The London Lounge

I have just returned from a 4 day trip to London. I managed to cover a lot of ground and wanted to mention several things in no particular order of importance:

1) Textile King has changed hands. It no longer warrants a visit. They don't have the heavy Irish linen, or quite the range of corduroys that were always around with the old owners.
The place has been cleaned up a bit, but I think inventory diminished. There were some nice shirting cloths, including some single width numbers, all of English manufacture.

2) Is any one familiar with Foster & Sons (S.R.)? They have samples of a RTW Field Coat lined with Goretex. Fairly priced, Several weights, several tweed variants at surcharge, but a decidedly heavy, serious field jacket. They offer a bespoke version at GBP 5,000 (sic), which I believe achieves an international record of sorts. Does anyone know anything about this operation? They seem to do a lot of field coats and showed me a number of them in the works. I inquired about whether they do any Safari jackets (shirts) and a very capable gentleman appeared and showed me a number of cotton works in progress. He was only introduced as "Stephen" (one name like Prince, Bono, Django, Prez.): he is the shirtmaker and very articulate about this subject. The problem is that the post pubescent Director hovered and was so intrusive as to preclude my doing business. I gather this represents a concern over the poor guy freelancing or dealing with price issues (the shirtjacket pricing was more reasonable). Does anyone get shirts from this House?

3) I was interested in seeing the small range of handmade tweeds, at Anderson & Sheppard. It took the full panoply of my professional training to achieve this: the first defense man indicated that they do not "sell" the cloth. I "clarified" that I didn't ask to buy the cloth, rather I wanted to "see" the cloth. This required a second man to deal with. A nice bolt of cloth was shown, tagged with a hold x yards for Mr. Smoothjazz. I then asked to see some of their non darted three button jackets, and a very nice one was shown, again with Mr. Smoothjazz Esq.' tag. Having established my bona fides, I guess, I was then given the sales pitches. As some of you know I don't like to "talk to salesmen."

4) The Connaught Hotel is closed for renovation and expansion, so I was bivouacked at Claridge's. It lacks the charm and intimacy of the Connaught, and the hooker seen passing thru the lobby in the afternoon was not endearing.

It's good to be home.

We were also there last week. I hear what you are saying about the Connaught. With all of the complaints in recent years of it's going down hill, I still cannot find a place I would rather stay. We were at Browns, which is nice but a bit institutional feeling in comparison.

You are correct, Sir, the Connaught has declined with the last several owners. I would not stay at Claridge's again. Apparantly, asbestos was found at the Connaught, which suggests a delayed re-opening. The same Group owns the Berkeley, which I think I would try if necessary. The Ritz and the Dorchester would also be options.

I forgot to add, I wandered again into Rubinacci. This time an English fellow was the sole sales person (not the Italian man and woman of last year). I liked the shirting cloths, and inquired if they ever do Saharianas. The reply was...."Not really." I asked if that was because they were too much work. He didn't reply. Stephen, of the above mentioned Foster and Sons, explained that they were a lot of work, but the main disadavantage from his standpoint was that it required pullling the "ladies" off their customary shirt making work, slowing down the pipeline. Paging Mr. Bugelli...

I don't understand, where do you guys get all this time to travel everywhere? And aren't those hotels in the stratosphere of cost?

Actually, London is a city where a good hotel and a mediocre hotel cost the same. None are inexpensive. Travel these days is so unpleasant that a nice place to stay is a necessity. In the old days, staying at the Connaught gave me a sense of well being, which spilled over to the rest of my stay in London.

tteplitzmd wrote:Is any one familiar with Foster & Sons (S.R.)?..... decidedly heavy, serious field jacket.....Does anyone get shirts from this House?

Are you sure you’re talking about Foster & Son (shoemakers) in Jermyn Street? As far as I know they only deal in shoes and leather goods, certainly nothing as elaborate as a bespoke shirt making service.
http://www.wsfoster.co.uk/

Maybe you meant New & Lingwood, also in Jermyn Street. Don't know about field jackets, but they do have a bespoke shirt making service:
http://www.newandlingwood.com/

Jet Lag made me do it: the correct name is Norton & Sons, 16 Savile Row, est. 1821
Who are these guys?

Ahhhh, Norton. Norton is a longstanding Row tailor that has branched out to specialize in car coats for field sports.

I was interested in their design when I commissioned my car coat from Centofanti, but there was no information or pictures to be found. Their claim to fame is that they have added the RTW features of a Goretex lining and waterproofed tweed, which a traditional tailor like my Centofanti won't work with.

Call this spoiled grapes, but Goretex linings on a bespoke coat is like the Range Rover, one of those luxury items/details that suggests the ability to survive the rough without its owner's likely testing it. You could throw in Rolex Submariners . As a practical matter, were you to go hunting in the wetlands, you are not going to wear your $5000 Norton coat, though you probably would be very happy with it in Georgetown. So after talking to a Leonard Logsdail for example (who I think can construct something resembling a RTW field coat), I decided to not worry about features I will never use. Besides, none of that high-tek stuff ever affected my comfort at all, I sweated just as much in "breathable" waterproofs as I did in "non-breathable" garments. And my NHTC tweed car coat is plenty water and weather resistant.

If you are interested in an interesting review of car coats for hunting, look here:

http://thefield.co.uk/thefield/shooting_jacket.php

What about the shirtmaker?

I think you're correct about the Goretex. A fellow named Nicholas Granger does the RTW and MTM field coat, and does have a website under another name. He uses the space at Norton to show them. The Norton Director was keen to announce "he no longer works here" ...I believe a sales ploy to push the bespoke line.

I have Corvato working on a NHT with quilted lining as we speak. I like to see the different designs. Next year I will undertake a summer shirt/jack variant.

tteplitzmd wrote: Jet Lag made me do it.........

A suggestion, gravel just after take off, knocks you out for a few hours of decent rest and reduces the effects of Jet Lag.

I recently read that Viagra is said to greatly reduce the effects of Jet Lag too, but I will that to others to experiment with

tteplitzmd wrote:What about the shirtmaker?

I think you're correct about the Goretex. A fellow named Nicholas Granger does the RTW and MTM field coat, and does have a website under another name. He uses the space at Norton to show them. The Norton Director was keen to announce "he no longer works here" ...I believe a sales ploy to push the bespoke line.

.

Granger is the former proprietor of Norton. The current guy is an MBA grad who put together a deal when the Granger family wanted/needed to sell out. His first job out of school-- which isn't the usual route one takes.

Is the shirtmaker in question perhaps the famous Stephen Lachter (sp)?

Very informative: the young guy is as you describe, although I would not say he benefitted from his MBA education. He seemed to have no understanding of the craft.

Now, I cannot say if it is the famous Stephen Lachter, because the MBA intruded to the point that despite my best effort, I could not extract Stephen's last name. Can you tell me about Mr. Lachter. He struck me as a very capable guy, it's just that I couldn't converse with him without being chaperoned by the MBA. The MBA lost a sale.

The Norton and Sons saga sounds like a variation on the Edward Green story: someone "buys" the Company, with no knowledge of or experience in the business, and predictably proceeds to ruin it.

I don't actually know Stephen Lachter, and have never knowingly seen one of his shirts. His name does get mentioned a lot over the internet, however, and I think he was an MD at Hawes & Curtis back in its glory days. He and John Kent seem to pop up in a lot of the same places.

Terry, look at the second picture on the following web-page: http://web.archive.org/web/200310012014 ... /about.htm. This is Stephen Lachter. Most likely you met with him. It seems that they and John Kent (currently Head Cutter at Nortons) stick together "like the wallpaper sticks to the wall"... You can read their brief biography on mentioned web-page.

And another familiar face... http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/news/archives/E ... ailors.htm

Andrey

Yes, that is the man: Stephen Lachter. I liked him. He asked me if the shirt I was wearing was Italian. The MBA fellow is another story. I wish him well, but his acquisition makes little sense to me. It's like going to a physician specialist's office for a consultation, and having to chat exclusively with someone in the billing office.

I have no interest in aristocracy, or British heritage. That would seem to be a large part of the owner/investor's interest in this endeavor. The business model is that of a pimp, albeit a very high priced pimp. GBP 5,000 for a field jacket is a bit much to support this entrepreneur's learning curve.