Tipped off by TWR reader Dinah Hall we love the look of Old Town, a reassuringly trend free clothes website selling useful and beautifully made items with a wholesome, slightly nostalgic air. If I tell you that a couple of the designs are sold at one of our favourite home stores Labour & Wait, it might help some of you get a fix on them.
The company has been steadily producing made-to-order clothes for ten years (they are not made-to-measure clothes please note) and is based in Holt in Norfolk, We asked Marie Willey, co founder, to explain herself.
Marie “Old Town is run by myself and my partner Will Brown, he designs the clothes, logo’s , website and I do the selling and managing production. We produce about 70 garments a week using local machinists and have built up a niche market business which is thriving and is growing all of the time. The garments are simple and durable with a nod to traditional workwear but not meant to be re -creations of the past.”
TWR Can we order from the website?
Marie ” Yes, we don’t carry stock, consequently garments are made to order (but not made to measure) and this takes approx 4-6 weeks.
TWR What would you recommend for first time buyers from Old Town?
Marie “The new Mabel jacket is a good one in cord or tweed, the Bungalow dress in cotton drill, but we don’t do the trousers through the post as they need to be tried on at the shop. Oh and the Raglan coat in the Cambridge Blue or Camden Green flannel, that is a brilliant shape.”
TWR One of my favourite things on your website is the newspaper, Piccadilly Pleasures, it’s hilarious and also fascinating…
Marie “The newspaper is a bit of fun and designed to be very low key marketing , we thinks it’s nicer than sending out catalogues and we get a fantastic response to it but it is very time consuming to produce.”
For those of you who live near Holt, Old Town is at 49 Bull Street, Holt, Norfolk NR25 6HP.Tel: 01263 710001 (Tuesday to Saturday)
The website, with its lovely graphic design, is here
Oh I love Old Town too. It’s a lovely brand. Used to use them back in the days when I was a fashion stylist!
Along with Ally Capellino on Calvert Avenue (I haven’t been to the new West london store yet) this is another shop I could happily move in to! Well worth a visit – as are Norfolks beaches!
I have a fantastic World of Interiors article on their old Tin House – stunning!
Louise, I think Dinah might have written that article, hence her knowing them and nudging me about it. Would love to visit the store, perhaps we should make a ‘stores you could move into ‘ list! Ax
I have that article too Louise, have loved them for years. They have a very Ally Capellino aesthetic and also remind me of one of my favourite 80’s brands Demob! Anyone remember them?
J x
Demob! Do you remember their hairdressers?? I used to get my hair cut there in the 80’s, they refused to cut it all off once! (probably quite rightly thinking back) And I remember going there with a bag full of my fashion sister’s hand printed t-shirts – which they took…..
I quite like the new Labour and Wait store on Redchurch Street, that would also make my ‘stores I could move in to’ list……