Umbrellas made in Great Britain – Umbrellas Made in England – British Made Umbrellas, Walking Sticks and Shooting Sticks and Awnings

British Made Umbrellas, Walking Sticks and Shooting Sticks.  Umbrellas made in the UK.

An umbrella (or brolly) is used to keep off the rain or the sun. A parasol more often than not is a term used for an umbrella designed to shade people from the sun and unlike a rain umbrella may not be waterproof. Umbrellas are widely used in the UK, Japan and elsewhere. You can get full sized umbrellas, folding umbrellas, travel umbrellas and the larger golf umbrellas, plus work umbrellas and garden umbrellas.

It is generally recognised that London has been the home of the best umbrellas and walking sticks and to some extent that tradition is carried on today, although the majority of umbrellas sold in the UK are made in China nowadays.

It is sadly the case that to the best of my knowledge there are no umbrellas made entirely in the UK any longer.  There are companies like those below claiming to sell “Made in the UK” umbrellas, but actually all the umbrella frames (the key component of any umbrella) are manufactured in China.  One might take the view simply attaching a canopy or handle (neither of which are of UK origin in some cases) in the UK does not make it genuinely “Made in the UK”.

You might consider getting a vintage British umbrella from somewhere like eBay, a charity shop, an antiques shop or a car boot sale but these are often in need of rather lot of work before they might be presentable. There is a buoyant and sometimes expensive market in secondhand English umbrellas on eBay.

The following are the UK manufacturers and retailers of British made umbrellas that I know of:

Turnbull and Asser – Made in England

Sartorial Icon: James Bond [1962 Dr No]. Notice those cuffs: Turnbull & Asser turnback button closure.

Turnbull & Asser.

Turnbull and Asser is a shirtmaker and clothier and Royal Warrant holder established in 1885, with a beautiful flagship store on Jermyn Street in London. Now owned by Ali Al-Fayed, younger brother of Mohamed Al-Fayed, former owner of Harrods. They have their own factory in Gloucester, as well as using other manufacturers. An exclusive traditional outfitters, selling off-the-peg and custom made shirts, knitwear, braces, boxer shorts, scarves, pyjamas, socks, handkerchiefs, umbrellas, bow ties and ties; with the majority of items made in Britain. Note that not all their items are made in the UK, but country of origin is given on their website. Turnbull and Asser remains, quite simply, one of the best shops in London and online.

http://www.turnbullandasser.co.uk

Turnbull and Asser, Jermyn Street, London, March 2010

British Pants and Knickers – British Made Underwear for men and women (and British made swimwear)

Shops like M&S no longer sell British made underwear and it is hard to find underwear that is made in the UK. However there is still some great British made underwear made. Here are a few possibilities (in no particular order) for British made underpants and swimwear:

Kiniki Franco Boxer Black. Made in England.

*Kiniki (JW Walker Limited) make very good quality underwear for men and swimwear for men and women at a good price and come highly recommended.  They are perhaps most famous for making tan though swimwear.  Designed, manufactured and dispatched from their factory in Staffordshire, England. Each and every pair of their mens underwear & mens & womens Tan Through swimwear is made in England. However, currently all their ladies (bamboo) underwear is made in Turkey. Kinki plans that in future their womens underwear will once again be made in their factory in England, so keep an eye out for that. The Bolin razors they sell are made in England. However the socks, bags and suncare cream they sell are foreign made – http://www.kiniki.com

Kiniki tan through women’s and men’s swimwear. Made in England.

British made pyjamas, nightshirts and dressing gowns

Below is a nice article about UK made pyjamas.  The company mentioned make all their nightwear in Britain. I’ve not tried these pyjamas but they look good – html://www.pjpan.co.uk/about.  

Other possible (again untested) places to buy British pyjamas and dressing gowns (and I am sure there must be more) are:

Sir Plus dressing gowns are made in Britain. You’ll find many other made in England clothing items at Sir Plus. Everything they sell appears to be made in England.

http://www.guda.me.uk/ – just pyjama bottoms; made in England.

http://store.turnbullandasser.co.uk – Made in England. You’ll find many other made in England men’s clothing items at Turnbull and Asser.

http://www.sogoodnight.com/ – for kids pyjamas made in England.

http://jimjamz-gifts.co.uk – for babies and little ones – pyjamas packaged in jam jars designed to look like homemade jam – all produced in the UK.

http://www.midnightlondon.co.uk – playful pyjamas for ladies and hot water bottle covers made in England from 100% cotton.

Betty Blues Loungerie for women is made in the UK – pyjamas, nightwear, robes, etc.

Budd shirtmakers pyjamas, nightshirts and dressing gowns are all made in the UK, as well as made in England shirts (off the beg or bespoke using English, Italian or Swiss milled cloth), pocket squares, braces by Albert Thurston, Tina Loader ties (other ties and cravats are foreign made), waistcoats, and Pantherella socks. Other items are generally foreign made. They say on their website “we are passionate in celebrating and supporting British craft and workmanship and all of our products are sourced here in the UK”, although of course that does not mean they are all made in the UK. They have a shop in the Piccadilly Arcade in London.

New & Lingwood sell exclusive and very exclusive made in England dressing gowns and slippers, as well as made in England ties, socks (some are made in Italy though), scarves (again some are made in Italy), coats, shoes, and pockets squares (again some are made in Italy). Other items are generally foreign made. They also use English milled clothes for some of their foreign made suits and trousers, as well as some Italian milled fabric, off the peg and tailored. Their off the peg shirts are foreign made, although possibly their bespoke shirts are made in England perhaps using Italian milled cotton. They have shops at 53 Jermyn Street, London (on the corner of the Piccadilly Arcade) and in Eton, near Windsor.

Emma Willis make exclusive dressing gowns and pyjamas in England, as well as made in England shirts, boxer shorts, and walking socks.

Barrington Ayre make bespoke and made to order English made mens and ladies pyjamas and dressing gowns.

Avaj men’s underwear is made in the UK. Avaj say “The entire clothing and grooming product ranges are 100% designed and manufactured within the UK, and in fact this is true of 99% of the avaj product range.” Underwear – Briefs, vests, lounge pants, hooded robes, dressing gowns. Male Grooming & Skincare by avaj – exfoliating scrubs, moisturisers, beard shampoos and conditioners, etc. Accessories – Washbags, weekend bags, top hats, bow ties, pocket squares. Homeware – Tea light holders, candles, a bath-salt bowl and scoop, a cake stand, a fruit box, trays and a champagne store – http://www.avaj.co.uk

Perhaps surprisingly given how much they cost, Derek Rose pyjamas are not generally made in the UK, although I understand some of their silk products are made in the UK and their mens slippers are UK made and they do sell a made in England dressing gown.

Marks and Spencer was the go to place for made in the UK pyjamas but these days Marks and Spencer nightwear, like the vast majority of their clothing range, is foreign made.

Marks and Spencer made in the UK 100% cotton men’s pyjamas. Still in great condition for their age, which is pre-2006. Photograph by author.

Marks and Spencer made in the UK 100% cotton men’s pyjamas. Still in great condition for their age which is pre-2006. Label detail. Photograph by author.

Left – BHS made in China 65% polyester, 35% cotton men’s pyjamas – the elastic in the pyjama trouser waist has gone. Right – Marks and Spencer made in the UK 100% cotton pyjamas, still in great condition for their age. Both pairs are of a similiar age and at least 10 years old as of Oct 2016. Photograph by author.

 

Wild Geese seems to be a new pyjama brand intending to make in the UK (as of Feb 2015). Keep an eye on their twitter.

The Reach London currently import bathrobes from Turkey. Their intention, if their summer 2016 Kickstarter is successful, is also to make cotton mens and ladies pyjamas in the UK.

The Bargain Hunter

A few years a go, I would have been loathed to admit to wearing pyjamas.  It wasn’t considered cool at all.    I had been sleeping, for the last few years, bare chested with just a pair of Adidas Basketball shorts.

My wife had suggested that I buy some pyjamas and had even suggested that she bought me some for Christmas. The sound of my indifference was deafening.

However, in recent years the good old PJ seems to have made a bit of a comeback.   Pyjamas seemed to feature in just about every TV show running.  Particularly in British TV shows.  The subject had come up again, and I was beginning to come around to it.

I said to my wife that if she were to buy me some pyjamas, they had to be the Traditional style, and preferably British made.   Nothing against products from other countries but I feel…

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