I first heard about Old Town in 2009 via some random person on the street asking me if the French workwear jacket I had on was from Old Town, it wasn’t, but later that night I decided to google them to find out more. After finding them it felt like it was my lucky day, a place where I could buy all the clothes I had imagined I would like but simply had no idea where to source them from.

I spent many hours perusing the site but simply couldn’t decide what to get – my main concern was sizing. They make their clothes to order so not quite like buying from a shop normally although they do cater for returns. So after much deliberation I plumped for a safe bet and ordered a straight edge waistcoat (vest to you US folks) in engineer’s navy stout cotton twill. Size wise I was unsure, I am usually a 38 so stuck to that. All of Old Town‘s items are made to order, you choose the size and fabric, pay either via the phone or the online ordering form. For overseas you will need to email first to discuss shipping etc. Their turnaround time for garment delivery is approximately 4-6 weeks. For me half the charm of buying from them is the wait.

Four weeks later the waistcoat arrived, it fitted great, the waistcoats are slightly fitted so if you want a looser fit go up a size maybe. I was now officially hooked. I managed to plan in a trip up to the showroom a few months later with a rough idea of what I was after, upon arrival and seeing all the clothes on display I immediately got flummoxed…too many nice things. Their items are all pretty much spot on size-wise. I have quite a few pieces from them now and have been ordering a few times a year for spring and winter bits. Instead of giving an extensive list here’s a few items that are worth considering and I will try to give enough info for if you wanted to order from overseas without trying on first.

Overall Jacket – This is a sure fire winner and possibly my favourite garment from them. The fit is fairly boxy but not in a big baggy way, it looks good. I would safely say you can feel confident that your own normal jacket size is going to fit, but please discuss it with the ever helpful Marie either via phone or email if you have concerns. They don’t do different sleeve lengths unless you go to the showroom specifically and get measured, mine measures 24.5 inches from the top of the shoulder to the cuff, I didn’t have the sleeves adjusted that’s how they came. However bear in mind my jacket has been washed once, I have had it for a few years now so take my arm measurement as a very rough indication of size. I would say you could safely order your normal jacket size with no sleeve adjustment and the fit would be good, this one is in grey stout twill. For the other jackets in their range the same rule applies but do bear in mind that some are more fitted than others. I own two Stanley jackets in 38 also, they are a slimmer fit but still fit me well.

Jim’s Dreadnoughts collection

Dreadnoughts in Irish Linen (via OTC)