Dress Shirts

[MIN]

Hey gang, any recommendations on dress shirts?

My Brooks Brother's iron-free shirts are too starched looking and their "slim fit" quite is woefully baggy. I recently bought a few Charles Tyrwhitt shirts while spending this summer in London and the fit and fabric is superior. I may grab a few more next time I am up in NYC (they have a store on Madison Ave) but I wanted to see if there were other suggestions?

Partial to French cuffs and tailored fit.

I have this shirt in Prince of Wales check (shown) and couple of gingham checks.

[Britishbane]

Brooks Bros, make an extra slim. Perhaps that is more easily attainable.

[chasea]

Eton, Pink, et al.

[EDS]

You can order the Charles Tyrwhitt shirts on-line. Madison Ave. store has crap in stock.

[robin3mj]

I’ve has success with TM Lewin stuff online. Prefer them to Tyrwhitt.
Billions of patterns, lots of cuff/collar options, sleeve length, etc. Their slim fit looks better on me than a handful of shirts I had made by a Hong Kong tailor a few years back.

[chasea]

Custom sizing, USA-made, $100. Someone look into this for me.

A Closer Look: Ratio Clothing Custom Shirts – Well Spent

[christian]

If you're ever up in NY, I recommend Carl at CEGO. He does my shirts now.

[OnTheEllipse]

Custom sizing, USA-made, $100. Someone look into this for me.

A Closer Look: Ratio Clothing Custom Shirts – Well Spent

Thanks for the link. I keep ordering from Ledbury, but I'll check this out

[Justin@BlackOakVelo]

Brooks Brothers Extra slim is what I've been going with these days.

Men's Extra Slim Fit Non Iron & Wrinkle Free Dress Shirts by Brooks Brothers

Easily accessible and reasonably affordable for the quality. Top notch service at the stores.

[jonathanb]

Custom sizing, USA-made, $100. Someone look into this for me.

A Closer Look: Ratio Clothing Custom Shirts – Well Spent

Having spent a lifetime in the men's shirt trade, I'll simply say pass on these shirts. Their only good feature is that they are made in the USA. Other than that, the quality of the fabric and stitching is at best mediocre.

[OnTheEllipse]

Having spent a lifetime in the men's shirt trade, I'll simply say pass on these shirts. Their only good feature is that they are made in the USA. Other than that, the quality of the fabric and stitching is at best mediocre.

are you making that call from the photos or have you handled these personally?

[jonathanb]

From photos; I don't need to handle them personally as I know the fabrics used based on the descriptions provided and I can tell one hell of a lot about the quality of the make of the garment from photos as I spent a number of years actually working in shirt factories. The shirts they sell are functionally equivalent to a Van Heusen shirt. Most Macy's private-brand shirts are made to a higher standard.

[chasea]

From photos; I don't need to handle them personally as I know the fabrics used based on the descriptions provided and I can tell one hell of a lot about the quality of the make of the garment from photos as I spent a number of years actually working in shirt factories. The shirts they sell are functionally equivalent to a Van Heusen shirt. Most Macy's private-brand shirts are made to a higher standard.

Aaaaarrrrreeee you suuuuuuuuure?

MyCousinVinnyQuestioning-300x225.jpg

[JChasse]

From photos; I don't need to handle them personally as I know the fabrics used based on the descriptions provided and I can tell one hell of a lot about the quality of the make of the garment from photos as I spent a number of years actually working in shirt factories. The shirts they sell are functionally equivalent to a Van Heusen shirt. Most Macy's private-brand shirts are made to a higher standard.

Sounds like you're a man who could lend some good suggestions to this thread, then. Got any? I could really use a few new shirts...

[jonathanb]

It depends on what you're looking for. Macy's has many affordable, well-made shirts, but all will be made somewhere other than the USA. If you're looking for something better, then going to a better men's store like (for those in the NY area) Paul Stuart, Barnie's or Bergdorf Goodman and checking out their stock and custom offerings is a good start. I'm soon to be searching for a custom shirtmaker who can satisfy my demands for very specific styling and quality of make as well as having a selection of finer fabrics. I've seen nothing online yet that would suit my purpose, but I've not checked out any of the Hong Kong makers.

[geoffk]

Sounds like you're a man who could lend some good suggestions to this thread, then. Got any?

I second the motion.

[geoffk]

I'm soon to be searching for a custom shirtmaker who can satisfy my demands for very specific styling and quality of make as well as having a selection of finer fabrics. I've seen nothing online yet that would suit my purpose, but I've not checked out any of the Hong Kong makers.

Please keep us posted on your search.

[Maxspeedwell]

Hey sorry guys but you just cannot buy a shirt off the rack. Many reasons but the bottom line is; it just looks off the rack. If you're going to buy off the rack then why not go all the way and just buy it at J.C. Penny's? At this point you already have two strikes against you so why not just go with 100% cheap polyester? You may arrive in a Rolls Royce but you'll never close the deal in an off the rack shirt because the guy sitting across the table saw your cheap shirt and knows that in your other life you really drive a Yugo. Worse yet, you will never do business with ANY woman because they may, or may not be able to afford luxury, BUT they do know quality when they see it. I know of two places to buy custom shirts. The first... my aging brain can't remember... Mortimer's? He has a chain across the U.S. and about twenty years ago they were offering an introductory special to new customers; you MUST be a first-time customers and you buy three shirts for $100. No, not six for $200, not a dozen for $400. You got THREE shirts, and three shirts ONLY. That was such a screamin' deal that if I wasn't familiar with the owner (didn't know him, just his reputation) I would have just laughed and walked away. Three custom tailored shirts for $100? Yeah, right.... The other is Manu Mahtani. He once made me a "double horse bosky" silk shirt (whatever the heck that is). All I know is that shirt just oozed luxury, but the lowbrow mouth-breathers I associated with thought it was polyester. I gave up that shirt since the only true value it had was for seducing an Italian contessa. About two trips through the dry cleaners and the shirt was history. Can't say I wasn't warned.

Off the rack has a bubble, a little pucker below the center of the back of the collar. The cuffs are not fused. The yoke will not, no matter what, lay flat. The sleeves are the wrong length, and the cuffs are the true give-away. None of these may be true about you, but you're off the rack shirt just screams cheap, broke, and have no style. Those limp, single button cuffs just scream at your client. I'm not trying to be a snob, but once you have a few custom tailored shirts you just feel better. They lay perfectly and you're not always fidgiting with them. Just give it a shot. Once you have a shirt tailored to fit you , and only you, well... you just can't go back.

Submitted by:
-Max Speedwell who now lives in 2XL sweats.

[chasea]

Many reasons but the bottom line is; it just looks off the rack. If you're going to buy off the rack then why not go all the way and just buy it at J.C. Penny's? At this point you already have two strikes against you so why not just go with 100% cheap polyester? You may arrive in a Rolls Royce but you'll never close the deal in an off the rack shirt because the guy sitting across the table saw your cheap shirt and knows that in your other life you really drive a Yugo. Worse yet, you will never do business with ANY woman because they may, or may not be able to afford luxury, BUT they do know quality when they see it.

If you can't afford the very best, then you're not much of a man, are you?

Plenty of retailers make good-fitting clothing at affordable prices. Quality doesn't matter if the clothes don't fit.

[jonathanb]

Off the rack has a bubble, a little pucker below the center of the back of the collar. The cuffs are not fused. The yoke will not, no matter what, lay flat. The sleeves are the wrong length, and the cuffs are the true give-away. None of these may be true about you, but you're off the rack shirt just screams cheap, broke, and have no style. Those limp, single button cuffs just scream at your client. I'm not trying to be a snob, but once you have a few custom tailored shirts you just feel better. They lay perfectly and you're not always fidgiting with them. Just give it a shot. Once you have a shirt tailored to fit you , and only you, well... you just can't go back.

FWIW, my company was fusing the cuffs on shirts for JC Penney's as early as 1977. And we never did it to an all polyester shirt: 80/20 poly/cotton, yep; 63/35 poly cotton, yep; 60/40 cotton/poly, yessir; and even some 80/20 cotton poly. The collars on our shirts never bubbled in the back. But, yes, custom is often better. Good custom is always better. (But where???)

Regarding spilt yokes, the reason dress shirts used to have them was in order to have different length yokes for a better fit. In 35 years in and around the shirt business, I've never once encountered a maker who actually measured for this. Without that, a split yoke is a pointless gimmick that only adds expense, kinda like a bidet in a Bentley.