Good shirtmaker in UK

[Concordia]

I had my current pattern made in the Central HK shop, and have made subsequent orders via the e-mail address on their website. They also have a road show, and it was in response to that notice that I got the info about CMT.

[dempsy444]

I've posted elsewhere about my varied (currently very good) experience with Ascot Chang.

One additional benefit I discovered yesterday-- they will do CMT of client's own fabric for only $100/shirt.

Since their all-in prices do approach London and Paris levels at the expensive end, it would therefore seem that fabric prices are much higher in HK than in Europe. Whether that is due to taxation, middleman mark-ups, or AC's own sense of what they can charge their most affluent customers, I could not say.

Concordia, thanks for this information. Is this in the NY store or another location? I exchanged a few emails with Thomas in NY, and he said they won't work with a customer's own fabric. In a way this made sense to me, as there would be delays and additional shipping costs to send the fabric to HK. I've been debating whether or not to give Ascot Chang a try. Their prices seem equivalent to Sean O'Flynn's for basic fabrics, but quickly mount as you get into more expensive cloth. For example, Sean charges GBP185/USD$300 for most fabrics and GBP220/USD$355 for a shirt from Alumo Cashmerello. AC NY charges over $300 for basic fabrics and the costs mount quickly from there. For example, their price for Cashmerello is a tad under $770.

In the end and despite the problems I've had, I decided to give Sean one more try. I had planned to try Ascot Chang as well, but only for their less expensive fabrics. Could you send me details of who you spoke with at AC? I've been holding off buying any LL linen until I can find a shirtmaker that I'm completely happy with.

I worked with Tony in the LA store. You are right about price. A TM 150s/2ply is about $350. Finer weaves from TM, Alumo and D. Johson start to get you north of $500 and to about $600.
For an extra $100, they will make your shirt entirely by hand if that is important to you. Therefore, you can get that hand stitched sleeve. While this means their shirts can get to as much as Sean O'Flynn's or others in London, I have found that the process at AC is just very easy and without any of the hassles that I have heard repeated by many about English shirt makers. I find this level of performance and consistency to be worth a premium.

Before AC I tried T&A with not much success. I then tried a San Francisco tailor who made a very comfortable shirt but he cut a low armhole and the shirts were a bit too baggy around the waist, and I found his fabric selection was poor and his buttons were always unravelling. This drove me to Kiton OTR where the sewing and fabric was excellent. I would just have them altered by my tailor and they fit great and looked sharp. However, a Kiton shirt is a fortune despite being OTR. AC comes out cheaper than Kiton and I find the sewing to be as good and the fit better, and no hassles like crushed beetles, etc. And of course, I get to choose from a great selection of fabric.

One of these days, I would like to try a shirt maker like the one Michael has talked about. Until then, AC is a reliable maker for me.

[WhippingBoy]

A couple you might want to have a sniff around

Stephan Shirts, Moore Park Road. Erlend measures then has them made up in the Haroutunian factory in Cyprus
Reviews can be found n the bespokeme website.

Gary McCarthy. I've no experience of him but he works out of John Rushton shoes and has made John's shirts for years
http://www.mccarthyshirts.co.uk/

Finally, you might want to investigate Elizabeth Radcliffe. She works out of Cockpit Arts doing bespoke, MTM and shirts. She is ex Edward Sexton. Everything is done in London, ALL her suits and shirts are cut by Elizabeth.

Far more interesting than the list of usual suspects

[vincentporsiempre]

Just a note about muslin fitting in Italy:

I have had shirt made my various Neapolitan shirt makers , including Luciano Lombardi and Vincenzo Prisco. Most of those shirt makers makes a template for first fitting with old/obsolete shirting. This is their muslin version, but they told me to prefer to use proper shirting fabric as it will give a better reflection of the final shirt fit.

[Cantabrigian]

I sent a series of measurements and a few photos to Mary F. Assuming I didn't completely screw that up (which is a distinct possibility), that seems like a very efficient way to do things. No need to meet in order to take some simple measurements.

So there will be a muslin shirt in Paris on the 16th and I'm excited to see what she comes up with.


While I was in the process I found out that Sivligia travels to London as well. Their minimum order is six but the price isn't terrible so I might give him a try as well. I justify my tailoring promiscuity by saying that the two produce very different types of shirts (so far as these things go).

[soren]

I would like to share my experience of having shirts tailored in Asia. Needless to say, 99% of the so-called ”tailored” products that people bring home from holiday have never had anything to do with real tailoring and would never deserve to be worn. However, if one does some research, I reckon there still are some gems to be found around Asia, at least regarding value for money.

Anyway, I managed to find a guy willing to do completely unfused shirts. This definitely set him apart from the majority of Asean ”tailors” insofar as he did know what I was talking about at all. As can be seen from the photos, the buttonholes are sewn by hand as are the thick mother of pearl buttons. Apart from that they are done by machine, so you won’t find the amount of handwork as in, say, a shirt from Burgos. On the flip side though, this makes them more durable, as I enjoy the possibilty of washing them myself instead of having them dry cleaned.

I find the fit quite good, beeing both comfortable and flattering to my physique. There could be less fabric around the shoulder blades, but I choose to to leave it at that, since it’s making it so much more comfortable to move my arms (along with the small armholes, obviously). This is of course not to say that there’s nothing to be improved, but please note that I’ve had only one fitting for these shirts. Next time I would probably like to have the cuffs made slightly tighter and probably the collar a bit bigger. Other suggestions are of course very welcome. Note also that the photos of me wearing the shirts have been taken indoor with flash – alas – which make the shirt appear more rumpled than is actually the case.

The price is roughly 42 pounds pr. shirt excluding fabric which makes it, in my eyes at least, a real bargain. Though they do not have all the handcraftet details like the best of their european counterparts, they at least have the comfortable, unfused cuffs and collars with removeable collarstays, and nice, thick mother of pearl buttons. Considering the experiences with some London shirtmakers that some member have shared here, I think that at around one fifth of the price, the value for money could turn out to be at least just as good in Asia as in London.

The photos can be seen here:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/255/img7435h.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/208/img7436h.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/39/img7438h.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/4/img7440t.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/5/img7444y.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/19/img7445dp.jpg/

Cheers,
Soren

[Frans]

...Considering the experiences with some London shirtmakers that some member have shared here, I think that at around one fifth of the price, the value for money could turn out to be at least just as good in Asia as in London...

Thank you for your concern, Soren. It seems as if the shirts work for you. However, with good quality cotton costing more than 43 GBP, shirts below a certain price level pretending being (semi-)bespoke leave me a little baffled.

[soren]

Thank you for your concern, Soren. It seems as if the shirts work for you. However, with good quality cotton costing more than 43 GBP, shirts below a certain price level pretending being (semi-)bespoke leave me a little baffled.

Frans, thanks for your comment. I'm not quite shure I get the point, though. The 43 pounds is the price excluding fabric, the "making fee" if you will. The shirt I'm wearing in the photos is made from some Simonnot-Godard chambray which, as you say, cost slightly more than 43 pound for a shirt's length. Otherwise I use Acorn fabrics which might not be state of the art fabrics, but works very good as workhorse of the wardrobe at around 10 pounds pr. meter – or at least for me they do.

Cheers,
Soren

[marburyvmadison]

I'm currently having a couple of shirts made with Napoli Su Misura, before I meet with Mary in Paris. 220 euros for CMT, and 270 euros for fabrics that include the likes of Thomas Mason Goldline. Problem is that she rarely stops overs in London.

[davidhuh]

Gentlemen,

I have a couple of problems with this thread. What has started with some member seeking advice on a good UK or London based shirt maker has more or less become a flagellation of British shirt making.

The work model of the British shirt makers is obviously different from some people in Italy and Paris. An argument used pro some Italians and against the Brits was the fact that some the latter use independent workshops for the sewing. I can't really follow this argument, because once a shirt is cut, it is cut. All what has to be done is sewing the pieces together, and where this is happening doesn't really matter. If the cuter made a mistake, it cannot be corrected by whatever means.

If a shirt maker has its own workshop, he has more control on the making of the shirt, I agree. But: the shirtmaker, like many other craftsmen, is as good as his clients. NJS said he got from Budd what he expected to receive. I agree with this. And over time, their shirts cut and sewn for me got better, because I insisted on a few things

cheers, David

[Costi]

the shirtmaker, like many other craftsmen, is as good as his clients.

This doesn't appear to sound fair (as in offering "equal opportunities"), but experience (not mine alone) has taught me that this is true in most cases...

[alden]

A great client can make an average tailor look good.

A great tailor can make an average client look good.

Cheers

[Costi]

Haha

Hard to argue with that

But great tailors are as rare as great clients...

[dempsy444]

A great client can make an average tailor look good

Cheers

hmmm. I would think that tailoring is such a technical trade and that an average tailor who doesn't possess the technical skills of a great tailor would ultimately produce an outcome only so good despite the quality of the client.

[alden]

hmmm. I would think that tailoring is such a technical trade and that an average tailor who doesn't possess the technical skills of a great tailor would ultimately produce an outcome only so good despite the quality of the client.

An experienced client will know what he needs both from a styling and a fit perspective so well that the margin for error for the average tailor is greatly reduced. But more importantly, a great client will wear the clothes so well that any modest errors will vaporize in the glow making a ham and egger of a sarto look great.

Cheers