Meet Peter Batty: The Master Behind the Perfect Shirt
Step inside Pascalis on a Wednesday and you might notice something new about the place: You’ll be able to speak to and benefit from the skills and expertise of none other than Peter Batty — a master craftsman whose career in making the perfect shirt spans more than six decades.
Peter is not one for fanfare. He simply comes in, rolls up his sleeves, and gets to work, just as he has done for most of his life. But to those who know the art of fine tailoring, his presence is something of a quiet marvel. He has a true encyclopedia’s worth of knowledge around fabrics, fits, and when you’ve been making shirts for over 60 years, as Peter has, you just know what works.
A Life in Cloth
Peter’s story begins long before signing up for weekly visits to Pascalis. His career took shape in an era when shirtmaking was still considered an apprenticeship craft, and one that required patience, precision, and a deep understanding of the human form. Before joining Pascalis, he helmed a company called XXXX, which supplied finely made garments to major retailers across Australia and the United States. His shirts were known for their structure and elegance, worn by customers who appreciated both form and function.
“I made a lot of garments for the American market,” Peter recalls. “They were very particular — but I liked that. You learn something new with every collar, every cuff, every client.”
Those years refined his instincts for what separates a good shirt from a great one: balance, drape, and the subtle relationship between cloth and skin. It’s that instinct that he now brings to Pascalis each Wednesday.
Already, clients are dropping by mid-week just to see him work — to watch how he folds, measures, and adjusts patterns by eye. There’s something deeply reassuring in seeing a craftsperson who knows the rules well enough to know when to follow them and when to bend them. When Peter discusses a fabric’s handfeel or recommends a particular weave for summer shirts, his advice comes from experience that can’t be learned from books.
Over sixty years, he’s witnessed the evolution of men’s fashion — from stiff business shirts of the 1960s to today’s softer, more versatile tailoring. Yet he remains grounded in the belief that style begins with fit.
“You can have the best fabric in the world,” he says, “but if it doesn’t sit right on the shoulders, you’ve missed the mark.”
Craft in the Age of Convenience
In an age when fast fashion dominates and custom tailoring risks becoming a lost art, Peter represents something rare: a living link to the discipline and detail that define true craftsmanship. He remembers when every customer had a name, not a number, and every shirt told a story — of its maker and its wearer.
At Pascalis, that spirit endures. Each shirt is still individually cut, stitched, and pressed with care, guided by an ethos that values durability over disposability. The collaboration between Pascalis and Peter has strengthened that tradition, merging new techniques with time-tested precision.
Essentially, Peter reminds us why we do what we do. He’s part of a generation that built garments to last — not just physically, but in style. That’s what our clients come here for.
