Savile Row Company Made to Measure Shirts

The Savile Row Company is a third generation family business offering bespoke and made to measure shirt services from their store in London's Savile Row. However, they also offer affordable made to measure shirts online and I've had the chance to try that service.

The online service involves entering some basic measurements online, selecting a cloth and the style of shirt, including fit and details of placket, cuff, collar, pocket, buttons, trim and monogramming. I found all this easy to enter and the shirt arrived promptly, fitted well and, for £75, not much more than the price of a good of-the-peg shirt, this represented excellent value.

The selection of cloths is on the safe side, so the more adventurous of you may want a wider choice and, indeed, the company is looking to do this soon. Having said that, I loved the slim pink stripe I selected and few of you will fail to find a choice you like. Highly recommended. See Savile Row Company.

This feature is a collaboration with Savile Row Company.

W.H. Taylor Shirtmakers Offering 'Semi-Bespoke' High Quality Shirts

W.H. Taylor Shirtmakers aim to provide the finest handmade shirts to the highest standards. Each shirt is individually made by hand. The customer is offered a wide variety of shirt styles giving the customer what is described as a 'quality semi-bespoke shirt which will be unique to you at a reasonable price'. 

Using both British-made and externally-made shirting, they are tailored outside the UK. Pricing is reasonable given the range of options available. I am having some shirts made and will report back when I've worn them. Meanwhile, have a look round the W.H.Taylor website here.

This post is a collaboration with W.H.Taylor.

Gant Tech-Prep Shirts

Gant Tech-Prep shirts are made from a high-performing microfibre polyester that is quick drying, breathable and wicking, giving the everyday shirt some of the properties of high performance active wear. And that seems sensible if we spend busy days rushing to and from work/meetings/social events/holidays. Whether we go by foot, train, bike, bus, plane or Tube, we are active and our bodies need to stay cool, dry and ventilated.

I've worn many Gant shirts over the years and have always found them well-made and stylish. The Tech-Prep shirts combine the classic Gant shirt style (they've been making shirts since 1949 and have preserved the Ivy League look) with cloth technology that feels like cotton and stays cool and dry during active wear.  For more information, see Gant Tech Prep. Prices from £85.

This is a sponsored post.

With many thanks to Kirsty Blackwood for helping with the photography

Santamaria: high quality bespoke shirts with discount code for readers

Santamaria Bespoke is a family owned business based in Madrid with over thirty years tailoring experience. They recently decided to offer their premium shirts online. They kindly offered me a shirt which was beautifully made from high quality cotton with all the touches one would expect, such as a wide selection of collar shapes and styles. The service is ideal for anyone who appreciates a well-fitting shirt.

The Santamaria website offers more than 350 of the finest Canclini Italian fabrics and the bespoke shirt wizard gives you the ability to customise every aspect of your shirt from choosing different types of collars, cuffs, adding contrasts, monograms and more. Santamaria also offers many different ways to enter measurements so you can choose what is more convenient for you; enter a full set of body measurements, measure an existing shirt or amend a standard size. 

Santamaria also offers a tailored collection of ready-to-wear shirts and stylish accessories. All shirts are hand-cut and sewn in Santamaria’s factory in Spain. To browse, order and purchase go to Santamaria Online and quote GREYFOX10 for 10% off your first order.

Eton Shirts: quality and style from Sweden

In my search for good quality and stylish shirts I'd heard of Eton Shirts, but only recently had a chance to inspect them closely when they sent me two to try.

Despite the very English name, Eton are a Swedish company. The range of shirts they sell is large and their well-designed website divides them into four different fits, with extra-long sleeve lengths a further option. A DNA Collection is made in Sweden.

Here I'm wearing Eton Shirts white button-down Oxford contemporary-fit shirt

As they arrived from Eton Shirts

The huge choice of colours and cloths means that there is something here for everyone. I selected a blue indigo slimfit shirt with cutaway collar in what I assume to be chambray and a white button-down Oxford shirt. Both are well-made, fit well (although the sleeves on the white shirt are a little long) and very stylish. 

I'm a great believer in wearing well-cut denim and chambray shirts with ties and jackets or suits, mixing formal and informal. The Eton chambray shirt has a collar stiff enough to wear with a tie, giving you the option of doing that, or going tieless.

The strength of the Eton Shirts offering is the wide choice of fabrics, fits and styles. For more information, see Eton Shirts.

Portuguese Flannel - shirts of quality

There are a few brands that I've known for a while and meant to introduce to readers, but have not yet got round to it. Portuguese Flannel heads that list. I first came across their gorgeous cotton shirts at a trade show last year and have since met them again. I was attracted by the wide range of tartan/plaid designs in high quality cotton, all made in Portugal, from where so many of the best-made shirts come.

Their collection for summer 2015 contains a white seersucker short-sleeved shirt (above), which they kindly sent to me. Well-made and stylish, it's the perfect shirt to wear on a warm day with shorts or chinos. See Portuguese Flannel and for a list of UK stockists, see here.

Turnbull & Asser: a visit to their English shirt factory

A trip to Gloucester to see the Turnbull & Asser shirt factory last month added to my growing list of visits to great British menswear manufacturing centres. Founded in 1885, Turnbull & Asser quickly established itself as a leading tailor and shirtmaker and today holds an enviable place in the history and tradition of British menswear. With a Royal Warrant granted to HRH The Prince of Wales (who occasionally turns up to make his own shirts, see image below) and shops in central London and New York, the brand goes from strength to strength.

A visit to their factory shows why they do so well. The picture above of Prince Charles, who has worn their shirts for years, is proudly displayed in reception. Next to that is a wall of photos of long-serving employees. This loyalty reflects the care that Turnbull & Asser takes of those whose skills are so essential to what they do. Without the studied attention to detail, so obvious as I looked round and spoke to people working there, the shirts would be very ordinary. The skills of the machinists, the pride and attention given to steps such as sewing on buttons (Turnbull & Asser's process means they almost never fall off) means that they produce shirts that are among the best you can find, whether you buy off the peg or bespoke.

Images taken on my Turnbull & Asser factory tour - remarkable skills and care

The level of individual attention is remarkable. You can specify everything from shapes of collars and cuffs, stitching colour, buttons, cut and fit. It's no wonder customers keep coming back. The quality of the cloths is clear, soft, silky cotton makes these a pleasure to own and wear. And if your shirts wears out in years to come, it can be repaired as pieces of the cloth are carefully stored for future repairs.

Cutting collars and cuffs

Shirt account for some 60% of sales, with knitwear, pyjamas and underwear (also made at the Gloucester factory) and tailoring account for most of the balance. I was recently in touch with their Designer, Dean Gomilsek-Cole, in connection with a piece I was writing for The Rake and his design vision for the company promises much for this very British company. He is aware of the great competitiveness of this market and sees the need to offer quality and style that are unrivalled.

To find out more about Turnbull & Asser, see their website here.

[Note: Turnbull & Asser paid most of my fare to Worcester. Otherwise this post is unsponsored; my comments on the shirts are from observation, not ownership or wearing.]

The Beautiful North - made in the UK menswear

The Beautiful North is an small business making limited edition menswear, including shirts made in England from Lancashire cotton. I was sent a sample to have a look at recently, was impressed by the quality and felt this was a young brand that Grey Fox readers should to look at and support.  

Ian Pierce told me something about the brand:

We at The Beautiful North are a small independent clothing range formed a couple of years ago with the main aim of releasing limited edition clothing with each product being individually numbered (e.g. TBN-1, TBN-2, TBN-3 etc). Our ethos was to produce and manufacturer everything possible here in the UK and be in a position to champion other independent companies similar to ourselves and promote the idea of spending money 'organically', choosing where you buy products so that it helps your local economy etc. 

We initially started selling t-shirts (not made in the UK) with our designs screen-printed by hand in a converted barn in Wales. With some experience and contacts we continued to expand into sweatshirts which are manufactured here in the UK and again hand-printed in Wales. This winter just gone we continued to grow by expanding our range into hats and scarves (again manufactured here from 100% British wool) which went with great success with the hats selling out in a week and scarves shortly afterwards. 

Now, as we enter Spring/Summer '15, we are proud to announce our first shirting range manufactured right here in the UK using 100% Lancashire Cotton. We feel our shirts have been our latest venture that fit into that category. We have worked with a textile manufacturer in Lancashire to ensure we have the right fabric/pattern that we desire.

It was working with this textile manufacturer that really interested us in Lancashire and its 200+ year association with cotton. How in the 19th Century there were 2650 Cotton Mills in Lancashire, employing 440,000 people and producing a peak of 7 billion yards of cloth, 6 billion of these being exported. Then its inevitable industrial decline in the area where rows and rows of terraced houses in a plethora of mill towns act as reminder of what was once a thriving, all-encompassing industry. We felt this provided an important story for us and really fitted into The Beautiful North's image. It also inspired us when putting together a couple of freebies to go with the shirts (copy of the cigarette cards that would often be collected by those workers not long past the turn of the 20th Century). 

So all our products apart from our t-shirts are made in the UK which is something we are looking to rectify and are busy speaking to a number of manufacturers to see if they can meet our requirements.

All elements of our clothing are brought back to Merseyside, assembled and then with the assistance of some brilliant local graphic designers, website designers and photographers we've had our own online shop up and running for just over two years. 

So, that's a bit about us. Primarily clothing and some blog entries, but we're nice lads.

Please take a look and support this young brand. You can of course find more information on their website: http://www.thebeautifulnorth.co.uk.

Arthur & Henry Fairtrade shirts

Arthur & Henry are launching a Fairtrade and organic cotton range of shirts during Fairtrade Fortnight (23 February to 8 March). 

Farmers loading cotton

Clare Lissaman of Arthur & Henry told me, 

"We're hugely pleased about this; our co-founder Ranga has spent a lot of time with these particular farmers (a group in Odisha in India) and says it's really noticeable the difference being Fairtrade certified means to them. And they are some of the poorest in India".

I've described Arthur & Henry's sterling work with Indian farmers and producers before on the blog. To find out more and to buy these high quality but reasonably-priced shirts, go to the Arthur & Henry website.

Fairtrade certified cotton Canterbury polo (red and navy) £30

Fairtrade Oxford weave cotton long sleeve shirts (white and navy) £65

Crisp black and white

I visited tailor Susannah Hall shortly after London Collections:Men. She showed me bunches of beautiful fabrics from Johnstons of Elgin which contained one of my favourites, a Prince of Wales, or Glen check. I also saw a limited edition black knitted silk tie, specially made by Augustus Hare. Inspired by the many monochrome geometric checks on display at LC:M, we put together this image of black and white crispness. 

Just imagine yourself in the check suit with this shirt and tie and a pair of smart, Northampton-made shiny black Oxford shoes. I'm sorely tempted.

Shirt, made in the UK, from Susannah Hall (£95).
Prince of Wales check suit fabric, made in Scotland by Johnstons of Elgin (for tailoring prices contact Susannah Hall).
Knitted silk tie made in Italy, by Augustus Hare  (Limited edition £70 at Susannah Hall).

Shirts Made in Britain from Susannah Hall now include Liberty print fabrics

Susannah Hall has been selling her high quality British-made 'Office Smoothie' shirts for a while in a wide choice of plain and stripes. But sometimes a man wants to break out from the conventional office shirt with designs more colourful and interesting. To cater to these, Susannah has added shirts made from Liberty prints, available off-the-peg or bespoke.

Susannah Hall told me: 

'I designed the Office Smoothie fit to be slightly neater that your average shirt with the collar that works well both with and without a tie. It sits proud when undone, which is very important! 

We have been making the stock shirts in Northern Ireland and originally started with some classic colours and designs. This year I decided, at last, to go ahead with the Liberty print shirts. We have four fabric designs and only two in each size available to make them more exclusive. We have 15" to 17.5" collar sizes in stock.

When Dauvit Alexander (pictured above) saw them he immediately got in touch and asked if I could find a specific Liberty print to make up a bespoke shirt. I managed to find the cloth and, as you see, has the fabulous shirt pictured above, bespoke-made in Manchester.

Liberty prints £150.  Office Smoothie stock shirts £95. Bespoke from £130. Available from Susannah Hall, Clerkenwell, London.

Good Day Sunshine shirts: Made in London for the winter sun

For those lucky enough to be chasing the sunshine this winter, there is an interesting range of luxury cotton shirts available from Good Day Sunshine shirts.

They are designed and made in London, England from 100% American Supima® cotton, which is woven into a cool, lightweight pique fabric in Switzerland. The extra-long yarns of Supima® cotton result in a more luxurious, softer and yet durable fabric. 

They are nicely-cut, with a tailored fit. The long-sleeved version features a two-button cuff; useful for wearers of larger watches. The lightly-lined shirt-style collar looks good under a jacket, without appearing too stiff or formal. The hem is longer at the back and the side vents and slimmer fit help the shirt fit comfortably and neatly. 

Also available with a short sleeve, this is a versatile and very wearable shirt, ideal for the beach, the poolside, or equally fitting around a dinner table. It goes well under a lightweight jacket, suit or blazer and is designed to stay smart even after a long flight or journey. Minimalist in look, it can even be worn with a tie.

I don't think that this is a shirt for warmer climes only. I've been wearing mine very comfortably in the chill of a London winter. The detail of the shirt is remarkable; it's good to come across something into which so much care, thought and skill has gone; giving a true mix of polo and formal shirt. This is a shirt that deserves to be noticed.

If James Bond was after a shirt for his foreign adventures, surely it would be this one. Available in several colours, see Good Day Sunshine for more information or to buy.

Beaufort & Blake - printed dress shirts and accessories

Beaufort & Blake was founded in 2012 by three university friends who created a patriotic themed dress shirt for a friend attending a ‘Best of British’ May Ball. After moving to London they developed their own range of of printed clothing and accessories. 

I recently attended a ball wearing one of their beautifully-made Liberty print dress shirts (above) with fox-head (of course) studs.These revive the eighties popularity of shirts with colourful printed arms and back, invisible when worn under evening wear, but shown in all their glory once the jacket is removed. This can be traced to the mess rooms of the British Army where traditional black-tie dress is regularly worn and officers. To mark their individuality once formal proceedings were completed, they would remove their jackets to display humorous and colourful shirts. 

Grey Fox dressing for the ball; bow tie needs a tweak. Beaufort Blake shirt and fox studs

Only 120 shirts are made in each colour way, offering traditional shirting heritage and bold, vibrant colours. All products are made with 100% cotton and manufactured to the highest quality. Liberty prints are used in some of the designs.

Other products include boxer shorts and shirt studs. For more information, or to buy, go to Beaufort & Blake.

Buying a British-made shirt: a selection from TEK, Smyth & Gibson, Grosvenor and Tripl Stitched

TEK

TEK is a collaboration between New Future Graphic, Timothy Everest and Eley Kishimoto. Drawing on the best of British design and manufacture, these shirts are made in London.  Hand screen printed cotton cloth from the Eley Kishimoto design Studio, Brixton, is tailored by Timothy Everest tailors in Spitalfields. The finished product is manufactured and packaged under art direction from New Future Graphic. I had a quick look at Best of Britannia recently and they seem nicely-made from quality fabric. I hope to have a closer look soon and, if I do, I'll report back.

TEK has other projects planned for the future, so watch this space. 

The first range is scheduled to hit selected stores in Jan 2015. 

Smyth & Gibson

I recently received some beautifully-made shirts from Northern Ireland's Smyth & Gibson, based in Derry, Londonderry. It's good to see the products of such a manufacturing heritage. The cut, fabrics and construction are of the highest standard.

The shirts can be bought online here.

Tripl Stitched
I've written recently about these London shirtmakers, whose products are of such high quality. Here's how I reviewed their shirts. Watch out for a beautiful AW14 collection with indigo-dyed shirts.

Tripl Stitched

Go to Tripl Stitched to buy or for information.

Grosvenor Shirts

This is another brand of British-made shirts I reviewed recently. High quality and, in general, bright and colourful.

Grosvenor Shirts

See Grosvenor Shirts for more information.

There are many more suppliers and manufacturers of British-made shirts appearing and it's good to see this revival of traditional skills appearing all over the country. Do you have any favourite British-made shirts?

Dundas - linen shirts for men

Some weeks ago I met Jamie Dundas who has started a business making linen shirts for men. Like many people starting a clothing business, his motivation was partly to improve what was already available. Tired of easily crushed, harsh and difficult to iron linen shirts, he felt he could do better.

And he has done so. I've been very comfortably wearing one of his shirts on the hottest days of this summer. It washes well and irons easily. The secret is a rather more robust linen than is usually used; one that is soft to the touch, yet cool and crisp. Jamie visited over 70 mills to find the right cloth with the right weave and richness of colour that he wanted.

He has also got the shape just right. The cut is slim without being extreme; ideal for a man of any age or shape; for the older man after an elegant and flattering shirt or for the younger after cool, comfortable smart-casual.

And linen is a fabric that, like a man over forty, looks best with a few worn-in wrinkles.

Jamie is a young entrepreneur with good designs and ideas. Keep an eye on him; his shirts have already reached the shoulders of royalty, household names and those in the know. For more information, or to buy, visit Dundas London.

Tripl Stitched - quality shirts made in London

Tripl Stitched is a new menswear brand that makes shirts in Enfield, London, England. And what wonderful shirts they are. When I first heard from them I quickly gained the impression of a company that puts much effort and pride into what it does. I commonly find such passion in those committed to UK manufacture and the happy result is always high quality, well-designed products.

Here is what Ben Marden of Tripl Stitched told me,

'... please have a close look at the seams as we are using traditional American and Japanese machines that make a a fully flat felled seam (so folded in and enclosed with no raw edges). The armhole seams are the classic wide single needle like old Brooks Brothers and in the side seams we use a very rare triple needle machine (hence the name) where we reverse the chain stitch for more comfort. And this also adds a small visual touch to show our point of difference. We also use only cross stitching for the real mother of pearl buttons and our button holes are on a special modern Japanese machine that makes a tiny pearl stitch like a suiting button hole, so again rare on shirts apart from the real high end ones like Turnbull & Asser.'

The fabrics are lovely, some from Italy, but the chambray prints are designed and printed in London, so with those you acquire a shirt totally designed and made in London (see, for example, the contour-printed shirt above, bottom right). 

I've been able to try some of the shirts. They're cut not too full, not too fitted, and in a way that is comfortable and flattering, but somehow different. Clearly, much thought has gone into cut and design, as Ben went on to tell me,

'I have a collection of vintage shirts from the the early 1900's to the 1950's where I've borrowed lots of old detailing and we are very lucky to have a great master pattern cutter in London who is able to work with me to get these three dimensional cuts that just make you feel good without knowing quite why. That, I always feel, is the sign of a really good cut'.

This is a label that really deserves to do well. Shirt prices are from £95 with free delivery - extremely reasonable given the quality, London provenance and outstanding design. They're built to last - you get what you pay for. See Tripl Stitched for more information and to buy these great shirts.

(Images from Tripl Stitched).

Wearfore - Anne Marie NG tells us about her luxury shirts label

I first met Anne Marie NG last year when we chatted about her ambitions to start a high-quality men's shirt brand. She has now done that, so I caught up with her recently to talk about her new label, Wearfore. Knowing how keen I am for brands to use older men to sell their products, she kindly asked me to be photographed in some of her lovely shirts. We had a fascinating morning with outstanding photographer,  David Newby, more of whose work can be found at David Newby. 

The quality of the shirt fabric and manufacture is very high; they felt comfortable and soft to wear. For more information, visit Wearfore.

Wearfore - image by David Newby

Tell us about the business.

The name Wearfore is a play on the word “wherefore” - for what reason you are wearing your clothes? 

We're a London-based, high-end menswear label that combines timeless designs with understated luxury, beautiful fabrics and considered details. The business has initially started with just capsule ranges of shirts, trans-seasonal styles crafted by specialist manufacturers in Europe, with more products being added over time. 

Alongside each collection is the Wearfore Creatives Series, an ongoing photography project featuring emerging and established creatives people wearing Wearfore, with a little insight into where and how they work.

Wearfore cotton collared shirt - image David Newby

How did you get started? 

I’ve designed luxury menswear for two Savile Row brands, Kilgour and Gieves & Hawkes, where I was their first female Global Head of Design and creating super luxury collections for the China market. I was constantly travelling between Asia and Europe, observing how men dressed for their busy lives in different climates and I’d been thinking for a long time about setting up my own brand of menswear that is more relevant to modern lifestyles. 

I started Wearfore last April and having been fortunate to work with many of the best mills and factories, I already knew exactly whom I wanted to work with. We produced eight spring-summer shirt samples that were photographed by David Newby for the first Wearfore Creatives Series and featured four British artists. I showed my shirts and images to James Sleaford, Fashion Director at GQ France and he suggested contacting the British Fashion Council. So after just nine months of starting the business, Wearfore launched at LC:M in January 2014 with a capsule collection of trans-seasonal and autumn-winter shirts.

Where are your shirts made? 

Wearfore shirts are currently made by two amazing, specialist shirt factories in Italy. They have the expertise, knowhow and all the capabilities I need. Plus, as most of my shirt fabrics and trims are Italian too, it makes sense to keep everything as close together as possible. 

Wearfore white collarless cotton shirt - image David Newby

Who and where are your main markets? How would you like to see these develop?

I design smart-casual wear for international creative and discerning men who are self-assured and care about details, quality and provenance. 

Aside from establishing Wearfore in the UK, my main target market overseas is Asia, especially China as I’ve witnessed first-hand the huge potential for menswear brands over there. I’d love Wearfore to have lifestyle stores there one day.

What have been the particular challenges?

Finding a decent British shirt manufacturer who can do small production runs, garment washing and dyeing has been particularly challenging. Sadly, there are just not many specialist shirt factories and dye-wash houses left in England now.

Another challenge has been getting in front of British buyers as they’re inundated with brands. In contrast, I met several buyers in Hong Kong who run very cool shops and are open to finding out about new labels. It’s a very exciting market out there.

What inspires you in driving the business?

I’m inspired by the fact that more men around the world are becoming interested in clothes and how to style themselves. Technology and social media, however disruptive, has really helped the growth of menswear and I’m now working on how to sell Wearfore online. This is all new to me so it’s a huge learning curve, but a positive one!

Wearfore white cotton collared shirt - image David Newby

What are you favourite moments in running the business?

It’s been great to start a menswear label from scratch and be able to take it in any direction creatively. It’s also always exciting when my shirt samples arrive back from the factories - I can’t wait to see them come to life on people, not just in a shiny packet or on a hanger. 

My other favourite moments are when we photograph Creatives for the Wearfore Creatives Series and meeting lots of new people in the fashion industry, particularly other designers and the press.

Any further thoughts? 

I’m currently working on my first collaboration on “Wearfore Art Thou” T-shirts with an emerging British artist, DRB, whose work is in the permanent collection at the V&A.

Follow on Twitter:

Shirts - @Wearfore

Photographer - @DavidNewbyPhoto

Model - David Evans @GreyFoxBlog

Grosvenor Shirts: quality shirts with a twist, made in the UK

Grosvenor Shirts make their shirts in the UK from British cloths. They have worked hard to differentiate their products in a fairly crowded market by adding detailed twists of colour to their designs, taking them out of the run-of-the-mill shirting that can be found on most high streets. Grosvenor describe their shirts as 'classic with a contemporary and fun twist'.

At their shop in Jermyn Street, London, which I visited, the shirts (for men and women) are displayed attractively, taking full advantage of the colours and designs. Some are bold, many more subtle, and formal, casual and bespoke shirts are on offer with blazers, ties and other accessories. 

I haven't had the chance to try them for fit, how they iron or durability, but the quality looked good, with a mix of traditional and new advances in textile technology used in their production. I do own one of their ties and it is almost perfect in terms of the thickness of the fabric, shape and handle, forming an ideal knot. If the shirts are designed with the same care, they will be excellent. 

In 2013 the company was granted a Royal Warrant to supply to HM The Queen. For more information about stockists, shops and to buy online, visit Grosvenor Shirts here.