Luxury Shopping in London - Gieves and Hawkes - Finest English Tailoring
No.1, Savile Row, W15 3JR
Even in these less formal times a good English gentleman’s suit is still considered by those who can afford them to be the best in the world. Savile Row has traditionally been the home of England’s finest tailors.
Gieves and Hawkes was founded in 1771 and has been dressing discerning, and frequently very eminent, clients ever since. Prince Charles shops here, and before him Winston Churchill, Lord Nelson and Napolean III were customers. In more recent times Ian Fleming, Jude Law and Daniel Craig suited themselves here. If you admire a quintessential English style, this is the place to come.
Luxury Shopping in London - Purdey - Foremost Maker of Historic Guns
57 South Audley Street, Mayfair, W1
In the early 1800’s James Purdey the Younger was considered to be one of the best gunsmiths in London. He opened his own shop in 1814, in the heart of Mayfair. Over his lifetime there was rapid change and development in the design of guns and rifles, essentially moving from muzzle loading flintlocks in the 1820's to breech loading hammerless ejectors by the 1880's. In 1838 Queen Victoria is recorded as having bought a pair of Purdey pistols.
Purdey lived above the shop which expanded to become the finest gunsmiths in London. It is still in operation today and still has the old world charm that Purdey would have been familiar with.
Luxury Shopping in London - Floris - London’s Leading Perfumer
89 Jermyn Street SW1Y
Floris continues to sell perfume from its small but impressive premises on where they have been since 1730. They are one one of the world's most traditional perfume makers, established by Juan Famenias Floris, a Spaniard who began by opening a barber shop. He learned how to blend oils, essences and fixatives into what were the first Floris fragrances.
Other products included handmade hair combs handcrafted from tortoiseshell and ivory, shaving brushes, hatpins, toothbrushes, and razor-straps, all made on the premises. Many such items are still sold today. The shop is fitted with Spanish mahogany showcases purchased from the 1851 Great Exhibition in London's Hyde Park. In Regency times, the famous dandy Beau Brummell would discuss his current fragrances at length with Mr. Floris, and Oscar Wilde, wore Malmaison Carnation, still on sale at Floris today.
Luxury Shopping in London - James Smith & Sons - Umbrellas
53 New Oxford Street, WC1
Umbrellas and walking sticks have been made and sold in this attractive Victorian shop since 1830. The business is known for the variety of its stock. One client even asked the company to make him a stick in every English wood possible - he received over 70 sticks in total. The business continued to thrive over the years - probably something to do with the English weather!
For 175 years the company has been making umbrellas, sticks and canes for both men and women. There are containers of silver-topped canes in the shop which are really worth looking at for the variety of designs on display. The shop itself is a stunning reminder of the Victorian period amd it retains the original fittings designed and made by master craftsmen. A finely craftedEnglish umbrellais a must for the man or woman about town.
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