But this part of town has a longer history than T.M.Lewin. St James, the area of central London in Westminster, has long been a fashionable and popular area of the city. In The 1530s St James’s palace was built by Henry VIII on the site of the Hospital of St James, and the palace is still officially the residence of the Sovereign, although, since Victoria’s accession in 1837 the Sovereign has lived at Buckingham Palace.
In the 1660s Charles II gave permission to Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St. Albans, to develop the area into a primarily aristocratic residential neighbourhood, centring on St James square. In the process the Earl gave his name to the street on which we were founded, and which to this day is synonymous with fine shirt making.
Shirt makers ended up on Jermyn Street due to the heavily male-oriented environment with many gentleman’s clubs that men would stay in nearby, creating a demand for barbers, drinking holes, cobblers, tailors, hatters etc. So it evolved, as it is today, to be mainly shirtmakers, menswear, pubs, restaurants.
The St James shirt was originally launched exclusively in Jermyn Street, with no plans to expand to other stores, but due to overwhelming demand we will now make the range available online and we intend to extend the range to ten other stores from April onwards. In addition, we’ve actually increased our offering, and the shirt will now be available in more sizes and with more colour options.
The St James is a modern take on our very popular Windsor style, but the collar is a more exaggerated full cutaway, it appears almost horizontal when it’s worn. The Italian market is well known for these forms of cutaway collars, probably because of their sartorial tendency towards exaggeration and expression. Italian shirt-makers and tailors often look at trends and conventions in English tailoring and amplify them – whether it is the fit of a suit, or shape of a collar. Furthermore, the Italians started the style of wearing a larger tie knot, so this shape of cutaway collar allows the tie to sit better.
We have ranged the St James on a slim fit block – not the slimmest block we offer, which is the fitted block – but still a great, close fit. We’ve kept the fabrics very simple and traditional this time, I feel that it’s all about showing the collar off with this shirt! It brings a very classic look into the modern age and is perfect for the new decade.
Have you tried the St James shirt yet? Let me know what you think.
Below John Francomb discusses collar shapes and advises on which ones suit various styles.