Tailors, hatters and arcades: shopping in London, the back story

About Tailors, hatters and arcades: shopping in London, the back story

By the ULTIMATE London Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

London shopping is a story of specialists: tailors, hatters, perfumers and wine merchants who have traded from the same streets for centuries, alongside the great department stores.

St James’s

Around St James’s Street and Jermyn Street, Lock & Co. has made hats since 1676, Berry Bros. & Rudd has sold wine since 1698, and Fortnum & Mason has been on Piccadilly since 1707.

Savile Row and Mayfair

Savile Row became the home of bespoke tailoring in the 19th century; Henry Poole & Co has cut suits since 1806. Bond Street and Mount Street are home to fashion houses and jewellers.

In St James’s, the shop assistant may work for a firm older than the United States.

The arcades

Burlington Arcade of 1819, with its uniformed Beadles, and the Piccadilly and Royal Arcades are covered streets of small specialist shops.

The department stores

Liberty, Selfridges, Harrods and Harvey Nichols each have their own character, from Liberty’s Tudor-revival galleries to the Harrods Food Halls.

Our advice: start in St James’s for the historic shops, cross Piccadilly to Burlington Arcade and Savile Row, and end at Liberty or Selfridges.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Tailors, hatters and arcades: shopping in London, the back story before you go.