I hadn’t realised that J. Simons had recently celebrated 60 years in retail – or rather John Simons. Fortunately I was checking recent articles on
www.ivy-style.com, one of the blogs I refer to, when I can across the “Big John: J.Simons Celebrates 60 Years In Retail” article which itself referred back to a John Simons interview published by The Independent on 9th August.
I can’t remember when, or how, I found out about J. Simons or first visited the shop. I used to visit the Covent Garden shop as often as I could. It wasn’t usually on my way but it was always worth a detour. The shop always seemed to be rammed with interesting jackets, sweaters, trousers, shoes. I’ve always loved going in to browse and buy. The current shop is on Chiltern Street in London and has a great vintage feel to it: It’s well lit with plenty of natural light; there are wooden floors and much more room than their previous location in Convent Garden, all of which shows off the wide variety of Ivy League style clothes to there best. The clothes now are easier to see than they were in the days of the Covent Garden store, you have to rummage around less, but it’s remains an exciting, and intriguing, place to visit – although Chiltern Street is at little out of the way for me now. So the visits are less frequent; more planned.
Some of the items I have bought over the years are quite old now but they still look good. Ashamedly it’s a while since I went in and bought something. Previously all the clothes in the store were difficult to come-by or find elsewhere. Now there’s Brooks Brothers, J.Crew, Club Monaco, Jack Spade – all of which provide excellent Ivy style clothing; Woolrich have a store in Brewer Street and Baracuta have opened a store on Ganton Street, opposite Levis Vintage Clothing. But J. Simons remains one of the originals and one of the best.
Clothes I have acquired from J. Symons over the years and still wear:
DB Baggies Short Sleeve Shirt and White Cotton Jacket
Shetland Wool Sweater From Laurence J Smith
Hartford Flannel Shirt
Hartford Heavy Cotton Zip Sweater
And Finally:
Avanez Sportswear Coat
Avanez Sportswear Coat