English Designer Menswear – Jermyn Street Sales – Part 2
Here is my second post on the Jermyn Street January sales. As I recounted in Part 1, Jermyn Street is an epicentre of English style. Traditionally Englishmen buy their suits in Savile Row and their shirts and accessories in Jermyn Street. I go to the Jermyn Street January sale because there are some superb bargains to be had.
Just as in Part 1, this is a report on the brands and stores I recently visited. This is not a comprehensive guide to menswear stores in Jermyn Street, I hope to produce that at a later date. As with Part 1, my apologies to those great brands and stores I did not get to write about.
The brands I am writing about in Part 2 are:
Full disclosure, I really like Foster’s shoes, in fact I like everything they make. Traditional shoemakers and leatherworkers, they have been in business for over 250 years. Fosters make bespoke and ready-to-wear footwear that is superb. The shop is an experience in itself, permeated with the smell of good leather and polish, and hung around with every kind of beautiful thing you can make from leather.
Shoes are classic styles, oxfords, brogues, townboots and casual shoes. There are some very fine handcrafted brogues in the sale at excellent bargain prices. There are also reductions on some of the leather goods they sell. Amongst other things Foster make and sell superb wallets, leather document wallets and briefcases which are distinctive and of course beautifully made. Like the other footwear shops here, their sales stock goes quickly and now is the time to pick up a bargain.
Fosters still offer many of the traditional shoemaker services. They will repair quality shoes and they will re-create a pair of shoes based on the originals or on your designs. London needs more stores with this type of craftsmanship.
Below is a picture of Foster’s shop window. I liked the brown-red town boot almost in the centre of the picture. It exemplifies the fine British craftsmanship which can give Italian shoemakers a run for their money.
The sale continues until the end of January 2008
Foster & Son, 83, Jermyn Street, St James’s London SW1Y 6JD England
Tel: 44 (0)207 930 3803
These gentlemen produce classic English clothes that one can recognise a mile off. Their shop is full of fine shirts in two-fold cotton, classic English suits with the traditional tight-waisted, square-shouldered silhouette and heavy overcoats in tweed and scottish wool. Their sales are always excellent value and at the moment their shirts are selling at bargain prices, as are their suits.
Once again my apologies for the quality of my picture, as it does not do the clothes justice. To take one example, the gray suit in the far right of the picture is a work of art. It is a slim-cut, (English cut) suit, in a charcoal glen-plaid wool. A thing of beauty and in the sale.
The sale continues until the end of January 2008.
Harvie and Hudson, 77 Jermyn Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6NP England
Tel: 44 (0)207 930 3949
Like Dunhill, Daks are another brand who have revamped themselves in recent years with better designers, more exciting clothes and the recreation of an integrated Daks look. Though I did not have a lot of time to spend here, I thought that Daks clothes are attractive, with classic English styles (sports jackets, casual trousers) married up to bright luxurious fabrics. The overall look is kind of Anglo-Italian, light and sporty in the broadest sense. They seem to be targeting the man in his thirties and they have clearly focussed on the smart-casual market. I liked the knitwear here, which was adventurous and really well-priced (in the sale). In fact the discounting here seemed to be particularly competitive.
The shop is attractive and easy to be in, the staff are friendly and the atmosphere unpressured. I look forward to visiting this store again and understanding the brand better.
The sale continues until the end of January 2008.
Daks, 101 Jermyn Street, St James’s, London, SW1y 6EE England
Tel: 44 (0)207 839 9980
Charles Tyrwhitt sell very competitively priced mens dress shirts, mainly serving the office worker market. Like their competitors T.M. Lewin, they produce respectable shirts and they do this by keeping their costs of production down and by sourcing their cloth as cheaply as possible. They also make leather shoes in classic styles, once again with the emphasis on competitive pricing. On the day I was there the sale was doing big business and the store was very crowded. This brand has stores across London and a strong mail order and internet sales service.
Charles Tyrwhitt, 92 Jermyn Street, St James’s, London, SW1Y 6JB England
Tel: 44 (0)207 839 7272
John Bray
Now this is a funny juxtaposition. John Bray are situated opposite Dunhill’s stylish flagship store. It’s funny because John Bray have a nasty 70′s (earlier?) storefront that is as tired as it is ugly.
However those of you who are in on the secret will know that John Bray is an Aladdin’s cave of fine menswear designed by Bray and sourced from the finest italian mills and design houses. In Bray’s mini-warehouse of a shop handcrafted suits made from superfine italian wools fight for space with knitwear woven for Bray by Ermangildo Zegna. Their own brand shirts are high quality, made in Italy and very competitively priced.
Add to this the fact that the staff here are the Jedi Knights of menswear retail and have forgotten more about style than you know. If you shop here, listen to them and let them help you.
The sale is on until the end of January and there are superb bargains to be had, especially the handcrafted suits. Make the most of your money and make a killing here.
John Bray, 78-79 Jermyn Street, St James’s London SW1y 6NP England
Tel: 44 (0)207 839 6716
Piccadilly Arcade
Piccadilly Arcade is a small arcade of shops situated two-thirds of the way down Jermyn Street. The arcade cuts directly north and connects Jermyn Street with Piccadilly, one block to the north. The arcade was built in the 1860′s and is simply two rows of beautiful little shops engineered out of glass and brass fittings. From Victorian times, this arcade and others like it were the places that wealthy folk from all over England went to shop for high-class goods. There are a number of tailors still working in the arcade and I have written about two of them below.
Situated halfway along the arcade on the eastern side, these distinguished tailors (they have a royal warrant, by appointment to Prince Charles) make shirts, ties cufflinks and bespoke shirts and suits. They also produce heraldic shields and buttons. Apart from anything else this makes them interesting chaps to talk to while you buy your shirts.
Here I saw one of the best bargains of the day, Benson and Clegg dress shirts, made in England of excellent cotton, for £40.00. If I had to pick the best bargain in the sales this would be it.
Benson and Clegg, 9 Piccadilly Arcade, Jermyn Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6NH England
Tel: 44 (0)207 409 2053
Budd
Budd are also in the arcade on the eastern side towards Piccadilly. They also make classic dress shirts. Their styles are quite distinctive, for example they have an English long-point collar style of shirt. These shirts have a long collar which comes to an acute point, yet they are cut to accomdodate a tie and be worn as an office shirt. They are strongly reminiscent of a 1940′s RAF collar, very striking with the right combination of suit and tie. These and other styles are in the sale and their prices are as keen as those of Benson and Clegg.
They also sell Webster Brothers ties, a brand that was prominent in the City, London’s financial district, up until the early 90s. Webster Brothers had a range of ties designed around animal motifs and woven in a rich heavy silk. I believe Budd still sell some of those. They also have a bespoke shirt making service.
Budd, 1a&3 Piccadilly Arcade, St James’s, London SW1Y 6NH England
Tel: 44 (0)207 493 0139
One of the most famous and venerable of the English tailors, New and Lingwood are always surprisingly daring in the design of their shirts. Back in the days when big checks and bold stripes were fashionable, New and Lingwood produced some of the best of their kind.
Now they have some really good looking dog-tooth check shirts in pastel colours, a very clever variation on a classic English pattern. Similarly they have some tattersall check shirts which are a nod to the old pattern but updated for the modern man. Very clever and stylish stuff. Add to this some good knitwear and ties and you can put together a modern but distinctly British look from these chaps.
They do of course offer a bespoke service.
New and Lingwood, 53 Jermyn Street, St James’s London, SW1Y 6LX
Tel: 44 (0)207 493 9621
Pink are the favourite shirtmakers of workers in London’s financial sector. In terms of quality they sit in the middle of the retail ready-to-wear market. They produce very well-made shirts in good-quality cloth in deep rich colours and good finishing. I particularly like their cotton twill shirts, which are enduring and retain their colour and shape even after many washes and wears. They become soft and comfortable, whilst retaining their wearability as a business shirt. With a little care, these shirts retain their finish and can last for years.
I also like their designer collections, which are short runs of shirts launched and sold several times a year. Because Pink are able to make a smaller investment in these collections, they are able to be more adventurous in their designs and colour combinations. So you can get some very individual and sophisticated shirts this way. However one needs to be quick. These collections sell quickly and I have missed the boat several times by not buying a shirt on first sight.
Thomas pink have a large shop in Jermyn Street and it always does good business in the sale, which is on until the end of January 2008.
Thomas Pink, 85 Jermyn Street, St James’s, London, SW1Y 6JD
Tel: 44 (0)207 930 6364
Jermyn Street is always worth a visit, there are shirtmakers and shoemakers here for every taste and pocket. If you are thinking of changing your style or revamping your wardrobe, this is the place to browse, all the menaswear you could want in one short streeet. Jermyn Street is shopping with elegance, for men who know about style. If you have any comments or questions feel free to post them and I will do my best to answer them.
As I mentioned in Part 1, there is a Jermyn Street Association which provides information about events and celebrations and has a guide to some of the other interesting stores in and around Jermyn Street. Details are here.
Copyright © 2008 What Makes a Man. All Rights Reserved
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