The London Lounge

Hello all,
Where would one buy good fabrics in London at a decent price? My Polish tailor has agreed to try fabrics bought by me and I will be in London for three days this coming week. Is there a store you can recommend?

[apologies if the question has been asked and answered. I did run a search and came up empty handed]

Textile King, 81 Berwick St. (Tel 020 7437 7372).

Spinola

Call David Graham at Smith & Co (Dufours Place) and arrange to visit. He is a delight to deal with, and Smith & Co offers a wide range of excellent cloth.

Scabal (Savile Row) and Dormeuil (Old Burlington St?) will also deal retail, but they are pricey. You could also try Holland & Sherry. H Lesser is in Tottenham Hale but will not sell retail, you may convince them to ship to your tailor, though.

Good luck.

Do Smiths sell to non-trade people; that is, to the retail buyer? Can an individual get a wholesale price from Smiths when buying at the shop? I doubt one can get a wholesale price from Scabal, but perhaps I am wrong.

Smith's will sell retail. David Graham is a true gentleman and always eager to discuss cloth with a fellow enthusiast. I have no idea about their retail mark-up, but I must say that I always found their prices more than fair. Also, W Bill is part of Smith & Co (separate premises though) and their tweeds and overcoatings are superb.

Please do not forget that all fabric merchant's have higher cost dealing with small single retail orders, and also have to add VAT that is not included in the wholesale price (or rather reclaimable by a VAT registered tailor). They may also jeopardise the goodwill of tailors who wish to make a profit selling cloth. Given that you were specifically enquiring about cloth for your Polish tailor, that should not really be an issue.

You may also try Lear Browne & Dunsford (Harrisons, Porter & Harding). I do not know whether they have a London showroom, but their cloth is very good. Some of it is rather unique (e.g. the Porter & Harding Glorious Twelfth range). If you know the fabric number, they will be happy to arrange things over the telephone.

Your Polish tailor should anyway consider offering first class cloth to his customers and using all the above. They will be happy to send him sample books. Payment can be made via credit card these days, despatch by courier. Still much cheaper than a lot of the inferior cloth imported by local middlemen. The EU has made this viable, and you could help to cause a quantum leap in the quality of locally available fabrics. It is worth the effort.

Thank you one and all.
The wealth of information and the willingnes to share it are exceptional. This is such a good place to be.
As regards the fabric procurement idea for my tailor, I would first have to explain to him what a credit card is. This guy undertsands only his core business, and by 'core' I mean CORE.
G

Great info, quick question, gents. are these folks above open on Sat, perchance? I happen to be in London this coming weekend Dec 10/11, and would love to drop by if they are. Thanks.

Several comments:

The woolen mercers mentoned are not particularly eager to deal with the public. That said, several of them mentioned will send cloth to tailors where they have no rep/distributor (e.g. Hong Kong, Poland). Lesser will not accept credit cards, insists on charging VAT even on documented sxport goods, and definitely is not open Saturday. I would suggest a call in advance to any of the companies. I think Smith's pricing is very fair, they do not charge VAT on exported goods, and Mr. Graham is a pleasure. That said, I think the companies show some courtesy to true 'hobbyists' but again are not looking for walk in trade.

LBD has no London office---however, they are very favorably priced in my opinion, and ship all over again to places where they have no reps. They are easy to deal with,but definitely don't look for this type of business. If you give them the swatch number, shipping address, credit card, I think they will be hlep ful. I have a contact at home and will try to post it later---

I would avoid Scabal, Holland and Sherry, Dormeuil as the retail pricing is out of line, and you would certainly do better getting thru your tailor. These multi-national companies, have long arms and reps wherever there is a Starbucks, but curiously in some markets they use different swatch numbers to obfuscate and thwart the thrifty hobbyist looking to acquire cloth outside of their designated distribution channels.
'

I am havng trouble finding an address for Smith and Co on the internet.
Sorry to bother you again, but would you have the number handy?
Many thanks
G

no internet for Smith---very traditional, on Dufour Place W1 as I recall

Penny Dubois, I believe is the contact for Harrison's at: info@lbd-harrisons.com, but I am doing this from memory.Remember, these companies are not looking for this kind of business, and I would not overstay any welcome. Be aware that "carriage" can add up on exporting these goods, although there will not be VAT. I would not suggest trying to have goods sent to any market where they have representaives. On the other hand, the LBD range is much wider than is readily available in the US, for example. They sell moleskin, cotton, linen, and even trimmings, but I have never ventured into the trimming area. There is a limit to asking a wholesaler to extend courtesies to hobbyists.

Let's be honest, from an economic point of view the turnover generated by a hobbyist can never pay for the additional cost of dealing with retail. Those who do must be applauded for their selfless enthusiasm. And, no, unfortunately none of the good merchants are open on Saturday. The only decent place used to be a cloth retailer on Regent Street called Fine textiles. They ceased to trade when their landlord redeveloped the building some two years ago. The other Regent Street places are unpleasant to deal with because of their aggressive sales tactics.

Dr Teplitz, your memory does not betray you, Penny Du Bois is the correct contact at LBD. Very friendly, too. Got them into trouble, ordering something by phone, giving a description that fitted two cloths (entirely MY FAULT), then exchanging for the correct one. She was helpful beyond the call of duty. LBD does some superb cloth, but it sells under a number of names (Harrisons, Porter & Harding). If you can be sufficiently specific about what you need, they may send you a small swatch book.

Lesser may be small enough to avoid VAT registration, which would mean that they cannot avoid charging it, no matter where it is shipped. If you want to visit, you must call. They are located in a rather less than salubrious neighbourhood in North London. I once visited by tube (faster than a car in traffic jammed London), and the MD offered to run me back to the station: he was genuinely surprised I had survived the walk without becoming a victim of crime. I guess the local thugs could not place a sharply cut Savile Row DB rope stripe. Probably thought I was somebody important in organised crime.

To be fair, Dormeuil and Scabal are dear even at wholesale prices. They style themselves as "luxury" and reinforce that image via price. If you want S180 or S200, that's what you have to pay. However, I definitely prefer Scabal to Dormeuil which I find variable. The Wain Shiell name which is part of Scabal used to have some real finds at reasonable prices.

Yes, Penny DuBois is very helpful. Mr. Dunsford I think would rather not be bothered at LBD (one of the D in LBD)., and kindly delegated to her. I have had only one problem, and that was ordering additional Irish linen which turned out to be from a different dye lot. This was not their fault, only to point out that it can be an issue, especially with solid linen. They did not identify the first batch by dye lot, which became depleted despite the consistent swatch number.

I have had the opportunity of visiting Lesser Bros. in their new digs several times, and it is reminiscent of Dudley Moore's comment in the original "Bedazzled" ("...is this hell?"). I appreciate the information about the VAT registration and the size of the business---it does add to the cost nevertheless. Smith and LBD don't add it on export.

One comment on these folks and dealing with the public: I have been well received but am very careful to recognize that they are doing me a favor by talking to me. I am not in a retail business, but I know that manufacturers and wholesalers are loathe to deal with the public (try to get thru to Tanner Krolle leather at the factory level). Showing a keen interest and knowledge of the product helps, and it may help to identify yourself as an elite member of LL, since they will want to know why you are calling on them. The highest compliment I have received was being mistaken for being "in the business."

LBD and Lesser have limited websites, which if nothing else identify where they have reps, and hence, where you should not try to poach.

Have written to Ms. Dubois. I will keep you posted.
Thanks again.
G