OK before I launch into today’s post, I have to stress, I am not about to moan, I promise you. But, in this line of business you are asked to attend alot of things. Things including meals at Posh Eateries, parties, even trips abroad for launches, I can hear your groans already, along with the violins, yeah yeah I deserve it. Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is, when you have been in this game as long as I have and when you have been asked to as much as I have, lets just say the novelty wore off a long time ago. So when I was asked to visit a new Haberdasery, of a Savile Row Tailor, I had certain preconceptions and it was only down to the friendship I have with the PR that I agreed.
Now, I, like I am sure a lot of you guys have certain presumptions when you hear the words Savile Row, Stuffy, Pricey, Oo Suits you sir, the list goes on. All I can say about the Anderson & Sheppherd Haberdashery(actually on Clifford St parallel with Savile Row) is, that I was proved wrong. YES I admit it, I was wrong and I’ll even go as far to say, I was wrong on pretty much all of my biases.
The store genuinely offers a carefully curated collection of trousers, shirts, knitwear, swimwear, ties, belts, hats, and other accessories for the thoughtfully stylish man, honest. The emporium is overseen by Audie Charles, the longtime right-hand woman of the legendary London tailor Doug Hayward. Who explained to me, “Doug lived above his shop, and, eventually, his flat sort of crept into the shop,”
She best summed up the thinking behind the concept as, “The haberdashery is meant to be like that: welcoming, like someone’s Mayfair home. The scarves and sweaters are not behind some glass front. We encourage people to pick them up and play with them, to get the full tactile experience.”
The attention to detail is sublime, no thought has been overlooked, from the warmest of welcomes once you walk in through the door, to the light and airy environment, some what against convention, to the equally warm exit you receive that ensures you want to return, even for just a nosey around.
Virtually everything in the haberdashery is exclusive to Anderson & Sheppard and has been sourced from the British Isles, whether fisherman’s sweaters from Ireland, knitwear from Scotland, or cabled shooting socks from Cornwall. And Clifford Street is proudly unseasonal, offering heavy woollens and light weight knits, all year-’round, so that no matter where you live or might be about to holiday, Anderson & Sheppard will have what you’re looking for—in stock, ready to go.
First-time Anderson & Sheppard visitors are made as welcome at Clifford Street establishment. The front sitting room, with its muted music and beautiful fireplace, offers refuge from the bustle of the outside world, while a corridor leads back to the airy, gloriously skylit room where most of the merchandise is displayed. Visitors are encouraged to linger, have a drink from the bar, and settle into the TV room at the back.
Plus, with handkerchiefs costing as little as £10 and neckties starting at £40, the haberdashery has something appealing for every man, Audie, who I now feel I’ve known all my life, wants it to be, “A familiar destination: a place you come to whenever you’re in town.”
