The Great London Shops: An American Perspective

[bpatton]

My London trip is in full swing, and I have hit all the great barber shops and apothecarys that I view to be "The Great London Shops." I thought I would post my impressions of the shops themselves (not the products).

All of these shops are in the same general area, west of Trafalgar Square, Northeast of Buckingham Palace, and South west of Picadilly Circus. My impression of this area is that it is an extremely rich area. There are several Yacht stores, yeah Yacht stores. Wow. There are also many of the old gun maker stores (which I believe no longer sell guns, but rather clothes) Beretta being one of them. Everywhere you look there are people strolling in High quailty suits (men and women). This area is obviously a cut above where my own meger accomodations are.

I was dressed in the typical US student fashion, meaning cargo shorts, a T-shirt, and tenis shoes, with my messegnger computer bad slung over my shoulder. Obviously, I got some stares.

The first stop on my list was Truefit and Hill, (http://www.truefittandhill.com/). This is the shop that holds a Royal Warrant for barber services. The front window is the highlight of the shop, diplaying all the products that might be found inside. One thing that caught my attention was the elegant mugs whicht they sell. There was one or two straight razors there, and some DEs with the bulk being Fusion and Mach 3. As I wlked inside I was hit with a manage of scents, and knew I was in a true old world barber shop. Perhaps it was better lit than the barber shops in the 1800's and it had all of the modern conveiniences ofcourse. The front of the store is the "store area" and it goes about 10 ft deep. It is aproximately 30 feet wide, and there is not much room to move around, infact, you can browse the entire store without moving from one spot. Past this area was the "baber area" where men in high priced suits were lounging in opulence while their hair was expertly cut. The Gentleman, and he was quite the genetleman, in the front was polite and helpful. While I did recieve some very amused looks from the customers and the barbers, I felt quite welcome in the shop.

The next stop on my list was DR Harris (http://www.drharris.co.uk/drharris.htm). This shop is just up the street and on the opposite side from Truefit. Upon entering I was again assaulted with an interesting mix of scents, and was impressed with the selection they had to offer. The store front reminded me of an old country store, even though it was quite elegant and refined. The salesman was helping another gentleman, and I was free to roam what seemed like a spacious storefront after being in Truefit. I was quite taken with the arlington scent they offerd, and my fiance said it smelled like candy. Since I do like it when she has the disire to treate me like candy, I bought a shave stick. The gentleman running the store was very polite and helpful, although he did seem to be surprised to find someone like me in his store.

The next shop in line was Taylors of Old Bond Street (http://www.tayloroldbondst.co.uk/). This was another barber shop, with a bit more of a selection than Truefit, and more area to "Browse." Unfortunately, it was very crowded. As I began to smell all the scents in their line up, a salesman peered over my shoulder. My fiance suggested I buy the rose cream, which I decided was a good idea, and I walked up to the register to check out. From there I could see the barber area, which was as richly appointed as Truefit. The customers were again seated in luxury, from their high priced suits to the shining barber shears everything shouted opulence. After having to scoot out of the way of several people hurring about the shop, I finally made it to the register and was sold the cream in an expedient manner.

The fourth shop on my list was Trumpers (http://trumpers.com/). Walking into the store you are confronted with cabinets made of dark wood and covering all the walls in the front room. It is quite impressive. Here I found a large selection, perhaps the entire line, of Dovo straight razors and several disposable straights. Two salesmen were in the room and they were quite helpful and very polite, but again shocked that I stepped into the shop. The upstairs is perhapse 40-50 feet deep and 10 feet wide. There was a second floor downstairs, and a back room that seemed to comprise the barber area, but I could not see them from the front of the shop. I was very impressed with the scent of their coconut shave cream and the spanish leather aftershave, which came home with me to my dorm. An important thing to note is that not one of these shops had the prices on their products, a thing I came to regret as I realized the spanish leather aftershave I asked to purchase was 30 pounds ($60).

There was another shop on my list, Floris; however, when I walked by it I couldn't believe that it actually had mens shaving products because it seemed like a woman's perfume shop. I didn't walk in because of that, but after looking at their site I see they do sell some shaving products so another trip may be made.

Over all, I was very impressed with the barber area at Truefit and most impressed with the shops at DR Harris and Trumpers.

I'm not reviewing the C&Es, or the Loccitains because we have those back in the states, and they are easily accessable.

After using all the products I bought, there is none that I regret buying. I thought I would regret spending $60 on an aftershave, but it was worth every penny. Its a fantastic product and I reccomend it to all. Sory for the book, but I thought this was useful information for anyone looking to make a trip to London. If you are going into the shops and don't want to get strange looks, dress the part.

[phopwood]

Nice to see that you have visited most of London's big names. You should try the other Trumpers on Curzon street, it is a little bigger and a little older.
My personal favorite is Taylors. If you want to experience a decent barber shave go to Trumpers with your own stuff and they will shave you using your own razor. Expensive but if you take you better half with you she will be impressed.
Also go to Penhaliagns a very nice shop, again full of stuff I can't afford, but there is a outlet store and Bichester.

Hint, in London always ask the price, they will not be offended.

Peter

[tonyspurs]

nice pic, shame it,s not scratch and sniff!.i think i,m gonna jump on the train this weekend and have a look for myself now you have given me the flavour lol, best get the old credit card out again

[Steelforge]

I think the Trumpers in Curzon Street is the original one. They have a modest size shop upstairs and in the basement they have loads of little rooms for the barbers and hairdressers, so you can relax and have your haircut or shave in private. I had a straight razor shaving lesson there, it was ok but a bit pricey at £75.

There's some serious money in that part of London (Mayfair). When I was there I saw Ferraris, Astons, Bentleys, Rolls Royces etc all parked on the kerb like they were Honda Civics!!

[majurey]

Great post! And I'm impressed you've been so thorough... I'm a London native and I haven't been to some of those places you list.

When I first started straight shaving this year, I was lucky enough to receive a gentleman's shave at T&H on St James Street. I wrote up the experience here.

You've inspired me to go visit the others too!

Mark

[Blade Wielder]

That was an informative post. I'll have to check those places out if I'm ever in London.

As for the stares, is it possible you were simply being self-conscious? You mentioned numerous times throughout your post that people were looking at you like you were from another planet because you were wearing casual clothes. I'm sure there would be a certain percentage of people who dressed in three-piece suits and think highly of themselves, but I'm sure the majority of the sore's clients look mostly like yourself.

[bpatton]

Well, that's possible. However, I really doubt it. I'm not talking about occasional glances, and I'm not talking about a few people in suits, I hadn't seen anyone not in a suit for a couple blocks. Even the couple of people that I seemed to be tourists were wearing suits. The stares were kind of incredulous looks, which left once I began to talk to them and askj questions, but they were clearly astonished that someone dressed as I was would enter their shops.

As for the general clientel being like me, I doubt it. Like I said this was a buisness area, and there were several yacht store here. Not the area that the average fellow would be.

Now a block or two away, life returns to normal, but in this little island (I've walked through on several diffrent occasions now) it is clearly a privledged area.

[scarface]

Well, that's possible. However, I really doubt it. I'm not talking about occasional glances.....The stares were kind of incredulous looks, which left once I began to talk to them and askj questions, but they were clearly astonished that someone dressed as I was would enter their shops. ...

You...uhhhh...checked your fly, right?

I mean...you weren't traipsing about London with the ol' 'barn door' open, now were you?

(...I always get a lot of stares whenever I do that!....)

...just a thought

-whatever

-Lou

[bpatton]

woops....eh, it's better than air conditioning.

[RichZ]

I just wish to add my London Experiences of 23 years ago. I want to start by saying I loved London and the people I met there. We happened to be staying in the Dorchester which I came to learn was a really upscale hotel.( It was a wedding gift from my brother in law). Well I was dressed like a typical American tourist kakis and a polo shirt and every time I passed through the lobby I was noticably under dressed. I was sure I was being looked at like I should have dressed better. One night we decided to go out to a nice restaurant for dinner so I spiffed up with a sport jacket, slacks and tie and told my wife that at least I won't be under dressed this time. We hit the lobby and they were having some affair going on and everyone was dressed in black tie. I really couldn't win....