1936 On the Continent

Mall.
    Sackville Street is now another Tailors’ Row.
    Getting down to brass tacks one may say that if a man keeps to this quarter he cannot go wrong on his purchases.
Men’s Wear
    Savile Row will claim his clothes, and he can get them very well made from
Tom Brown
in Cavendish Street. And this by the way is a bit north, but belongs by quality to the rest.
    The man who wants to give himself the proper hat will certainly go to
Lock
in St. James’s Street, though
Barnard & White
in Jermyn Street will do him remarkably well. For his shoes he has
Lobb
in St. James’s Street,
Moykopf
inthe Burlington Arcade, and
Faulkner’s
in South Molton Street—another arrow pointed towards the ever-growing northern district of the West End.
    If he wants really satisfactory mass-production shoes, he cannot do better than go to
Randall
or
Lilley & Skinner
, in any of their shops.
    His waterproofs he must buy from one or two people. Those who swear by
Burberry
, and those who swear by
Cordings
, are so sincere that you have to toss up before choosing which you will have.
    The Englishman who knows what is which gets his sticks and umbrellas from
Briggs
in St. James’s Street. There seems to be no question about this.
More for Men
    For ties, hose, and underclothing
Hilditch & Keys
of Jermyn Street run a keen race with
Tremlett
of Conduit Street and
Beale & Inman
of Bond Street. There is a school which considers that
Tremlett’s
ties are such as you cannot beat, no matter in what society you mix. The wise man will not overlook
Harborough
of Bond Street.
    Men who want their hair to be worn as a man’s hair should will go to
Hill
, or
Truefitt’s
in Bond Street, or to the man with the lovely name of
Penhaligon
in St. James’s Square.
    The difficult question of men’s jewellery is properly met by
Lacloche
or
Streeter
in Bond Street, and
Frodsham
in Oxford Street has a special talent in regard to watches.
    For general, complete fit-up, everything from hair cream to shoe lace, from overcoat to vest,
Austin Reed
in Regent Street can be counted on. He has a wonderful array of different fittings for each size.
    Simpson’s
in Piccadilly has replaced the solemnities of the Geological Museum by a grand array of necessities for men.
Men’s Pleasures
    In a good many of these women now join; but it still remains a convenient classification. There is a famous shop in St. James’s Street for fishing tackle, and
Hardy
in Pall Mall runs it close. For cigars the good buyer is very apt to go to
Fribourg & Treyer
, who sell them behind thoseold-fashioned bulgy windows in Haymarket which continue to prove that our latest ideas are not always our best.
    All optical instruments, from monocles to field-glasses, can come from
Negretti & Zambra
. If you want the kind of glass which is bought by the Navy, which has the whole of the Admiralty behind it, you will ask for those made by
Barr & Stroud
, and sold by all first-class houses.
Women’s Wear
    The shopping district for women, in regard to everything they wear, or carry, for use or for pleasure, lies to the north of that frequented by men, and tends increasingly to be west of it. During the last few years Bruton Street and Grosvenor Street have seen the tide of luxury trades moving over their solemn, solid, and attractive houses. Berkeley Square has accepted the fact that it must sell to those who once inhabited it. Grosvenor Square, though it has allowed flats at two of its corners, instead of the individual mansions of the past, has not yet accepted trade within its actual area.
Molyneux
, however, has reached the very edge of the Square. He has taken one of the “town houses” of what used to be known as the nobility and gentry, and has made of it, without altering its nature, a place of rest, even though full of activity. His work-girls are housed at the end of a terrace unique in London, and overlooking one of the most interesting of London’s queer humble-jumble collections of houses.
    Schiaparelli
has overshot the square by settling in Upper Grosvenor Street.
Shopping Districts
    One can take the shopping district for women as bounded on the west by Park Lane, on the south by Piccadilly, on the north by Oxford Street, and on the east by Regent Street.
    But this is only, as it were, the headquarters. There are offshoots, in particular on the south of the Park, to Knightsbridge and Kensington; with a rather important branch to the north of the Park, because
Whiteley
and
Bradley
are