There are parts of London which tourists don’t visit because they don’t know about them. If they did, these places would be inundated. So, shhh, don’t tell anyone. These are the places which tell a different story of London, the story of everyday rather than of Royal grandeur, pomp or ceremony. They are shops and suppliers of fine goods, rather than palaces, cathedrals or castles.
These are the places where the gentry got their supplies, a different world from the showiness of Harrods or the flamboyance of Fortnum & Mason’s.
In fact, if you wander just a couple of streets along from F&M, you will discover the street of St. James’s. When the Royal Court moved to the Palace of St. James’s under King George I, shops sprung up around the Palace to cater for the needs of the Court. These were frequented by the gentry of the day and the mark of acceptance and propriety was when these shops received the Royal Warrant, meaning that they supplied the Royal household. And anything that was good enough for the Royal family was good enough for those in ‘society’.
In St. James’s you can get the finest that London has to offer. In St. James’s, you leave behind the vulgarity of Gucci, the easy accessibility of Ralph Lauren and the ostentation of designer labels. St. James’s clothiers are subtle. Almost invisible. Here, you get proper clothes, where the label is tucked away discreetly inside the garment rather than worn as a badge of flashy wealth. Real wealth is tailor made. Handmade shoes from Lobb https://www.johnlobbltd.co.uk/. (Esquire magazine called it ‘the most beautiful shop in the world”) Made to measure hats from Lock.
Fine wines from Berry Brothers and Rudd https://www.bbr.com/ (Lord Byron went there when they possessed one of the only weighing scales in London – he was, unsurprisingly, obsessed with his appearance.)
Bespoke scents and embrocations from the chemist D. R. Harris https://www.drharris.co.uk/. Just over Piccadilly, in Curzon Street, you can get an old fashioned shave and a haircut in the quiet and deferential surroundings of Geo Trumper Esq, barber to the gentry since 1875 https://www.trumpers.com/. These are the places frequented by not only Kings and Maharajahs, but by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Aristotle Onassis and Caruso. Well, by anyone in the know (and with the money) who wanted that classic English look or the best merchandise the world had to offer.
Geo Trumpers 
D.R. Harris
My Grandfather, who was the son of a tie manufacturer and owned a textile mill in industrial West Yorkshire, was a self-styled gentleman. He dressed impeccably. I suppose that being born into the sartorial trade he was bound to be well dressed. Being in woollen textiles, he supplied the cloth and had his suits tailored in Saville Row. When he died in the 1980s, I inherited his clothes. Shoes from Lobb, hats from Lock. (I discovered Berry Brothers & Rudd myself – I love good wine and it was only a matter of time before I succumbed to the charms of this beautiful old shop that started life as a coffee shop in 1698.) Grandpa’s shirts were made for him at Turnbull & Asser in Jermyn Street, which runs off the north end of St. James’s. It’s another class act that’s been around since the C19th. Opposite T&A’s entrance is a statue commemorating Beau Brummell, the epitome of a well dressed Englishman, who is a sort of unofficial patron saint of clothiers.
Next time you’re in London, take a little detour. Stray off the main thoroughfares of Piccadilly and through the byways of St. James’s and Mayfair, and you will discover hidden gems. These are proper old London. Places with history and charm. And you won’t be trampled under foot by hordes of tourists. Leave them to the gaudiness of New Bond Street with its designer labels or to Burlington Arcade with its glitzy jewellers and faux olde worlde charm.
Instead, pop into Davidoff to visit the humidor and inhale the atmosphere of an older, slower, quieter London. Ask for Edward Sahakian. He will be your guide and I am sure he will introduce you to some of his closest friends from Havana.
