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BESPOKE SHIRTS HARVIE & HUDSON
Yet, mirabile dictu, I have just gilded this particular lily – by having some bespoke shirts made in materials which are exclusive to Harvie & Hudson. And all I had to do was to trot along to number 77 Jermyn Street, London, S.W.1., at which address I found the shop beloved of all those who care about proper shirts. Thomas Harvie and George Hudson founded their company in 1949. Their first premises were in Duke Street. Later they moved into Jermyn Street, where the firm now run by their descendants, Richard Harvie and Andrew Hudson, currently occupies numbers 77 and 97 – as well as a shop at 55 Knightsbridge and a shop in Lime Street in the City. Nowadays much is done via the website (www.harvieandhudson.com), whereupon you can create and order your own shirts, by choosing the pattern, the style of both the collar and the cuff and the length of the sleeves. This is a remarkable facility, particularly for those who find it difficult to get up to town or who reside overseas. But for the true bespoke, you need personal attention, so that your own measurements, style and preferences can be translated into the paper pattern – unique to you - which will be used to make your shirts. It is this pattern, after all, which is the essence of bespoke. (Trips are made to the United States to offer this service. Details of the itineraries are available on request.)
The exclusive designs I chose were all stripes, as you can see from the photographs – combinations of blue, pink, yellow, purple and white. They are all two-fold cotton poplin. (‘Two-fold’ means that each line of cotton used to weave the fabric is composed of two strands.) The firm is proud of the fact that it is the only family-owned and family-run shirt-maker in Jermyn Street and that it does its cutting in Jermyn Street. Needless to say, only mother of pearl buttons are used.
I wanted separate collars of the cutaway shape and surgeon’s cuffs. I often wear separate, white, stiff collars, but I like to have a matching soft collar to hand, for those – admittedly rare – occasions when I feel that a modicum of informality is appropriate. The surgeon’s cuffs are also separate and are attached to the ends of the sleeves by buttons (pictured). The name derives from the habit of doctors in far-off times, who would simply remove their cuffs before attending to the (potentially messy) needs of their patients. I have been asked numerous times about my enthusiasm for such cuffs and their relevance to the gentleman of today. I see two advantages to them: first, if they become worn, their turning is the work of but seconds; and second, they are of necessity slightly heavier than the usual cuff and therefore tend to sit more elegantly.
The customary procedure is straightforward: after six weeks the trial shirt is ready for the try-on, to ensure that the fit is exactly right; and, after another six weeks, all the shirts in the order can be collected. (If, like me, you like to show the cuff of your shirt when you are wearing your jacket, be sure to explain this to your cutter, and remember that your jacket will always pull up your shirt sleeve by a small amount – so, at the try-on, put on your jacket over your new shirt.)
My new shirts are magnificent. They are elegant, comfortable and beautifully made – exactly as bespoke clothes should be. And there is that wonderful little frisson, each time I put one on, created by the knowledge that the exclusivity of the fabric means that very few other people in the world have similar shirts. The fit, of course, is perfect. I do not feel – as I sometimes do feel in one or two of the off-the-peg shirts I have been foolish enough to purchase over the years – that I am about to burst out of the straining buttons or that I need constantly to be tugging at my sleeves to try to show the cuffs or that I should be pulling down the shirt tails because they are too short. All is calm. There is abundant capacity for my frame, my cuffs show without effort and the tails are so long that I can sit on them in comfort.
“The apparel oft proclaims the man.” Indeed, it does. And this apparel proclaims someone who has the intelligence, the wit and the judgement to have his shirts made by Harvie & Hudson.
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HARVIE & HUDSON 96/97 Jermyn Street, London SW1Y 6JE, England. 55 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7RA, England. website: www.harvieandhudson.com Bespoke shirts: £210 including VAT
Made-to-measure "semi-custom" shirts: from £160 including VAT
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© Francis Bown 2004
“The apparel oft proclaims the man.” You will be familiar with these words which Polonius speaks to Laertes in Hamlet. Those of us who care about matters sartorial could do worse than adopt them as our motto. They certainly contain a profound truth. If a man is smart and well-ordered in his dress, he is likely to be smart and well-ordered in other ways, too. If he follows the prevailing Cult of Scruffiness in his dress... well, charity prevents me from completing the sentence. Suffice it to say that I have met too many chaps who think that their sterile conformity to the demands of ‘dressing-down’ somehow suggests they are ‘creative’. I usually judge a fellow by two items of his attire: his shoes and his shirt. It is the latter which concerns me here. A good shirt is eloquent. It speaks of refinement, good taste and high standards. In short, it suggests a certain British-ness. A good bespoke shirt reinforces the point with an emphasis which lifts the spirit. Its wearer is marked out – subtly but definitely – as a man who cares about real quality. And there are no better bespoke shirts than those made by Harvie & Hudson. 
Thus it was that I came to be pictured with Richard Wood’s hands at my throat. Mr Wood hails from Eltham, in south London. He was to be my cutter and the creator of my pattern, which is why you can see him taking a precise measurement of my neck. I had already discussed the cloth and the stylistic details with Richard Harvie. In the photograph Mr Harvie is holding a pair of scissors and is smiling. The latter occupation comes easily to this intelligent, charming and ever-helpful fellow. Behind him you can see some of the lengths of cloth. From these I selected four – four being the minimum number for a first order of bespoke shirts. The price of such fully bespoke shirts is £210 each. (Prices for made-to-measure "semi-custom" shirts start at £160.) A thousand fabrics are available, either from the shelf or via the pattern books. 
