Buy British Day arrives this week (details below*) and offers you the opportunity to familiarise yourself with some of the great brands, large and small, that make menswear (and other things) here in the UK.
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| Making shirts at Turnbull & Asser's factory in Gloucester (image Grey Fox) |
Below I round-up of some of my favourite brands, limiting it to a selection of those whose products (1) I own or have been given the chance to try over the last year and (2) are made mostly in the UK. Some offer a discount for Buy British Day and I've added it where I know of it. Others may offer one that I'm not aware of, so check first.
Many other brands that I know and love, such as Realm & Empire, Drake's, M&S and Oliver Sweeney, make some of their products in the UK, but are excluded from this summary to fit with the theme of Buy British Day.
Many other brands that I know and love, such as Realm & Empire, Drake's, M&S and Oliver Sweeney, make some of their products in the UK, but are excluded from this summary to fit with the theme of Buy British Day.
British-made tailoring from Susannah Hall (see below)
Grey Fox wearing all British - Tusting, Spoke, Pantherella, Cheaney
I emphasise that this is a partial selection. However, I've listed over 420 suppliers of British-made menswear here on the blog (click on the link to have a browse). Please mention Grey Fox Blog is you visit any of them. Happy Hunting!
Ties, cravats, pocket squares
Cravat Cub - silk pocket squares and cravats. Discount 5% and chance to win products for Buy British Day (BUYBRITISHDAY)
Geoff Stocker - beautifully designed by Geoff Stocker himself
Age of Reason - silk squares designed by Ali Mapletoft in Brighton.
General menswear
E. Tautz - mainly made in their recently acquired Blackburn factory, great design and construction
Susannah Hall - shirts and tailoring all made in the UK
Gloverall - British-made coats and menswear
Private White VC - Manchester made, offer a 15% discount for Buy British Day (BUYBRITISH)
Quantock Clothing - jeans, knitwear, shirt all made in the UK.
Knitwear
Leith Clothing - Shetland jumpers in multiple glorious colours
Quiggleys - great jumpers made in Scotland. 20% discount for Buy British Day (code #BuyBritishDay)
Country of Origin - hand-framed knitwear
Shirts
TriplStitched - shirts made in London - see the Grey Fox x TriplStitched collaboration
Socks
Pantherella - socks for all styles and tastes, made in Leicester
Shoes (miscellaneous)
Loake - Northamptonshire traditional shoemaking
Cheaney - ditto
Norman Walsh (trainers) - trainers made in Bolton
REW Reynolds (cycle shoes) - traditional leather cycling shoes made with a modern twist
Luggage and leatherwear
Tusting - leather bags made in Buckinghamshire. 10% discount until 11 October (code BUYBRITISH)
Holdall & Co - by young designer Rai Navickaite
Umbrellas
London Undercover - brollies made in England
Mr Stanford - ditto, made in Spitalfields, London
Shaving and grooming
DR Harris - currently my favourite post-shave creams, unguents and fragrances
Penhaligon's - manly fragrances from this well-established company
Gruhme - new on the block; fine fragrances for men
Underwear
British Boxers - boxer shorts. 20% discount to blog readers (code GREYFOX)
Penny Dreadful - slightly naughty boxer shorts
Cahoonas - shaped to allow for umm... errr... how you hang your tackle
Penny Dreadful - slightly naughty boxer shorts
Cahoonas - shaped to allow for umm... errr... how you hang your tackle
*About Buy British Day
Buy British Day 2015 takes place on Saturday October 3rd 2015, with mini Best of Britannia pop-up events in London and Preston, encouraging consumers to support brands and businesses that design and manufacture in Britain.
The day is an initiative from Best of Britannia, an annual event and website that showcases more than 200 of the best British-made brands and products. Buy British Day aims to engage with consumers who care about the provenance of what they’re buying.
Buy British Day is at London’s Kings Cross where it teams up with Wayne Hemingway’s The Classic Car Boot Sale in Granary Square and in central Preston, in a pop-up retail outlet in the middle of the Fishergate shopping centre and on the Preston Train Station concourse.
I shall be going.
ReplyDeleteDid I spy a certain Greyfox perusing some jaunty footwear in the promo film??
Bother, James, my agent obviously let that one slip through. ;)
ReplyDeleteGF
Fantastic to see this collection of genuinely English manufacturers - English-owned with English workers.
ReplyDeleteYou provide an essential corrective to the faux English of companies like "Samuel Windsor" who advertise their "quintessentially English style" without saying anywhere that their products are made overseas - often India. I have nothing against imported clothing, but I can't help resenting marketing that attempts to lead me into believing that certain products are made in Britain.
Fantastic to see this collection of genuinely English manufacturers - English-owned with English workers.
ReplyDeleteYou provide an essential corrective to the faux English of companies like "Samuel Windsor" who advertise their "quintessentially English style" without saying anywhere that their products are made overseas - often India. I have nothing against imported clothing, but I can't help resenting marketing that attempts to lead me into believing that certain products are made in Britain.
Thank you Myrmecia - I absolutely agree. I haven't checked Samuel Windsor's marketing, but too many are unclear about provenance. The law helps this, allowing some products made abroad and simply assembled here to be called British. The best manufacturers explain exactly where their products come from so that there can be no confusion (see Loake and Grenson for example, they are clear about what is made here or in India).
ReplyDeleteGF