Charles Tyrwhitt Sportcoats - Page 2

On a different note, their Shirts are really nice too! I have a bunch that are in my everyday rotation.

 

 I couldn't agree more. They're an excellent company and I wear CT dress shirts almost exclusively.

 

I can't comment on their suits or sport coats, but I own about 15 CT Dress Shirts, and about 7-8 CT ties.

 

Of note:

1.) Their customer service is some of the best I've ever seen. I bought two dress shirts and a tie that took over a month to get to me. I thought it was lost so I emailed them. They rush shipped a new order to me (It cost $30.xx just to ship for the record). Literally the next day, the first order arrived. I emailed them about what happened and they told me to keep both orders.

 

Along the same lines, my friend bought a couple dress shirts from them. One turned out to be out of stock. They shipped him a free pair of cufflinks for the extra week it took to get new stock in.

 

2.) Yes, everything is always discounted. Sure, it's a marketing gimic, but the quality is still very very good. About 6 months ago, they had a Shirt/Tie combo for $40 shipped. I bought a ton of them.

 

3.) They're great for premade shirts. They have regular, slim, and extra slim. I've got a heavy taper and the slim fits my very well.

 

As far as dress shirt quality: They're leaps and bounds better than anything you could find at dillards. The cheaper brooks brothers shirts I own are inferior. I have yet to break a button on any of my shirts. I'm a pretty big cheap A** and I'd realistically pay up to about $60 a shirt for them.

 

As far as their ties: They're some of the best I've found for the value. Once a few guys in my office saw me wearing them, they all were hooked too.

 

In short: They're not the best and baddest out there, but for the price, I have yet to find a better shirt or tie company. They have excellent customer service and an excellent returns policy. They have sales all the time, so hold out for those.

I agree about the quality of the shirts and ties. I recently ventured into Brooks Brothers and picked up a few shirts and ties, which are both a bit more expensive than CT. The BB shirt fabric is thinner and feels like lower quality than CT. The buttons are also much smaller, and still plastic. They give you flimsy plastic collar stays instead of metal ones. The knot of the BB ties is way smaller than the CT ties when I do a four-in-hand.

 

My only complaint is that they don't sell button-down collar shirts with as many sizing options. They are only S/M/L/XL etc.

Can anyone compare the quality and fit of their shirts to those of TM Lewin? - which also seem to permanently be on sale.

For the money (£28 for a white poplin shirt) CT shirts are damn good value. I've recently paid a bit more by going to Harvie & Hudson and bought 2 shirts for £65 each, because I couldn't find a 3rd one in the colour I wanted, in the correct size. The material and feel is better at H&H but I'm too inexperienced to quantify whether is worth x2.5 the price. That said, the H&H shirts that I purchased, were a much better shade than what was on offer at CT.

 

Ties? Not so keen. I dislike the saturation i.e. too bright and bold, without possessing depth. Have a dark navy tie from CT, but it is light years away from a dark navy repp from Drakes. That said, Drakes are x4 the price (retail). Like H&H, I bought a mossy green tie from Drakes (paying full retail £115!) because the tie was (a) woven, and (b) in a hue / shade that I have not seen anywhere else. Works beautifully with the cream H&H shirt.

 

It may be me, but nothing seems to fill the gap tie-wise between CT and Sam Hober or Drakes. I'd rather either stick with CT or pay more and go Sam Hober or Drakes.

 

I still wear my charcoal suit that I bought from CT last year at £300 (inc. spare pair of trousers). With some minor tailoring (jacket taken in, and trousers hemmed), it is a good fit as generally I'm 40R RTW. For a little more money, or thereabouts there is Suit Supply and Ede & Ravenscroft (£400 tropical wool in sale, with spare pair of trousers).

 

I would never pay full retail for CT because the prices are always 50% (marketing gimmick). Acceptable quality for the price.

 

Note: none of the sports-coats have patch pockets - so instant dismissal from me.

For me T M Lewin is better; the shirts are cheaper and the collar adn cuffs aren't fused as they are in CT. Although it doesn't make a very big difference initially, by the time the shirts are 5 years old (as a few of mine are) the difference is marked. I can put my oldest TML shirts next to brand new ones and the difference is almost invisible. The same cannot be said for CT which seem to be knackered after about 2 years.

My ranking would be:

Suits:
1. T M Lewin
2. CT

Sports coats and casual:
1. CT
2. TML

Shirts:
1.T M L
2. CT

Does tm lewin have a physical store in the us?

Also, what do you think of their ties?

I don't know about Stores in the US, as I'm a UK chap.

Ties are tough; the difference between the two brands is negligible, but I always seem to find a couple of patterns that I like in TML but never in CT. I'm certain that its mostly down to chance, but I certainly wouldn't hesitate to buy a CT tie if I saw one that I liked. I'm sure that without the labels, you wouldn't be able to discern a difference between the two brands.

I would stay away from their "7 Fold" ties, which are crazy expensive given that they are made in the same factories as the normal ties. Also consider avoiding the CT Sea Island Cotton shirts, as the price rises disproportionately to the quality.

I am on the fence about buying a tailored fit CT navy sportcoat. It is $329, so considerably cheaper than anything else out there that is half-canvassed. My next sportcoat purchase was going to be some kind of flannel, but this one is textured to a degree (sort of a hopsack/pique).

 

I believe this is the one:

http://www.ctshirts.com/men's-outerwear/men's-sport-coats-and-blazers/Navy-tailored-fit-blazer?q=usddefault||BL038NAV|||||||||||||&ppp=22

 

But there seems to be much more texture in-person. Does anyone have this jacket who can comment on its versatility and quality?

I believe that I own that jacket, and I love it.  It is rather textured in a hopsack/basketweave, but it's still quite versatile.  By the way, check the clearance section; they have what appears to be the same sportcoat on sale for $179. 

Im eyeing this sportscoat myself

I just received what I think is last year's version of the navy tailored fit blazer, which is $189:

http://www.ctshirts.com/Sale/men's-outerwear/Navy-tailored-fit-blazer?q=usddefault||BL032NAV|||||||||||||

 

It's a pretty solid product.  The fabric had a lot more texture than I expected (pictures on the CT website are mostly useless), but the fit is great, measurements are correct, and the weight is on the lighter side. The shoulders are definitely less pronounced than the classic fit, which is nice.  Buttons have a plasticky look to them, even if they're advertised as corzo.  I'm very happy with the coat, particularly at the $189 price.

 

If you link thru http://www.retailmenot.com/view/ctshirts.com?c=4617323, click on the first entry, 7% off plus free shipping, which then takes you to the CT site and activates the free shipping, but then use the other tyr23b code listed on retailmenot for a 10% discount instead of the 7% from the link.

what gives you the impression that this is half canvassed.

as far as I know, only the black label and luxury lines are half canvassed.

also, for those not aware, if you order off the UK site, its 179gbp or $273. Shipping is a bit more, but no where close to making up the savings.