The Andover Shop was founded in 1948 in Andover, Mass., with an eye to selling traditional American clothing to the clientele of nearby Philips Academy. A second shop was opened in 1953, by Harvard--for obvious reasons.
The owner, Virgil Marson, loved tweed--so much so that starting in the 1960s he made annual pilgrimages to Ireland and Scotland to order tweeds woven to his own designs. His taste in tweed was impeccable, and led him to dress Presidents, Supreme Court justices, and many other notables in this cloth. Indeed, George W. Bush was so enarmoured of The Andover Shop tweeds that not only has he been wearing them all his life, but his nickname in the 1964 Philips Academy yearbook was "Tweeds"!
But Marson was more than the sum of his clothes. He served in the 449th Bomb Group during the Second World War and was shot down during a mission to bomb the Ploesti oil fields in Romania. Captured, he spent a year as a POW before being released. After the war he went to Brown University, was captain of the football team, and graduated in 1948..... When he founded The Andover Shop.
Unfortunately, Marson died late last year, just shy of his 95th birthday, and The Andover Shop's future is uncertain--it is currently for sale.
But if you'd like something from The Andover Shop before it is possibly gone forever, you're in luck..... I have some very, very recent items that are brand spanking new with all of their tags attached coming here soon--as well as some beautiful vintage pieces!
