Some Facts from Jonathan Sothcott's "The Jermyn Street Shirt" Book

[andreyb]

Gentlemen,

There is a new book around -- "The Jermyn Street Shirt" by Jonathan Sothcott (who is -- by his own admission -- "the king of gangster B-movies" at his day job!) As such, it's of little interest for LL members -- in many aspects, Mr Sothcott's book can be compared with the well-known "Gentleman" by Bernhard Roetzel -- but one should give the author credit for doing his homework; there are many interesting facts collected by him.

Here is what I found to be of particular interest:
* The distinctive Turnbull & Asser collar was designed by the late Doug Hayward, who stocked T&A-made RTW shirts in his Mount Street shop
* Bespoke accounts for 20-25% (hard to believe!) of H&K business. Bespoke shirts are now made in Milan, and David Gale's hand-drawn patterns are converted to CAD files.
* H&K's Scottish factory is closed for good. One can only guess where their RTW shirts are made now.
* N&L RTW shirts are made in Czech Republic; bespoke ones are "hand-made in London". Bespoke department is headed by store manager Charles Seaton, who is also now "the store's shirtmaker" (I guess this means he handles measurements).
* Bespoke accounts for only 10% of H&H business
* Emma Willis' collar is "inspired by a shirt of her husband Richard's from the now closed Cole's"

Yours,
Andrey

[snapper]

Hello,
I have this book but have not had the chance to read it yet. Based on what you have said here I will make the effort to see if I find the same as you.

Regards Snapper

[rjman]

Gentlemen,

There is a new book around -- "The Jermyn Street Shirt" by Jonathan Sothcott (who is -- by his own admission -- "the king of gangster B-movies" at his day job!) As such, it's of little interest for LL members -- in many aspects, Mr Sothcott's book can be compared with the well-known "Gentleman" by Bernhard Roetzel -- but one should give the author credit for doing his homework; there are many interesting facts collected by him.

Here is what I found to be of particular interest:
* The distinctive Turnbull & Asser collar was designed by the late Doug Hayward, who stocked T&A-made RTW shirts in his Mount Street shop
* Bespoke accounts for 20-25% (hard to believe!) of H&K business. Bespoke shirts are now made in Milan, and David Gale's hand-drawn patterns are converted to CAD files.
* H&K's Scottish factory is closed for good. One can only guess where their RTW shirts are made now.
* N&L RTW shirts are made in Czech Republic; bespoke ones are "hand-made in London". Bespoke department is headed by store manager Charles Seaton, who is also now "the store's shirtmaker" (I guess this means he handles measurements).
* Bespoke accounts for only 10% of H&H business
* Emma Willis' collar is "inspired by a shirt of her husband Richard's from the now closed Cole's"

Yours,
Andrey

Hilditch & Key Paris still offers the option to have bespoke shirts made in France by their longtime subcontractor, but they don't make it a very inviting proposition. As to H&K RTW, in 2001 they laid off most of the Glenrothes staff that used to make their RTW and took the "Made in Gt Britain" off their labels. They would tell people orally that the shirts were still made in Scotland, but the rumor -- corroborated by a Pakistani maker in the 2000s - was that most of the RTW was made in Pakistan. (Through all of this time, the shirts they made for Saks still said "Made in England" on the label even though they hadn't made in England since the 1990s and in fact got in trouble in the British media for claiming foreigners thought England was Britain anyway.) When H&K underwent a management change in 2014-15 it changed focus and began making RTW in Britain again for a couple seasons. Then the RTW started having "made in Italy" on the label. I haven't cared to follow up in the last couple years.

Coles was around for a while; Flusser said it had inspired a Ralph Lauren collar too.

Read any other good clothing books recently, Andrey??

[andreyb]

Read any other good clothing books recently, Andrey??

Yeah, there is an obscure book on some obscure menswear makers -- next in my reading list, and the harsh opinion for sure to be shared!

Andrey