Old England

[fatherseanfan]

On a recent visit to Paris I went into Old England. Interesting place. I was wondering if anyone has ever purchased any of their house label offerings and what their quality was like? I see no threads in the archives about them. They seemed decent to me, maybe on par with Hackett (which was also in the store) but quite expensive. Old England cutaway collar shirts were going for as much as 145EU.

 

[whnay.]

Originally Posted by fatherseanfan

On a recent visit to Paris I went into Old England. Interesting place. I was wondering if anyone has ever purchased any of their house label offerings and what their quality was like? I see no threads in the archives about them. They seemed decent to me, maybe on par with Hackett (which was also in the store) but quite expensive. Old England cutaway collar shirts were going for as much as 145EU.

I actually bought a couple last week on my visit. I really like the linen blends they had, especially the ones without the chest pocket. I didn't think the price was too bad...

 

[Frog in Suit]

My wife has bought things for me at Old England, IIRC a Herbert Johnson flat cap and Trumper's cologne ("Astor"). It is a beautiful shop, on two or three levels, rather expensive, but good quality merchandise in the BCBG/Sloanie/trad mold. They have a Barbour section. Their web site seems to have been "en construction" for a while.

Frog in Suit

 

[RJman]

Old England is now owned by Albert Goldberg, who founded (and later sold) Faconnable. He acquired Old England from Richemont, which owned Hackett and still owns Dunhill, both of which had presences in OE. I have the feeling Richemont was unable to make OE generate a sizeable profit since it is an old-fashioned building and shop on a grand scale -- perfect as a loss leader for some global brand like Polo but not as a stand-alone shop. On my last visit, the merchandise appeared to be in the process of being wrenched back to today's humbling modern mundanity. No more Brigg umbrellas (although Swaine Adeney suitcases and briefcases that are too expensive to buy), no more of the gorgeous cashmeres from Ballantyne, instead more Italian names, and much space devoted to the owner's own brand, "Albert Arts". I honestly don't know how much longer Old England will remain in its present incarnation before it rejoins Madelios as a grand shop now wretchedly mediocre.

The Old England house brand is fairly variable. It ought to be decent quality, although my impression is that even ten years ago it used to be much better -- some of the best names in Britain used to make for it. No longer.

 

[il vecchio]

I was in the other day and funnily enough I thought it looked a bit revived after how tatty it has looked lately. The Albert Arts shirts and ties were pretty nice I thought, if a bit expensive.

 

[LabelKing]

Perhaps Ralph Lauren should buy it up as a kind of Heritage Flagship--it does seem perfect for that kind of look.

 

[Frog in Suit]

Thank you all for the information and ideas of what OE should become. I would be sorry to see such an old and beautiful shop disappear.
Frog in Suit

 

[RSS]

Not long ago I found a used but fairly recent coat by Old England. VERY disappointing. Not much sign of hand work.

 

[johnvw]

Originally Posted by fatherseanfan

On a recent visit to Paris I went into Old England. Interesting place. I was wondering if anyone has ever purchased any of their house label offerings and what their quality was like? I see no threads in the archives about them. They seemed decent to me, maybe on par with Hackett (which was also in the store) but quite expensive. Old England cutaway collar shirts were going for as much as 145EU.

Old England is in Paris?!

 

[goretexman]

Originally Posted by johnvw

Old England is in Paris?!

Yes.

 

[Koala-T]

Hey, I realize this thread is old, and probably no one is following it anymore, but any idea who makes their suits?

 

[Frog in Suit]



Hey, I realize this thread is old, and probably no one is following it anymore, but any idea who makes their suits?

Old England is now defunct, replaced by a watch shop (Bucherer).

Frog in Suit

 

[Koala-T]

Old England is now defunct, replaced by a watch shop (Bucherer).

Frog in Suit

Thanks, but do you know who made their suits? Found one that seems pretty nice in a thrift shop with a maker tag that looks vaguely like Caruso. Unfortunately, the maker label and thrift thread don't seem to recognize it, and my Googling has turned up nothing.

 

[Frog in Suit]

I have no idea. Sorry.

I suspect, since I do not think they ever made anything themselves, they commissioned garments from various manufacturers at different times. I think, from what I have read, they moved from "Old England"-type stuff to more Italian-like styles, which would imply different sourcing,but this is just a guess.

Frog in Suit