The London Lounge

I have a friend who lived in London working as a Director for their tram system, and he told he that he went to Savile Row, and was turned away by armed guards without entrance to one of the stores. Is this true, are there armed guards at the Row, who tell people that they have no business in those stores?

I have never, ever, seen an armed guard on Savile Row, in front of any shop. Nor have I heard any anecdote about business being turned away that does not date from before WWII.

Yes, I suppose that it could be true if your friend was pretty poorly dressed but otherwise, I didn't think that the guards were armed in Savile Row.

Do you have any more details of the incident, or were there any particular extenuating circumstances, because I for one don't want to run into that kind of treatment in future if I go to England.

Sounds like a bit of hyperbole to me. I've run into less than charming SR shops-- probably the ones where they have work to do and don't need to entertain American tourists-- but even if I wasn't dressed well I was never molested. Pretending to shop for ties while I looked around might have helped.

Actually, the only really rude treatment I have ever had in a London shop was at New & Lingwood nearly 20 years ago. I dropped in to be measured for shirts after a redeye, and had the misfortune of running into an elderly salesman who wasn't thrilled to see me. I did get measured, but he obviously wasn't happy about it. I never did find out exactly what the problem was. No appointment might have been the problem, perhaps, but they must have been used to walk-ins even then.

Is it possible that there was a head of state being fitted inside while his secret service exercised their lack of tact at the door?

Sorry but this sounds like absolute tosh.

None of the tailors on Savile Row have security guards.

The only circumstance one can imagine is a customer bringing his own bodyguards but I find it hard to believe they would bear arms. It is frowned upon over here

Anonymous wrote:Actually, the only really rude treatment I have ever had in a London shop was at New & Lingwood nearly 20 years ago.

That is par for the course at New & Lingwood. That is why I refuse to shop there despite the apparent quality of their shirt making.

Honestly, if there are style police in SR, turning people away, who wants any part of that?.

And who wants to be treated like a colonial POS at NL?!

Frankly, if this is the atmosphere today on SR, it's best to wait for the SR to come to the States to see them.

Ofcourse, this could have all been a misunderstanding as an armed pesonal body guard could have been mistaken for an employee of the shop. Bodyguards are now de riguer in London for rich foreigners.

I'd be interested to know what shop that was and what time it was.

This does occasionally happen. Deoends who might be inside the shop being fitted for a suit.

A number of years ago Burstow and I were recommended by harvie & Hudson to Crown Prince Hassan of Jordan. The first we new of it was when two men walked into our shop and, withouht a single word of acknowledgement, opened every door and looked behind every curtain. Despite cries from me and Burstow they simply ignored us. One thenw ent out and in trotted the prince. One stood by at all times to make sure we did nothing untoward while the other stayed at the door not allowing anyone in.

Now, if it had been the king, who knows what extra security might have been put on.

Leonard

Len:
It sounds like the Prince’s visit was unscheduled. Did any of your existing customers happen to come by? Did any have appointments? What if they had? Perhaps my Yank is showing, but if I had an appointment with you and it was frustrated because some prince decided to drop in unannounced that would probably be the last you would see of me. How do you or the SR shops handle that issue?

For someone to be turned away must, in all likelyhood, be the result of special circumstances.

And as far as a dignitary making an appointment, this simply is not always the case. I have a friend who works in the banking industry in Switzerland and he often speaks of his higher-end clientele (he likes to say that he deals with account numbers and not names, though many are very indentifiable) showing up quite of the blue without regard to his already scheduled clients. They need him to make time when they have it, sometimes for security reasons.

Alright, perhaps this was a bodyguard - we just don't know.

But has anyone been turned away from SR, at gunpoint or otherwise, by the snide remark, disapproving glance, disdain or indifference?

Perhaps a psychic wound worse than the threat of physical violence which one can heal from....

Swiss private bankers must have the unique opportunity to deal with some of the richest, most corrupt, distasteful and poweful thieves in the world.

All of them impeccably dressed no doubt if they have the good taste to deposit their money with the good and proper burghers of Switzerland perched on the Zurichsee.

Ofcourse , for a tailor or tinkerer or indeed, private banker, landing one of the whales, can make a career.

I'm just finishing up a movie with Denzel Washington. He's a nice man, but has total disregard for anyone's time or previous appointments. He's the king and, sadly, has been allowed to grow in this facade. So he acts like one. I can easily understand how the Swiss banker has clients dropping by and expecting instant attention. After-all, who else is of such importance? AT least in their own eyes.

Leonard

In my limited experience, it is often the lackeys of a celebrity or plutocrat that insist on complete disregard for everyone else. They are like that for one of two reasons: Either (1) They are just trying to impress their boss or do their job, which they take to mean that the Grand Poohbah (or Oprahzilla) gets the smoothest experience possible and everyone else be damned, whether or not those are their instructions or (2) their boss, who has the power of life or death over them or their careers terrorizes them. Quite often, the boss him or herself is actually quite nice, considerate and deferential when it comes to dealing with real people outside their sphere of influence.

As for the particular instance, the tailor or banker needs to consider whether the real or perceived special needs of one client are sufficient to inconvenience another. As I said before, absent very very special circumstances, I would not return to any service provider who treated me with that lack of consideration. As an example, if I had an appointment for a fitting and was barred from the tailor’s door by the bodyguard of some prince who decided to drop in I would change tailors. I suspect though, that the SR shops would have the sense to call in advance any of the clients they expected to reschedule or arrange an alternate location or, if they could not reach a customer, post someone at the door to wait.

Put another way, if the tailor or banker want the trade of people who demand priority over other customers, the burden of dealing with those demands should be on the merchant, not the other customers. A merchant who seeks to place the burden of other people’s problems on to my shoulders is not one I want to do business with.

Well, I'm afraid that reality is that people need to make a living.

That means that the whale is more important than you and me.

He can order 25 suits at a go. I can order 1.

Whether the tailor approves or not in his heart of the whale, inevitably I will go to the back of the line.

And if he loses my business because I am miffed, well, so be it.

If one thinks otherwise, then that is naive. Sorry.

There is no democracy except as an ideal concept; economic reality always prevails.

This reality cuts across all businesses.

Anyone who deals with rich or influential people for a living or otherwise, recognizes their importance to their business to the firm .

One may personally disapprove, or indeed not care to have a beer with such demanding , indeed thoughtless clients but that is something else.

This is a rather black and white interpretation of matters but I think if you deal wih rich people or indeed are rich yourself, then you will recognize the general truth of this.

Getting rich is really the best revenge.

Personally, I would have disarmed the bodyguard with a swift kick to the groin, pushed the prince aside, and insisted that my tailor fit me as I had a prior appointment.

Then find another tailor