Hawes & Curtis

As another reviewer has hinted, this is basically a high street store dressed up as an old school English tailor. I don’t know much about their history, but this is no Savile Row operation based on my experience.
The shirts seem nice — they have lots of different patterns including several white collar and cuffs combos, and a few different types of fit for the ladies’ shirts, varying from fully fitted to loose, and with various combination of single cuff, ¾ sleeves, double cuff etc.
Having glanced a nice floral number in the window along with a giant sale sign (I am not convinced there is ever NOT a sale on here, however — it’s one of those places) I was drawn in, but I shall probably not be returning. Vast scope of wares aside, there was nothing to warm me to this shop. It’s easier to list my frustrations:
I wasn’t allowed to try on said floral shirt; instead, I had to try on a random size 12 shirt, then if that fit, I would be ‘permitted’ to try on the floral one. To my mind this must be a cost saving exercise and it makes the experience feel cheap. I could see the logic if I just wanted a plain blue shirt, but buying a patterned item without checking how the pattern looks on you first is nonsensical. In any case, they were willing to let me try it on as long as I knew it would fit? They just didn’t want to have to open the plastic and put it back again?
The man who suggested I try on the ‘sample’ was borderline rude at first, and subsequently studiously ignored me. Another member of staff was polite but ultimately unhelpful as he waved his arm in the direction of the right shelf and suggested I look myself, panic in his eyes as he saw another customer and effectively dumped me.
I ended up quite liking the sample size pattern and asked to buy that instead. They didn’t have that pattern in stock. In any size. At this point I began to lose patience.
I was sort of offered 10% off the sample except then the man wandered off to deal with someone else and never came back to me.
I left.
All the shirts are priced £69 to 99 but at the moment are around £20 each. I would not pay £99 for them, but they are probably a good deal at £20 — however, even to shift them at that price they need to up their customer service.

Decades ago, Hawes & Curtis was a great and respected bespoke tailor for shirts and suits. Even the Duke of Edinburgh got his suits cut here by his cutter John Kent.
Today, unfortunately, it is a completely different story. They are targeting the mass market with cheap shirts and suits of mediocre quality; most of their items belong to the lower average spectrum of the high-​street products and are made overseas.
Hawes & Curtis seem to have a ²⁴⁄₇ 365-​days-​a-​year sale going on, and I have never seen any shirt of theirs sold at the «regular» price of allegedly between 65 and 90 GBP. Instead, their shirts routinely retail at around 25 to 30 GBP which is the price a shirt of this quality should not exceed.
They try to give their products a distinctly British flair, but the traditional split yokes of their shirts are not cut at an angle (no point therefore), and their suits lack the fitting shape of a real British garment.
Their shops on Jermyn street also sell a range of fairly decent women’s shirts as well as ties, handkerchiefs and cuff links.
All in all probably a decent value for money, but the Hawes & Curtis product is in fact no longer much more than a cheap-​ish high-​street piece of clothing.
What a shame !

I was struggling to find my dad a decent Christmas present, and pushed for time I just had no idea until I came across Hawes & Curtis. I have always known about it, and from the outside the shirts all looked vibrant and pristine.
The colours of the shirts all lined up on the wall in their cubicles, according to size look enticing. They have an array of striped, checkered, herringbone, paisley and plain shirts in bright bold colours, to more subdued tones.
I went for their Warwick light blue striped shirt for my dad and all the shirts in that section cost £25.00, reduced from £65.00. The quality is very good, so for £25.00 it is worth it.
They also sell silk handkerchiefs, ties, cufflinks, boxer shorts and pyjamas as well as a decent range of women’s shirts and accessories.