’s made a good following and many friendships and everybody from all the lawyers in town, to many politicians have come to wish Kent good luck.”
Following the store’s closure at the end of the month, Wilkinson says he’ll take six to eight months off to focus on his health.
Although he doesn’t plan on opening another store, he hasn’t ruled out a return to the trade.
“Maybe I’ll resurface to help somebody else out,” says Wilkinson.
“I’m in my 43rd year of selling clothing and I don’t want to quit."