Long-term readers of my blog will know that I have had a roughly thirty-year attachment to a wonderful clothing store which was established in Elm Hill, Norwich thirty two years ago. It was exactly the opposite of every other men’s clothing store: the clothes were made to last forever; they made no effort whatsoever to follow fashion, in fact were wilfully modelled on styles which dates from round about the First World War; and they were designed to be generous to the expanding waistline instead of assuming that every one is built like a svelte twenty-one year old.
Today I received the catastrophic news that Old Town will close at the end of the year. Its proprietors, Marie and Will, have tried, but so far failed to find someone to take the business on. This seems unbelievable. The clothes are not so obviously cheap, so there should be a modest profit in them. They must have the most loyal clientele of any store in the world. It is exactly the sort of small-scale business enterprise producing ecologically sustainable clothing which should be a model for the future. Surely there is someone enterprising out there of the next generation who might be willing to take it on, even some hedge fund which might invest in it, or one of those Japanese companies which might take it on under new management ?
Because its clothes are built so magnificently to last I hope that I have got enough suits in the cupboard to see me out and then hand them on to the next generation, including at least two suits which are thirty years old. But what of the next generation ? Are they to be deprived of the pleasures of ringing up Miss. Willey’s successors and ordering a new suit which will fit without having to be fitted and will never go out of style because it was never in style ?
Now is your last chance to acquire an heirloom (https://www.old-town.co.uk/). And I hope that there might be someone out there with the intelligence and interest to take the business on into the future.
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
Tell Bella!
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Our thought too ! Charles
Tragic news. I still I wear a suit that I got from them in the early 90s. I don’t know how they source the cloths that they use, but they last forever. Let’s hope they can find someone to take over the business, but their legacy is secure – several other outfits, like Carrier Clothing, Community Clothing and Private White must have been inspired by Old Town.
But none are quite as good as the original. Charles
This is terrible news! … I wear my Old Town suits often, so worry that they won’t outlast me … But maybe their fabric and stitching are stronger than my own?
Get the King involved, if he isn’t already!
Or, maybe Patrick Grant (listen to him on Desert Island Discs of 22 October 2023).
If you go to the Old Town instagram page you will find a link to an episode of the podcast ‘MenSwear by a woman’ which is a newly recorded extensive interview with Will and Marie. It is particularly telling about the problems they have recruiting skilled machinists (they have gone from ten to four) as those with the appropriate skills retire. It is also interesting on their influences – for instance the photographs of August Sander. There is no suggestion on the podcast that their demise is quite so imminent – so maybe there is a glimmer of hope for their iteration of what Montague Burton liked to call wholesale bespoke (not made to measure but some adjustments made to fit the purchaser).
Dear Joan, Thank you for this. I will look up the interview. Quite a few people have been surprised by the apparent suddenness of the announcement, but I sense it has been brewing for a while, partly, as you have gathered, because of the difficulties of finding appropriately skilled outworkers. Charles