Thread: The Great London Shops: An American Perspective

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 revieing 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.