Suresh Singh’s Tank Top
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Suresh Singh has been wearing this tank top since 1973
Suresh Singh, author of A MODEST LIVING: MEMOIRS OF A COCKNEY SIKH, is giving a lecture at the Hanbury Hall this Tuesday 4th April at 6:00pm as part of the Spitalfields Series.
Perhaps everyone has a favourite piece of clothing they have worn for years? I always admired Suresh Singh’s jazzy tank top and I was astonished when he told me he has been wearing it for half a century.
Suresh’s father Joginder Singh came to London from the Punjab in 1949 and the Singh family have lived at 38 Princelet St longer than any other family in Spitalfields.
In our age of disposable fashion, the story of Suresh’s treasured tank top is an inspiring example of how a well made garment can be cherished for a lifetime.
“My mum made this tank top for me in 1973 when I was eleven. She had friends who all knitted and they had bits of wool left over – what you would call ‘cabbage’ – so mum collected all these balls of different coloured wool. Otherwise, they would have been chucked away. She kept them in her carrier bag with her needles that she bought at Woolworths in Aldgate East. They were number ten needles.
Mum said to me, ‘Suresh, I’m going to knit you a tank top.’ I never asked her because dad had taught me that I should always be patient, but I think mum saw the twinkle in my eyes and she knew I wanted one. I had asthma, so it was to keep my chest warm. She knitted it over the winter, from November to January. Mum never had the spare time to spend all day long knitting, she had to do it in bits as she went along and keep putting it away.
Mum did not follow a pattern, she just looked at me and sometimes took measurements. It started getting really huge, so I said, ‘Mum, it’s going to be too big.’ She had a sense of scale, she did not draw round me and cut a pattern. Mum never did that. She replied, ‘You’ll grow into it.’ The idea was you would slowly grow into new clothes.
When my tank top was finished, it hung down to my knees and the armholes were at my waist, but Mum was adamant I would grow into it. I loved it because it was all the rainbow colours. There was red, then yellow, then black, then pink and that really beautiful green. It was so outrageous. No other Punjabi kid had one like it. They all wore Marks & Spencer or John Collier grey nylon jumpers, but I had this piece of art. To me, it was a masterpiece. It was so beautifully made, it was mum’s pride and joy. When I wore it, people would exclaim, ‘That tank top, mate, it’s classic!’ I would say, ‘Yeah, my mum made it.’ Sometimes, because it was too big, I could pull it up and tie it in a knot at the front.
Mum made it with such love that I have always kept it. Eventually, my children wore it, but I am claiming it these days. It is a one-off. What made the tank top special for mum was that she was making it for her son. People often say it is a work of art but mum never went to art school. She picked up the tradition of making something for your child. She put so much love into it and I wear it today and it is still really nice. It gives me comfort and it keeps my chest warm.
It has got swag, you know what I mean?
It fits me now.”
Suresh and his mum at 38 Princelet St
Suresh Singh aged four
Suresh Singh & Jagir Kaur at 38 Princelet St (Photograph by Patricia Niven)
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Truly a lovely picture of Suresh and his tsnk top on a grey miserable day.
What a magnificent tank top! Really splendid! I love it.
Lucky Suresh. Made with love and so colourful and joyful. My mum, and indeed most mums, knitted our jumpers all those years ago. How fortuitous that it turned out oversized and can still be worn boy and man ?
A beautiful photograph of a Mum lovingly holding her little one. Suresh’s sense of being safely enveloped in his Mum’s arms is conveyed by his ‘in the moment’ bright eyed curiosity looking out at the camera.
Wonderful story! It made me laugh as it brought back a memory.
When I was about 12, my mother got ambitious and wanted to knit me a sweater. It was a of mohair, I think, and in brown, cream and black tiger stripe. It was very warm and I was proud of it – at first. However, I had the opposite problem to Mr. Singh. The sweater grew out of me! The loose knit kept getting looser until it was halfway down to my knees and the sleeves dangled six inches below my fingers. It was unwearable. It was years before I had the heart to discard the sweater, as it was the only thing my mother ever knitted.
What a lovely story.
Looking forward to Tuesday 4th at Hanbury Hall x
I love this, the tank top is the same age as me!
An amazing technicolour dream tank top! I love clothes with a history and, of course, we should be living sustainability and holding onto them too. Thank you Suresh and the GA.
I want one!
I love the story of Suresh’s tank top, it cheers me up every time I read it, as do the colours. What a lovely mum to have knitted it, and what a lovely son who still wears it with pride.
Knitted with Love.
That’s wonderful – I still have all of the vests and sweaters my mom knitted me. Some the moths have gotten to, but I still have them tucked away. I still wear the scarves she made.