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Contact: info@bownsbespoke.com
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BESPOKE SHIRTS HARVIE & HUDSON
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. 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. 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. I chose two designs exclusive to Harvie & Hudson – each with blue stripes, one on a yellow ground, the other on a pink – and two classics – a pink stripe and a black stripe, both on 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, that it does its cutting in Jermyn Street and that its bespoke shirts are made by its own group of six ladies in W.1. Needless to say, only mother of pearl buttons are used.
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.)
I am very pleased indeed with my new shirts. They are elegant, comfortable and beautifully made – exactly as bespoke clothes should be. 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 and 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. My pictures show me in the blue and yellow shirt, with the matching soft collar and with the stiff white collar. I think each arrangement works well.
If Britain is still Great, in the happiest sense, it is because of men like Richard Harvie and Andrew Hudson – men who enable gentlemen to dress well and maintain those sartorial standards for which Britain is admired throughout the civilized world.
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HARVIE & HUDSON
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© Francis Bown 2004
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.)
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 is £185 each, including VAT. A thousand fabrics are available, either from the shelf or via the pattern books. 
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. Harvie & Hudson has its own design of stiff collar – only available from its shops – which is higher than those normally on offer. It is illustrated in the picture, next to the collar made for the blue and yellow shirt. 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 several times recently 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.
