Peaky Blinders: Tommy Shelby's herringbone three-piece

Few television shows have sent as many men to a tailor with a photo on their phone as Peaky Blinders. Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby made the tweed three-piece, the collar buttoned to the throat and the flat cap into a look that has outlived the show itself.

It is worth understanding, because most copies of it get the important parts wrong.

The suit

The costume designer for the first series was Stephanie Collie, and Tommy’s suits were tailored by Keith Watson of Savile Row, cut close to Murphy’s lean frame.

• The cloth is tweed, usually a herringbone: in the first series a grey striped herringbone that serves as his main suit, and later charcoal herringbone.
• The jacket is single-breasted with two buttons and notch lapels, a welted breast pocket and straight flapped hip pockets.
• The waistcoat is single-breasted with six buttons and a notched bottom, and it is nearly always worn.
• The shirt is buttoned to the neck with a stiff white club collar, the rounded-point collar of the period.

Why it works

Tweed is armour. A heavy woven wool with texture looks tough and warm, which is exactly the point for a Birmingham gangster in 1919, and it is exactly why tweed works in a Toronto January too.

The three-piece closes everything up. Jacket, waistcoat, collar buttoned to the neck: there is no gap anywhere. Tommy looks contained, controlled and in charge, which is what the character is.

The fit is lean. It is a close, period cut on a slim man. That is the part most copies miss: the look depends on the suit being cut to the wearer, not on the herringbone.

Wearing it today

1. Keep the herringbone three-piece. It is a fine winter suit in its own right, in charcoal, brown or grey.
2. The club collar is the clever detail. A rounded collar is unusual now and looks deliberate, with or without a tie.
3. Drop the cap unless you mean it. A flat cap with a full three-piece in 2026 reads as fancy dress. The suit alone reads as a man who likes good cloth.
4. Wear it in the season it belongs to. Tweed is for October to March. Fabric for a Toronto winter covers the weights.

Getting it made

Sam makes three-piece suits and jackets in herringbone at the Vaughan studio in three to four weeks. Sketch Tommy’s charcoal herringbone three-piece with the collar open: draw the Shelby suit. The sketch draws a five-button waistcoat; ask for six at the first appointment, and for the club collar on the shirt. Custom shirts cover the collar.

Where the details come from: BAMF Style on the grey striped herringbone and on the charcoal herringbone.