Frederick Scholte

Friedrich "Frederick" Petrus Scholte (19 July 1865 – 2 December 1948) was a Dutch-born British tailor known for the drape suit, a cut he introduced in the 1930s while a master tailor on London's Savile Row. He was considered a pioneer in 20th-century menswear as tailor to fashion icon Edward VIII from 1919–1948.

Early life

Scholte was born in Amsterdam to Johann Friedrich Scholte, who was of paternal German descent, and Johanna Cornelia Jacoba van Klaveren. He emigrated to London in the 1880s. Viscount Ridley sponsored his naturalisation process in 1899.

Career Scholte operated his own tailoring house on Savile Row in Mayfair, London. He served as an apprentice tailor to the Household Cavalry and adapted three characteristics of their military uniform into: wide shoulders, roomy armholes, and narrow waists.

In 1917, Tailor & Cutter magazine praised the outstanding craftsmanship of Scholte's tailoring at his shop on Savile Row, which overlooked Henry Poole & Co.:

Scholte invented the drape suit for Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII and the Duke of Windsor). Scholte was the duke's principal tailor from 1919 until his own death in 1948. The looser, draped cut was in contrast to the tighter, more restrictive clothing of the Victorian era, and proved extremely influential in 20th-century men's fashion. It created a "revolution" in men's fashion.

Several of the Duke of Windsor's jackets made by Scholte are in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of New York's Costume Institute.

Personal life

In 1888, Scholte married Emma Lewellen, with whom he had four children. His two elder sons served in the First World War. Lt.-Col. Lewellen Friedrich Scholte (1890–1984) was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1919 New Year Honours. Capt. Owen Scholte (1896–1918) earned the Military Cross as a flying ace.

Scholte died in 1948 at Holloway Sanatorium (that year converted into an NHS hospital) in Virginia Water, Surrey.