When a man is bored of London, he is bored of life; for there is in London all
that life can afford.--Samuel Johnson
Especially when it comes to shopping for menswear. Paris, Rome and Milan may jump to mind first as
pure fashion producers, but when a man is actually acquiring clothing, no place is so accommodating as
the small area that comprises St. James's, Bond Street and Savile Row in London. A greater
concentration of high-toned haberdashers exists here than just about anywhere in the world. All stand
ready to outfit any gentleman's wardrobe with impeccable style and service of the first order.
From hat to shoes, every aspect of apparel is available in the shops that line these lanes or hide in
little warrens called arcades -- and not just according to the fickle cycles of fashion that dictate what
you can buy in any other city. In London, if you crave a proper ascot even when no one in his right
fashion sense has touched an ascot in 20 years, you can still get a proper ascot.
That's not to say that London shopping is all the stodgy, replacement business of trudging back to the
same store year after year to buy the same shirt your father's father wore (although tradition still
exists). Current styles abound in London as young designers such as Oswald Boateng have trumpeted a
rebirth of London's mod era. But it's not just the homegrown, for most every fashion designer around
the world has set up shop on or near Bond Street, from Versace to Armani to Donna Karan. We key here
on the uniquely English, however. After all, why cross the Atlantic to visit stores you have at home?
Read on and see what life and London have to offer. (With apologies to Dr. Johnson, it's not always
what life can afford, but what you can afford.)
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