Izzy recently popped into H. Herzfeld, possibly New York’s last true habedasher. Inside the cozy store, which has been in business since 1890, it is easy to imagine one is on Jermyn Street in London, not E. 57th Street in Manhattan. It probably the only place in New York city that sells shirts by Hilditch & Key and Harvie & Hudson, among with many other rarities in America, such as sock garters. Browsing toward the back of the shop, Izzy felt a pair of gloves from Dents, the leather of which was so surprisingly soft that it truly sent a shiver up his spine. The salesman said that the British glovemaker was the best in the world, which, Izzy had to agree, was not a hyperbolic claim.
I saw these gloves on a friend of mine in the UK a few years ago (actually they were a darker color) and they never struck as anything special special, until he asked me if I had ever tried on a pair of Dents. I said no, and that I’d never heard of them either. Anyway, wearing them wasn’t so special as TOUCHING them…one would almost want to turn them inside out and wear them.
I should have bought a pair.
Comment by Cufflinks — January 5, 2009 @ 8:50 pm
I’m looking currently at all sorts of gloves, from doeskin, kidskin, lamp, cashmere, and suede. I’ve found a pair of vintage gloves of a supple/thin nature that just can’t possibly be compared to by newer standards. Hopefully they fit.
Comment by Fashion Style of Leadership — January 10, 2009 @ 4:23 am