The suit is a frame, it is the shirt that is the artwork.
- John Arthur Turnbull co-founder of Turnbull & Asser shirtmakers.
There is a particular kind of prestige one feels when entering Turnbull & Asser’s flagship store on Jermyn Street in London. The kind that can only be achieved by possessing a trading history that stretches back more than a century and a heritage that most luxury clothing brands dream of acquiring. Turnbull & Asser is the shirtmaker, the benchmark against which all others, in Britain and beyond, have been measured for most of the 20th century until today.
It’s easy to become charmed by the eccentricity of the brand upon opening the doors of the store. The plush red carpets, mahogany-wood-panelled walls, and burnished Chesterfield sofas are quintessentially British, and herein lies half the appeal. Visiting this place is like stepping into Edwardian London. Some of the beautiful fixtures can be traced to the original opening in 1903, and since that date the fact that Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Michael Caine and Prince Charles have shopped here only furthers the appeal.
All of Turnbull & Asser’s shirts are hand-made in England, an increasingly rare achievement. It is made possible by the brand’s Gloucester factory and the skilled workers who inhabit it, many of whom have proudly worked there for decades. The factory operation is impressive: it has the capacity to produce 70,000 shirts per year. Yet it feels far from industrial, which can perhaps be explained by the amount of handiwork that each shirt requires and the absence of noisy, overpowering machinery. Light streams in through the multiple car-length windows, and workers are passionate and revel in their craft, which likely explains why many of them remain so loyal.
Loyalty is a two way street and it has a very enviable loyal customer base that can pass from one generation to the next. I envied my older brothers a great deal when they went to get measured for their first bespoke shirts accompanied by a grandfather who insisted his grandsons learn to be present themselves as properly raised gentlemen.
**Photo called ‘Stripes Sir’ by Slim Aarons
