Our Story
Budd has plied its trade as a quintessential gentlemen’s haberdashery and shirtmaker since its foundation in 1910. The shop and cutting room have been located at the heart of Jermyn Street in the Piccadilly Arcade since day one and are one of the area's oldest tenants.
Harold Budd
Without our founder, Harold Budd, where would we be today? Harold Budd was one of the Piccadilly Arcade’s original tenants and the first to move back in after the bombings of 1941. He laid down the blueprint for much of what makes Budd tick today; be it our Budd collar, the Budd stripe, our Budd bows, or our enduring love for Madder silks.
Songbook Fame
Budd was firmly on the sartorial map by 1919, when George Gershwin cited the company in his lyrics for “The Best of Everything” for the Broadway musical, LaLa Lucille.
“My car of choice is a Rolls-Royce. I go to Stetson for my hats and Budd for my cravats.”
Our Store
Like all of Mayfair’s traditional arcade boutiques, the shop is tiny, but its size belies the wealth of clothing and haberdashery housed inside. Budd is a veritable Pandora’s stocking the finest shirts, nightwear, dresswear and accessories. We pride ourselves on our hard-to-source items.
Our People
One of the things that best defines Budd and its ethos as a company is its staff. We are a tight knit and loyal team with a passion for what we do and a fondness for each other. We are vehement when it comes to our sourcing and the quality of everything we produce and where possible, train from within. There is little movement amongst our staff, a testament to their loyalty and pride in the company. Our senior staff have a combined service of over 150 years!
The Cutting Room
We cut all of our bespoke shirts upstairs at our Piccadilly premises. We are one of the last remaining Jermyn Street shirtmakers to uphold traditional shirt cutting practices, eschewing computers and shortcuts, to ensure that we have a personal handle on every element of what we do. Our cutting team comprises of three wonderful gentlemen, all of whom followed traditional routes into their chosen field and all of whom share a love for what they do and the idiosyncrasies that come with it!
The Savile Row Connection
Our origins, Jermyn Street location, specialist knowledge and authenticity when it comes to our craft, mean that we have long established relationships with the tailors and shoemakers of Savile Row, who regularly recommend us to their clients as the default provider of elegant shirts to compliment a suit or ensemble. Mayfair's bespoke community is a tight one and there is a strong, mutual respect between houses. We work regularly with Anderson & Sheppard, Henry Poole, Gaziano & Girling and George Cleverly to name just a few of this circle.
Our Workshop
We make our bespoke and made to measure shirts at our workshop in Andover, under the guidance of Di Bainbridge and Gwenda Witts. They joined the company in 1969 and 1976 respectively and oversee the team as they produce our shirts, dress shirts and nightwear. Their approach is fastidious and reassuring, particularly when sat at our finishing boards where they inspect each shirt before it is pressed and packed up.