'A pocket square offers one of the simplest opportunities for individual expression,’ says Tom Williams, London retail manager of British tailor Turnbull & Asser. ‘A jacket has a breast pocket for a reason and leaving it empty can feel rather like leaving a corner of a beautiful work of art unpainted.’
The company, founded in 1885 and located on Jermyn Street, since 1903, has been providing the wherewithal for nearly a century.
Lengths of exclusively English silk are hand-printed in Cheshire using a mix of traditional screen-printing techniques and digital methods (for ‘largest colour impact’), before being cut into individual squares. The four edges are rolled and stitched by hand in an intricate process that gives a strong and refined finish.
Described as ‘a canvas on which our designers have unleashed their creativity’, the styles range from bold with bright patterns to simple and subdued. Some are inspired by archival prints and others are collaborations with artists and illustrators. Bespoke monogramming is also available.
The finest arrangement of the pocket square is The Turnbull Rose, created by pushing the centre into a semi-closed fist, before the remaining silk is gathered and ‘picked’, much as one might pick a flower. The silk is lifted from the hand and the remaining fabric gently twisted to create the stem.
Once placed into the pocket, the gathered centre remains visible above it, forming the distinctive rose shape — an English emblem, as Williams puts it, ‘rendered not in petals, but in silk’.
Silk pocket squares from £85. Visit the Turnbull & Asser website for more information and to purchase.
This feature originally appeared in the October 14, 2026, issue of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe