MK to the UK.....and beyond.

[MK]

Well fellas......today I leave for England. I will be in London for a week then to New York City for a bit. I will be back the first week of February.

While you are sleeping tonight I will be in Herbert Johnson buying my Brigg umbrella, James Lock for a tweed cap and Baron to speak to them about a three piece suit.

Wish me luck. There are a lot of people in world who are not fond of America and hate the freedom that we have and our way of life. They are working hard everyday to try and take it from us. No.......I am not talking about the democrates.

Seriously though, I would be grateful if you would remember me in your prayers. I will check in every now and again.....and should I return.....I will share the tale of my adventures. :fedora:

 

[Nathan Flowers]

We wish you Godspeed, MK. We will remember you in prayer during your journey, and safe return home.
Nathan

 

[Kwebs]

Good Luck! Have a safe trip.

Dave

 

[mmarosy]

As I stated on COW, we'll keep you in ours.

How long will you be in NY?

Mike

PS: One of these trips, you'll have to fly through D.C..

 

[MK]

Several days. It will be good to be in NY again. They might just a few cool hat shops.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Have fun on your trip... I hope you have no troubles.

I New York, you may want to check out Worth and Worth. They have a big reputation though I have so far been dissapointed with their hats. you may want to see what they have to offer in person.
http://www.hatshop.com/

 

[Andykev]

MK

HEY MK bring me back a lot of photos so you can post them. And an order of Fish and Chips. Be safe my Administrator.

 

[MK]

MK at large

......TELEGRAM......

TO: THE FEDORA LOUNGE

FROM: MK

.......Hi and hello from the big apple.....STOP
I just arrived in the wee hours from the UK......STOP

I have a busy schedule and won't be on line but for a few moments.........but I will be back next week.......STOP

I have very interesting news and treasures from my travels to show. I look forward to a big get together upon my return....STOP

Best Wishes,

MK

........END OF TRANSMISSION.

 

[Matt Deckard]

I await the arrival of our intrepid adventurer MK and the treasures he brings from abroad.

 

[MK]

Hi there gentlemen,

It is good to be back. I feel like I have been gone forever.

London had not changed since my last visit a year ago.......except that the dollar was worth much less. Luckily my business in England provided me spending money in sterling, therefore my purchases didn't hurt as much as it would have.

One the first things I did was make my way to the Herbert Johnson shop....which is not called that anymore....or at least it is missing from the front of the building now. It merely says "Swaine Adeney Brigg". I inquired about the absence of HJ from the sign and was told that they had the windows redone and that it just hadn't been added. This seemed a bit unlikely to me.

I also confirmed that Swales has indeed retired. The hat section of the stores is bleak. There are a stack....and I do mean a stack....one on top of the other of what they call a "poet"......which looks nothing like the one seen in their old catalog. The best one of the bunch looked catty-whomus. I wouldn't pay a hundred dollars for one. Most of their fedoras are the trilby style with short tapered crowns. The top hats and tweed caps continue to look nice though.

Unless something changes, we can safely say the era of the Herbert Johnson poet has past. From a substance view it has been dead for a long time. But now that Swales is gone, the only thing left is the name....which looks weird on the new black liners.

Swaine Adeney Brigg is a high-end accessory shop in the financial district of London that offers luggage, walking sticks, umbrellas....and oh yes....hats.

Speaking of umbrellas....their hats may have gone south, but the Brigg umbrella still stands tall as the king of umbrellas and is deserving of the gold band with the royal crest that it bares. I had many to choose from, but in the end one particular burnt maple that had a lot of character was clearly the pick of the litter. It was 135 pounds and a thing of beauty. Unfortunately it only rained one day on my entire trip.

From there I went down the street to James Lock & co. I was going to get an eight piece cap, but after trying it on decided that it was not my style. It looked too twenties to me. I chose a regular tweed cap that I have come to really like. It has three rivets on the underside of the brim that acts as vents. It was a good purchase for only thirty pounds. Their custom made caps are seventy pounds. I didn't see much advantage in them.....especially at twice the price!

I visited a few vintage clothing stores....which we really antique shops that had a few clothing items. There were no decent vintage hats to be found.

The only other thing I had decided to buy in London was a wallet. The wallet I had was a funky black leather one that my UK money wouldn't fit into. US dollars are all the same size. A one dollar bill is the same size as a hundred dollar bill. Not so with British pounds. The larger the denomination the wider the bill. Trying to keep fifty pound notes in my Yankee wallet was like trying to put a banana skin over a watermelon. I had wanted a nice brown leather wallet anyway, so I kept my eye out for one. Business kept me from giving that one much time and it was time to leave. I figured that I might be able to get one at the airport. They always have luggage shops at major airports and luggage shops usually have wallets. Heathrow is no exception. They have many shops to try one last time to persuade you to part with your pounds.

The first shop had a mediocre wallet. I was considering it until I saw the price tag. 60 Pounds! Herbert.......I mean Swaine Adeney Brigg had them for only thirty five. I moved on to the next shop and found wallets for 100 pounds Each shop was more expensive than the last. I got to the end of the row and found a cheap looking wallet for over 200 pounds. I told them if they can get someone to pay that.....they deserve it.

I looked across the way and saw that Harrods had a shop. Harrods is the most expensive place in the world to buy anything. I thought I would have a laugh and see what they asked for a mere wallet. They did have expensive wallets, but the sales person (all their sales people were great) seeing that I was not a millionaire ushered me over to their gift section and I found a great looking brown leather wallet for only thirty pounds. It even had Harrods embossed on it. I had an urge to show it to the shop with the two hundred pound wallet but decide to let it go.

Flying out of London in winter is a pain in the arse. Every time it snows while we are at the gate and we have to wait for hours for the de-icing machine to arrive. At any rate.....six hours later we took off and after another five and a half we arrived at JFK in the big apple.

New York is a very dangerous city.....and I am not talking crime either. Directly across the street from my hotel is Men's Wearhouse, Brooks Brothers, Joseph Bank and several other high-end men's stores. I have never been a big shopping for clothes kind of guy....but this was intoxicatingly. What made it worse was they all had sales going on to move the Christmas/winter stock. If that weren't enough the city was having a "no tax" weekend or something like that. Everything was half price and no tax! How how can I resist THAT!

Three dress shirts, two sweaters, a bow tie, a package of under shirts and several pairs of socks later I came to my senses. I was trying on a three piece suit when I realized I had better stop right there before the point of no return.

Several of the shops carried Borsalinos. Unfortunately they were all the low tapered trilby style. I was amazed that one of the stores had tweed caps from James Lock! Brooks Brothers makes a really good umbrella that is the same design of the Brigg without the beautiful wood and the hefty price. It was only fifty dollars.

I had a drink at the bar of what is considered by many as the world's most beautiful hotel, the Waldorf-Astoria. They place is amazing. The cost of the mosaic tile work in lobby could buy my house several times alone. This is the hotel place for the filthy rich. Garden variety rooms are 300-400 a night. They didn't have Woodford Reserve, So I had a Knob Creek bourbon on the rocks. They presented it in a robust thick glass of a good size. Not the chintzy little glasses that some places do. It had a generous amount in it too. It was great hanging out at such a beautiful place. It was weird seeing a couple of guys wearing jeans and sneakers in such a posh place. The disease is everywhere......even at the Waldorf.

On the way back we passed a smoke shop that some gorgeous things in the window including Borsalino fedoras .....and to my shock.....Brigg umbrellas! You gotta love this town.

The food amazing too. We had dinner at Morton's steak house and lunch at Mr. K's, a Chinese restaurant in a five million dollar art deco palace, some foo-foo Italian food at a place that I forget (not my style but they did manage to serve me something hearty) Of course we had some great NY pizza at Angelo?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s.

I didn't get a chance (again) to visit some of the sites that I wanted to: The empire state building, The statue of liberty, the oceanliner museum and the most beautiful building in the world, the Chrysler building, but I had a fantastic time. It was my best visit to New York ever. I am already looking forward to the next one.

I couldn't live in New York....especially in the 19 degree weather that we were in.....but it is a great city to visit.

.....and that wraps up yet another MK adventure.

 

[Nathan Flowers]

Sounds like a fantastic trip, MK. I'm glad you made it back safely.

 

[Imahomer]

I always enjoy the updates and run downs. Thanks.

 

[Andykev]

Cheers to you, MK!

And you even made it back in time for the Vintage Expo! I hear NY has EVERYTHING you could ever want, and the bad mouthing of high crime is greatly exaggerated. I also have it on good authority that NY is far cleaner and safer than San Francisco. Our beautiful City by the Bay with it's hills and little cable cars has become a dumping ground for homeless, beggars, flaming "act up" whistle blowing anarchists, and the like.

Pictures to post of your trip?

 

[MK]

Here is the new look for the shop....minus Herbert Johnson.

 

[Imahomer]

While I'm going to France and Italy later this year, I'm thinking of making a stop in England for a few days. I might have to get some address' and such if I can line that up.

 

[farnham54]

If I keep hanging around you lot I'll NEVER have any savings! Looks like New York is going onto Page 18 million of the list of "Places to Go"

Good thing the conversation is good or I'd be gone

Good to have you back MK; sad to hear about HJ but glad you had yourself a pleasant trip.

Regards,

Craig

 

[MK]

While I'm going to France and Italy later this year, I'm thinking of making a stop in England for a few days. I might have to get some address' and such if I can line that up.

Can do. I have visited London at least once a year for the last decade and can suggest a few other things that may help. It will be interesting to hear how you make out with hats in Italy. You might find some real treasures in second hand shops.

As for France.......you might find a nifty women's under arm comb.

Originally posted by farnham54
If I keep hanging around you lot I'll NEVER have any savings! Looks like New York is going onto Page 18 million of the list of "Places to Go"

Good thing the conversation is good or I'd be gone

Good to have you back MK; sad to hear about HJ but glad you had yourself a pleasant trip.

Ain't that the truth, brother? It tapped my wallet good....but I loved it.

Thanks. It is good to be back......in The Lounge.

 

[Imahomer]

quote:
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While I'm going to France and Italy later this year, I'm thinking of making a stop in England for a few days. I might have to get some address' and such if I can line that up.
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Can do. I have visited London at least once a year for the last decade and can suggest a few other things that may help. It will be interesting to hear how you make out with hats in Italy. You might find some real treasures in second hand shops.

As for France.......you might find a nifty women's under arm comb.

LOL... Well, France will be a little of Paris, then the Alpes region, where my family is originally from. I've got a guide in Italy lined up (a brother in law who now lives there) so I'm thinking good things about Italy. I'd love to get some intel on England before I go there, since it would probably be for just a few days. I was going to try visit their police canine training institution. I've heard it was top notch and I'd like to compare notes. Other than that, I'm pretty wide open.