Made to Measure Shirts with Contemporary Fabric

[sirdavid]

Hi there!

I have a huge neck and short arms, and have to have my shirts made-to-measure. I've been going to Hilditch and Key in Jermyn Street for a while. Their shirts are great, but their fabric range is quite traditional. I'd like to augment my H&K shirts with some more exciting made-to-measure ones. I'm particularly fond of some of the current pink multistripe designs and some of the funkier floral print ones that I've seen in many off-the-peg stores. I did enquire last time I was in Paul Smith if they did made-to-measure, but they said that prices started at £550 per shirt, which seemed pretty pricey to me. Any recommendations for quality outfits in London who produce made-to-measure shirts in funky/contemporary fabrics for around £100-£250 per shirt?

Many thanks for your help - David

[RedLeicester]

Not quite made to measure, but Charles Tyrwhitt (also on Jermyn St) do offer all sorts of options and variables in terms of collar, chest, sleeve, length, cuff and so on for their standard prices - and once you've sorted the combination you want, you can then order whatever you like from their range. Very handy, particularly as their sales are horribly tempting (3 shirts for £100 etc).

[sgrimshaw]

David,

If you're paying that sort of money have you considered a visit to Thailand or Hong Kong.

I am sure someone could recommend some good tailors to visit.

Once they have you measurements, you can email/fax/phone your new requirements and they'll make them and send them to you by mail.


Many years ago I used to work for British Van Heusen, and we went to great expense to produce a TV Advert extolling the quality of our shirts. It featured Bert Kwok (sp?) as an "oriental" tailor who was tasked by a chap who wanted his favourite shirts copied. Of course in the advert the tailor couldn't match the quality etc etc.

A major Sunday paper actually took some BVH shirts to HK and asked them to reproduce them. Of course, in reality the HK tailors are so skilled, reproducing the shirt was no problem whatsoever and the cost was a fraction of the shirt price from BVH.

Just a thought.

[stimmers]

Most of my shirts i get from TM Lewin, but i did get two suits and two shirts done by Richard James last year, which although expensive, are seriously top quality.

http://www.richardjames.co.uk/

[Piglet]

I haven't used them for a number of years and you'd need to check out fabrics but there is a company called Mangas who are Spanish and are at Copthall Avenue EC2 and Creechurch Lane EC3 (use Yell.com) and they were always good quality and good value.

I don't think they've got a website but they might be worth a look.