The Tamesis
At Margaret Howell’s store, a stone’s throw from the Madeleine Church, where the current men’s and women’s collections have been replaced by the upcoming fall collection, the eye is immediately drawn to a crisp olive green “Railway” Mac coat, lined in wool herringbone, hanging in the entrance. The real action happens further inside, however, where we meet Eva sewing the collar of a blue cotton shirt with light stripes. Who needs background music when you have the environment and functionality of a sewing machine?
Eva is the manager of Margaret Howell London Workroom, a newly opened studio in north London where the brand is redoubling its commitment to shirting. “We pay a lot of attention to detail,” she said as she finished the light interlining.
Photos and text tell the story of Howell’s initial commitment to making the perfect shirt in her home studio, where she placed a bed above the machine because of limited space. Now, more than 50 years later, the purpose-built facility is packed with machinists who assemble a London studio shirt (which will have a dedicated black label) in three to four hours – requiring around 12,000 stitches. There’s something delightful about this little display: a bridge from the brand’s origins to the present day, where Margaret Howell remains a reference for sensible British style.
As for next season’s upcoming products, many of the highlights address what regular customers may be missing from their wardrobes. So, a casual version of a tuxedo jacket and trousers, as well as a pleated poplin shirt—if not an all-black tie—will work for more formal occasions. Cotton shirts with ruffled collars will create fresh necklines on existing sweaters and jackets, while wool-linen plaid skirts and sweaters will prove an effortlessly coordinated look, in sync with the polished/bookish trend emerging elsewhere. A navy collarless, drop-waisted dress was repurposed from the archives; apparently, it’s one of Howell’s favorite pieces.
The brand specializes in cold-weather accessories—certainly built to handle months of dreary and wet weather. One of the most eye-catching is the stylized tam o’shanter, a flat hat decorated with small pom-poms, often in tartan fabric. These versions will be in lambswool; if you wear one in Paris, people will compliment your beret.
