Buying Brit: Smythson
October 24, 2009 by WilliamMcAdoo
Filed under Buying Brit, british products
I first heard of Smythson of Bond Street when I saw an interview with the late author and journalist Domenick Dunne. Dunne was the Vanity Fair columnist who covered all those grisly celebrity murder trials like the Menendez Brothers and O. J. Simpson. He said in an interview once that he only used Smythson notebooks for all his writing notes. Dunne was a class act, famous for dining every night with socialites and celebrities at all the best restaurants the world over. I liked his style so I checked out Smythson.
Being a notebook and paper person myself I fell in love. Their glossy catalog was a sumptuous feast for the eyes and a throwback to a bygone, more formal era. Smythson holds three Royal Warrants and I am sure that there is a Smythson agenda somewhere with the Queen’s name on it. Many of the fancy engraved invitations sent from Buckingham Palace are on Smythson product. In the movie “The Queen” there is one point where Helen Mirren is writing in her diary. I believe the notebook used was Smythson.
The style of the products speaks for itself. Any products I have tried have been the highest of quality, so much so that people will often ask where it’s from. I particularly like the “Travel Notes” books. Smythson is famous for it’s blue “featherweight” paper, which holds up surprisingly well to fountain pen ink. They are also famous for their line of colorful ladies handbags and matching accessories.
On my very first trip to London I made a beeline to Smythson and bought a few notebooks. The stationery store on Bond Street is one of hushed reverence, the kind of understated Brit elegance which attracts people like me. It’s really the quality of the products that keep me a loyal customer. That and the Royal cache.
Author Info - Hi I am William, author of the popular food/travel blog The Boston Foodie and I love British culture so I am thrilled to be a columnist here at Anglotopia. In fact, I have travelled abroad so much that I became an E. U. Citizen, maintaining dual citizenship. I hope you enjoy my posts about all my fave Brit products. Read more from this author
