The Tailor of Gloucester: A Retelling for Curious Readers

A look inside

The opening of The Tailor of Gloucester: A Retelling for Curious Readers, free to read.

1. 

   Snip, snip, snip! Long ago, that sound drifted out of a little shop window on Westgate Street, in the old city of Gloucester. Gentlemen with swords and curly wigs strolled by outside. Inside, perched with his legs crossed on top of a wide table, a tailor sewed from dawn until dark. His shining silks and satins had strange names and cost a fortune.

2. 

   The tailor held a snippet of silk up to the light and chuckled. “Too narrow breadths for nought—except waistcoats for mice,” he said. He meant that such a tiny scrap could only make a vest for a mouse. He never wasted a thread. He could not afford to! His customers wore silk, but his own coat was patched, his fingers were stiff and bent, and his spectacles were old.

3. 

   In the frosty days before Christmas, the tailor started a very special coat. It was for the Mayor of Gloucester, the most important man in town. The coat would be cherry-colored silk, with pansies and roses stitched across it, and the waistcoat cream satin. As he snipped, he muttered, “Tippets for mice and ribbons for mobs!” Tippets are little capes, and mobs are frilly caps.