The shirt. Millions of men around the world slip into one each morning, button it up, slip a tie around the collar, tuck in the tails and never give so much as a second thought to the garment for the rest of the day. But then again, the shirt does have a long history. It dates back to the early Middle Ages.
The shirt started out as something you would never see in public; it was underwear which you pulled over your head. By the 18th century it was a flouncy affair with a huge collar, ruffles, ballooning sleeves and lacy cuffs. It was only in the mid 19th century that it became more tailored to the shape of the body, and the shirt as we know it today with a fixed fold over collar has only been around since the 1920s.
In the 19th century, the white shirt began to be seen as a symbol of power and prosperity. When you look at world leaders today, what colour shirt do they most favour?
World leader white
Maybe when you get into high office you attend formal lessons on power clothing. The shirt of most world leaders is uniformly white, and the tie for the most part plain. It’s no coincidence that the term ‘white collar worker’ is still understood as a sign of a better paid managerial job.
If you’re happy to continue to pull on your Marks & Spencer easy care shirt every day and never give it a second thought, then so be it, but if as a watch lover you can admire a Vacheron Constantin or a Patek Philippe for its exquisite craftsmanship and impeccable design, then you should also be able to appreciate the same level of design and craftsmanship in your shirts.
Unlike watches, fine shirts are not only a Swiss creation – although Switzerland does make some of the finest cottons.
Here is a small selection of excellent brands from Europe and America which will subtly ennoble you to world leader status without having to worry about a single sound bite.
The prices may seem steep for a shirt, but think of it this way, you’d be over the moon if you could buy an even half way decent watch at these prices and yet here you have some of the best shirts money can buy.
France
Charvet, Paris
Charvet, is a French high-end shirt maker and tailor located at 28 Place Vendome. It’s a must-visit store for discerning clothes conscious men. Charvet, France’s finest and longest serving custom shirtmaker, has been in business for over 150 years. They are said to have established the world’s first ever shirt shop, founded in 1838, and yes, they can be a little snobbish about it.
A visit to the store is an experience to be savoured. There is a riot of fine silk and pure cottons to choose from – the fabrics range from 100’s two-fold poplin to 220’s, the very finest; the fabrics are woven in Switzerland, Italy and England, and, in addition to poplin, they are available in Oxford, zephyr, voiles, end-on-end, batistes, Marcellas, twills, silks and linens. The five-storey emporium dedicates one floor to shirting. Never mind 50 shades of grey, Charvet stocks more than 300 shades of white.
Charvet was also the first to make knotted-silk cufflinks, now copied around the world. Ready-made shirts start at £185.00
America
Van Heusen
Established in 1881, Van Heusen is the best-selling dress shirt brand in the world, Van Heusen has been associated with stylish, affordable and high-quality shirts since introducing the patented soft-folding collar in 1921. Over the decades Van Heusen has been one of the most popular business shirts for men, and today they are available all over the world. Van Heusen has long since become a lifestyle brand selling a wide range of other items both for men and women. Shirt prices start at around £40.00
J. Press
J. Press, established in New Haven Connecticut in 1902 is the ultimate Ivy League brand. Beloved of Yale and Harvard students and their university professors, their range of shirts on sale goes well beyond the basic blue or white button-down collared variety, although, as with any shirt brand, these are its mainstays.
The shirts–whether in oxford, pinpoint, formal or French cuff–come in a wide range of sizes. J. Press do not offer bespoke shirts but their excellent ready to wear ones start at US$55.00 – sadly not $6.50 as listed on this vintage ad.
Ralph Lauren Purple Label
Ralph Lauren, who has made his considerable fortune in emulating the conservative styles of fine English tailoring and giving them his own unique design flair, introduced Purple Label in the 1990s. It’s a range of clothes designed to replicate the quality and workmanship of traditional Savile Row and Jermyn Street tailoring .
In many respects the Purple Label shirts are every bit as good as the best that Jermyn Street has to offer, as the best Italian fabrics are used and they are made by top Italian shirtmakers Lorenzini. Prices start from £170.00 for ready to wear and £235.00 for bespoke shirts.
Italy
Luigi Borrelli
Trust the Italians to have good shirts. And you really can trust them to have some of the very best. Borrelli, founded in 1957, is one of the most expensive shirtmakers in the world. Based in Napoli, the land of world famous Neapolitan ice creams, the shirtmaker does its best to ensure that its customers get their money’s worth. Proper fit is what defines a Borrelli shirt and all its shirts are made by hand, hand-cut, hand-stitched and hand-finished from the finest Italian fabrics. Italian shirt fabric is generally acknowledged to be the world’s best, even the Jermyn Street bespoke tailors would agree with that. Ready-made shirts start at £193.00 and bespoke shirts from £211.00
Forzieri
Leading Italian lifestyle brand Forzieri – who ship worldwide – make and sell some of the best quality men’s dress shirts from the choice of Italian fabrics in a wide range of colours and with assured and stylish cutting. Forzieri’s style experts strive to provide an exclusive range of shirts and constantly refresh their collection. Forzieri shirts start at £65 and go up to £277 for a world leader white herringbone.
England
Jermyn Street, London
Jermyn Street in London is truly the La Chaux de Fonds of shirtmaking. It is here that a cluster of elite and long established brands offer what is considered to be the finest tailoring in the world – and few would disagree. What may surprise many is the excellent value for money to be had in Jermyn Street. There are frequent sales at many of the top stores in order to refresh stock, and excellent Savile Row shirts can be picked up at very reasonable prices – sometimes for not much more than you would pay for a chain store shirt. Here is a selection of some superb Jermyn Street shirtmakers.
Budd
Budd is a quiet, conservative Jermyn Street shirtmaker happy to continue to provide the same unfaltering service as it did when it first opened its doors in 1910. While many of the top London shirtmakers have ambitiously marketed their wares around the world by opening shops abroad, Budd is still what it always was, a small, family-owned store that makes some of the best handmade shirts anywhere in the world. In fact, you can only buy a Budd shirt at the Budd store.
The company is one of the remaining few to handle all its cutting on the premises. The cutting room is directly above the shop floor, where all the work is done by hand. Budd’s ready-made shirts begin at £65 for plain-coloured 100’s two-fold poplin. Bespoke shirts begin at £125.
New & Lingwood
The shirtmakers of choice for Eton acolytes. For generations, Etonians, and those who want to look like Etonians, have opted for New & Lingwood. Shirts are of course of the highest quality, and, typical of all the best Jermyn Street stores, they are either ready to wear or fully bespoke. Long before the advent of the internet it was possible to simply phone in your order to New & Lingwood from anywhere in the world, your measurements would already be faithfully recorded and kept on record. And then New & Lingwood send the shirts to you. That’s because so many old Etonians used to be dispatched to the far corners of the globe to rule it. Today they run the same service for old Etonians working as Hollywood producers and Wall Street brokers. Ready made shirts start at £78.00
Turnbull & Asser
London shirt maker Turnbull & Asser was established in 1885, and has been supplying illustrious figures both real and fictional throughout its history, from Sir Winston Churchill to Prince Charles to James Bond and many a successful business tycoon and pencil sharpening Temple Chambers barrister besides. Have you ever seen Prince Charles in anything other than an immaculate shirt and tie? That’s Turnbull & Asser for you.
T&A’s men’s shirts are made in Gloucester in England to the highest standards, using Italian fabric and mother-of-pearl buttons. Like the best shirtmakers they offer both ready to wear and truly bespoke, meaning you can have just about any preference added to your shirt from a monogram to one cuff wider than the other to accommodate your watch, to a family crest on the gusset. Ready-made shirts begin at £145. Exclusive shirts begin at £155. Bespoke shirts are priced from £156, but you are expected to order at least three shirts.
Editor’s Choice
Hilditch & Key
Charles F. Hilditch and W. Graham Key opened for business in 1899, and since that time their shirts have deservedly become famous all around the world. Their shirts are manufactured in a factory in Edinburgh using flat sewing machines, which are essentially the same as in the past and the seaming is single needle. Of all the English shirtmakers, these are my personal favourite, their quality is always reliable, and their shirts supremely comfortable. To support my view, The Times recently voted them as the best shirt in Jermyn Street, which essentially makes them the best shirtmakers in the world. Ready made shirts are priced from £69.95.
More about shirts
Learning about fully bespoke collars, collar stays, cuffs, plackets, gussets, yokes and single needle stitching is another important aspect of choosing a good shirt, but we will leave that to another article.
