S.E.H Kelly

S.E.H Kelly Enduring garments a speciality since 2009.

An enduring type of garment is the speciality at S.E.H Kelly — one which will stand the test of time by design, by quality, and by value.

There's a long-standing gripe that work jackets these days aren't really *work* jackets at all — not unless they've seen...
05/06/2025

There's a long-standing gripe that work jackets these days aren't really *work* jackets at all — not unless they've seen the inside of a scaffold lift or been in close proximity to engine oil. And that's fair. You probably wouldn't even want to wrestle a stopcock under the kitchen sink in this one — which, for context, is the latest version of the same so-called work jacket that's loitered about the workshop (another "work" word, but let's not get into that) for the best part of a decade. This time it's moleskin from the north-west of England: smooth as butter and almost suspiciously lightweight. It's probably best for the work of not working — of trying really quite hard to look full of direction and purpose without breaking into a sweat.

16/05/2025

Unstructured tailored jacket, made in London, with grey worsted hopsack cloth from West Yorkshire and horn buttons from the Cotswolds.

13/05/2025

Unstructured tailored jacket, made in London, with sturdy worsted hopsack from West Yorkshire with natural sheep colouring and horn buttons from the Cotswolds.

It's getting closer and closer to the time of year when "heatwave" comes back into the general murmur on streets up and ...
12/05/2025

It's getting closer and closer to the time of year when "heatwave" comes back into the general murmur on streets up and down England, and with the phrase "so much for summer" (it not actually yet being summer making no difference) not far behind. And yet here comes the SB jacket, creeping in like a cloud over a beer garden — this time in a tropical worsted cloth that is greyer than grey and is woven by a little mill in West Yorkshire by men and women who almost certainly don't believe in SPF. Now, if it doesn't exactly scream summertime, that's fine — it's not supposed to. The "tropical" in its name is a red herring. It refers less to its suitability for climates involving iguanas and more to the porousness of its weave and the tightness of its spin, which allows air to circulate in and around the body surprisingly well. A "three-season" cloth for this part of the world, then, apart from the one that isn't quite yet here.

"What's the deal with the neck on the t-shirt, anyway?" is what some people ask sometimes, or "What do you call that sty...
25/04/2025

"What's the deal with the neck on the t-shirt, anyway?" is what some people ask sometimes, or "What do you call that style of neck?" Sensible questions! Perfectly reasonable and really the sort of question you feel lucky to be asked, reflecting as they do enthusiasm and interest. The problem, though, is that nobody — not at the workshop, nor the knitters who knit and link the t-shirts, nor the person who answers the emails and writes the newsletters and should have pockets full of answers — nobody has a name for it. Not a proper name, anyway — not one that carries the clean satisfaction of "crewneck" or "boatneck" or "v-neck" where you can just say it and the questioner nods and is happy. The best people can say is, "Well, it's a neck made with two overlapping strips of knit." And then maybe a pause, because the other person's eyes narrow slightly in a way that says they're trying to decide if that answers their question. And then maybe you say, "It behaves kind of like a crewneck, in the sense that it is sort of round, but it's not made the same way." And then, if pressed, or if there's a silence that feels awkward, you might add, "I guess you can call it an overlapping-panel-crewneck."

24/04/2025

Unstructured tailored jacket, made in London, with linen in very dark blue, and horn buttons from the Cotswolds.

30/03/2025

Popover, made in London, with mid-beige linen of middling weight (9oz) from Ireland, and horn buttons from the Cotswolds.

It is often said that the SB jacket has been around for a fair old while, but it would be far more accurate to say it ha...
27/03/2025

It is often said that the SB jacket has been around for a fair old while, but it would be far more accurate to say it has been around for quite a long time. And over that time, it hasn't much changed. It got a new lapel in 2013, and the cuff buttons moved up a half-inch in 2015, and in about 2018 the seismic decision was made to make it longer and slimmer, just because it felt at the time like it should be longer and slimmer — i.e. to exist more in the long-and-slim quadrant of the jacket Venn diagram, and less in the short-and-wide quadrant, which had been on the wane in the years leading up to 2018. This spring change will come again, with the most noticeable difference being pockets. For starters, there's now no glove pocket above the patch pocket on the right side as worn. Look as hard as you like: you won't find it because it's just not there. And then the chest pocket is now not an open jetted pocket but rather an upturned flap — a motif which has been prancing about with no small whimsy through the coats and jackets and trousers aisles of the workshop for the past year or more. The result versus last time around is an SB jacket marginally more sober and serious of mood, while compared to the version from 2013 it's barely recognisable — at least if you're the sort of person who compares old photos of garments with a 20-20 forensic squint or has a worrying level of visual memory. Ready for release next month, all being well.

26/03/2025

Popover, made in London, with dark green linen of middling weight (9oz) from Ireland, and horn buttons from the Cotswolds.

One facet of the duster which might go unnoticed unless you really take time to notice it is the nature of the pockets a...
22/03/2025

One facet of the duster which might go unnoticed unless you really take time to notice it is the nature of the pockets at the front. They're not, you see, exactly what they seem. Rather than being a patch covered by a flap, which would perhaps be the default assumption, what we have here instead is a side-entry pocket — that's the patch pressed up against the side seam — and then with a top-entry jetted flap pocket above it. It's a right old trompe-l'oeil, it really is, but it's not just for fun: you're getting twice the pocketing, too, with hands most likely for the former and personal effects the latter.

Address

1 Cleeve Workshops
London
E27JD

Telephone

+442033970449

Website

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