Defunct Maker Tie Pr0n: Sulka, Beale, Lords, Holliday and Brown

I'm going to keep editing this post to add other pictures as I finish them, but I thought it would be interesting to have a few pictures of interesting ties from makers of yesteryear. Full disclosure, I intend to sell a couple of these on B&S soon and will post details there.

First, a Beale & Inman tie which appears to be from back when they were one of the best bespoke shirtmakers in London instead of a shop selling expensive Italian RTW. A very nice silver,gold,black and white Macclesfield design in woven silk:





Label detail:



Next, a Washington Tremlett tie in pink woven paisley on silver-blue. Tremletts were shirtmakers with branches in London and Paris; according to the defrocked Francis N Bown they invented the necktie. Tremletts also did the shirts for Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, which is why they launched a perfume of the same name which is still out there in the ether.

Kilgour's old pre-Brandelli site www.8savilerow.com used to mention that Kilgour had purchased Tremlett's operations and that Kilgour's bespoke shirts were made under the Tremlett name. However, the name Tremlett no longer appears on Kilgour's site and the description of Kilgour's bespoke shirts (at www.kilgour.eu) sounds more like MTM than bespoke. This is rather ironic as Kilgour's website has been updated to reflect its move away from RTW and Shanghai bespoke to focus on its Savile Row bespoke product. I personally think this was a disastrous move; most tailors still on SR are supported by RTW, licenses or cheaper MTM options not done in-house. Kilgour's collections under Brandelli were some of the best designed and elegant RTW to bear the name of an SR house, while the Shanghai bespoke option (while constantly rising in price) was an effective stepping stone for customers moving from high street to good RTW to bespoke.

Other SR firms have been known to snap up bespoke shirtmakers in an effort to diversify, not always successfully. Gieves purchased a firm called Hodgkinsons decades ago, while Dege has a very good real shirtmaker in Robert Whitaker, ex of Bowring Arundel. Most SR firms selling bespoke shirts nowadays are offering rebadged product from someone else -- Sean O'Flynn or a lesser quality.

Despite their allegedly having invented the necktie, this example does not appear to be handmade.



Label:



However, it does have a well-made self-keeper stitched into the center seam:



Next up, Sulka:

I love Sulka ties, some of the vintage ones have incredible designs (some are incredibly bad, too) and the quality is generally quite high. The very last incarnation of Sulka sold fairly forgettable ties made by someone else, but they always kept the odd reinforced area in the middle of the tie for durability. Props.

This is a tan and blue print. A very simple design on silk twill, but it is elegant and the twill has a sheen reminiscent of Hermes' silks.

Tie and detail:





Label and gold reinforcement thread:





Detail of its mate in yellow:



Another favorite Sulka tie with a fantastic abstract woven design:



Detail:



The stitched reinforcement at the middle of the tie for durability in knotting (?):



Other side of the reinforced area:



A much more recent Sulka tie, with some sort of print of shrimp or lobster:



For whatever reason, the woven tipping design changed:



... but the reinforcement is still there:





I got married in this tie, an amazingly contemporary tie which must have been made decades ago: I don't think Sulka has used these labels since very long ago. I know they're talking about resuscitating Sulka, but I wonder if the ties will continue to have the reinforcement and if there will be anything at all special about their merchandise the way there used to be. Certainly I doubt they will have their rue de Castiglione shop back -- Franck Namani is there now, although Sulka's name is still in the faded mosaics on the sidewalk.:





Another favorite -- an intricate green and purple design that nothing today can compare to:







A pair of old Sulka ties, one in a harlequin green-cream-coral weave and one in a pixelated pink weave:



Details:





Last Sulka, a very nice tie with mistletoe for the holidays:







Lord's of the Burlington Arcade. Until its demise about ten or 15 years ago this was the only continuously operating shop which had been in the Burlington Arcade since it opened in 1774. It sold some of the finest accessories and furnishings, and in Dorothy Sayers' books was the shirtmaker to Lord Peter Wimsey.

A nice old paisley:



Self-keeper (might need some restitching, hmmm):



Label:



I think this tie is somewhat newer -- a fairly classic British-style woven pattern of squares and diamonds:



Much better self-keeper and a newer label:



Lastly, a couple of ties made by Holliday & Brown for Hilditch & Key. H&B are still around although they're now made in Italy.

This oddity must have been made at least 20 years ago.





At some point H&K shifted to selling two lines of ties: machine-made ones (still very good quality) allegedly by John Comfort and a "Hand Made Fine Silk Collection" line made by H&B which were truly excellent ties. The Paris shop only sold handmade ties, some made in France by Boivin and some of the H&Bs. (You can still find really old ancient madder ties there which must have sat in that shop for 20 years.) Recently they have been selling some tatty made in Italy ties. The Paris H&K only had one of these tie designs with pulled threads last time I checked -- I found this by happenstance in the ether and picked it up.



Note the well-made self-keeper, the best H&B made for anyone (excepting Udeshi):

That Beale looks surprisingly modern for a vintage necktie. One doesn't often see those kinds of shiny woven silks from the British it seems.

Thank you for such a lovely post - I'll see if I can add a few more.

I used to have a selection of the older Sulka ties, but they were just too short and narrow for me, so I moved them on.

I'm pleased to say that it took me a while to find some ties from defunct makers (or something close!), many are still operating healthily!

I've no idea what the story is with this, it's badged 'Robert M Rose - Gustave Van Geluwe'. As you can see, it needs some re-stitching;



An old Henry Poole tie - again, the label needs re-attaching on one side, but it's a lovely design and hand made in England



Taken to illustrate a point - nice to see a keeper, but it needs to be sewn at the edges, especially on a fabric such as this;



Great Trevelyan tie with balloons on it - definitely a long departed brand;



An old Lewin - they're still in operation, but not with ties quite like this. For some reason, this seems to be considered a bit 'loud' - I've had two comments to that effect;



A nice handmade Alan Figaret, made in France - I don't think their current stock is up to this;



And finally another Holliday & Brown;

On the subject of Sulka, I have these two items framed in my non-media room -- a Paris postcard of Sulka (!) and a Sulka ad from long, long ago with line drawings of the Paris, London and NY shops, including the fateful corner of Rivoli and Castiglione that was so meaningful...





And among defunct makers, who can forget Sambrook Witting? When last heard of it was just a name folded into John Comfort... but it was a silk house/tiemaker that Marinella himself celebrated in the same breath as Holliday & Brown. The ties themselves are frankly a bit wonky, but definitely full of character:

A favorite -- swords, sabres and cutlasses on dark green:





Calling Captain Phallus, Seaman Staines, Master Bates and Roger the Cabin Boy!

From swords to shields: this has become known as "The Hogwarts tie" at my house... Shield logos resemble those on my Legos:





Last up, a duppioni silk in flaming red:

Lord's double-sided silk and cashmere scarf. As mentioned above, Lord's were among the premier haberdashers and shirtmakers in London since 1774, and had occupied the Burlington Arcade since its opening. This is a navy scarf with hand-tied silk fringes. One side is navy silk twill with a red deco-style square print, one side is navy cashmere. I believe the convention at the time for cashmere scarves was 70% cashmere 30% wool, the wool being added for durability. The first time I ever saw a double-sided scarf like this was in Goldfinger, when Goldfinger reverses his coat and scarf and suddenly is disguised as a military officer in Fort Knox. Not too often seen anymore, still very cool. I have a similar one with an Op Art style turquoise dot print that was probably made by the same people.