LondonLife – ‘White Shirt Week’ in St James’s…

Freddie-Fox-launches-White-Shirt-Week-in-St-James's-London

 

Freddie Fox (who plays Lord Alfred Douglas opposite Rupert Everett as Oscar Wilde in David Hare’s The Judas Kiss now playing at the Duke of York Theatre) marks the start of ‘White Shirt Week’ which kicked off in St James’s on Monday. The West End area is home to Jermyn Street which apparently boasts “the highest number of world renowned shirt makers on one luxury shopping street” with each shirt maker having their own signature design. While the origins of the white shirt date back as far as ancient Egypt, it was only in more recent centuries that in the UK the white shirt developed from being simply an undergarment to a fashion item in its own right – in fact, by the 19th century, the white shirt was worn by gentlemen as a statement that they weren’t engaged in manual labour and could employ servants to launder it. For more on St James’s, see www.stjameslondon.co.uk.