Brook Taverner occupies that niche in the British menswear industry between the purveyors of cheap, low-quality apparel such as Marks and Spencer on the one hand, and the sartorial giants of Savile Row on the other. In existence for over a hundred years, the brand started life producing and selling fabrics from its base in Yorkshire. It then moved into the world of tailoring during the middle of the twentieth century, and has been selling quality menswear to customers ever since. I happen to have discovered them a year and a half ago, and have been enjoying their products ever since. I own a handsome charcoal grey suit produced by them (cut in the English style, a welcome departure from monotonous collections of Italian tailoring), and it has been an integral part of my daily rotation of suits at work. I was impressed enough with them to purchase more of their products – last winter I purchased three of their corduroy trousers which I still wear and are still in good condition a year later. I was minded to purchase a fourth but never got round to it. I also purchased a handful of their rollneck sweaters – one in claret red, one in mustard yellow and one in sky blue. They now form the primary component of my winter wardrobe when I am at home. With prices ranging from £49.95-59.95, they weren’t cheap, but I can testify as to the quality.
I have never purchased one of their shirts, but they seem to be priced similarly to those offered by competitors Charles Tyrwhitt and Hawes and Curtis. I did purchase a pair of clip-on leather braces from them which proved incompatible with my trousers, but never bothered to return them. I have made no further purchases from them for the past year. I am certainly open to returning to them again. They have been a welcome addition to my collection of menswear havens. Frustratingly, they only have a handful of stores scattered about the country, the one nearest to me being in Windsor.
Ironically, given the fact that the item of clothing by them I wear the most is the charcoal suit I purchased, their suit collection is distinctly unimpressive. Most are made up of wool/polyester blends – I happen to own one of the few 100% wool suits they stock. They would not be my first destination for a suit – Hawes and Curtis and Charles Tyrwhitt both have more impressive suit collections, with a wider range of colours and materials, made up of 100% wool.
Over the years, the brand has slowly expanding its number of stores, suggesting that it is slowly but surely cutting into territory once occupied by other menswear retailers. Its future remains to be seen.