Australian Members - Page 212

Austen Brothers are good value at $80. link

I also find Oxford shirts on sale at good value. Their mainline shirts are about $60 on sale. Their 'luxury' line has cloth from the Albiate Mill in Milan.

I don't see the need to spend much over $100 on a shirt. If you're in Melbourne I can show you where to get Mastai Ferretti shirts for $100-120, and if you really want something special you can get hand-made in Rome Antichi Telai shirts for about $140.

Oh. Don't know whether their sale is still on, but last week I saw their luxury line shirts go as low as $70. Also if I buy beater shirts in Melbourne, I usually steer clear of department stores and go straight to the outlets, where shirts are sold for a much lower price.

For something similar quality as the Van Heusens, Brookesfield's store at DFO Southwarf always have their shirts sold for under $30.

An example of the Bali- nising of Australian culture:

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/...303-1bfmb.html

+1 It's a cracking good album.

You know what's scarier than the article? The comments section!

Yep, I just bought on Oxford 'luxury' shirts with nice woven Italian for $63. I think they have best design/patterns of any local shirt maker. Their spring range was very hit'n'miss IMO but I liked what they had this summer.

Too bad Oxford doesn't seem to stock staple solid shirts: they are always patterned.

Anyway I just got my $25 giftcard from them. Time to go buy a pair of trouser. Cant go wrong with, effectively, $16 a pair.

I have a few shirts from different makers: All 100% cotton SLIM FIT with no pockets. TM Lewin : Very slimming, decent fabric , good construction, non fused collars, plastic buttons, (says pattern matching but only 1/3 is matched), collars shrink? Charles Tyrwhitt : Not as slimming, decent fabric , good construction H&H: Fits like a bed sheet (not slim at all), decent fabric , poor construction, troca buttons?,unfused collars and cuffs. All 3 shirts have loose threads on most button holes Brooks Brothers: Have darts in back , fits a bit slimmer than H&H , decent/good fabric , good construction. Expensive shipping to Oz. TM and CT are above same price if you use the co.uk web address. I prefer lewin due to the sleeve length. Harvie and Hudson is more expensive. I liked the Abelard shirts at DJ's but there still over $80AUD on special. Does anyone know why some 100% cotton fabrics feel like rough dry cotton and why some have a shiny, smooth (silk like feel) to it? Is it the fabic brand , ply/thread count or weave?

There are different types of fabrics that would have different texture etc etc - Twill, Broadcloth, Pinpoint, Oxford. The type of cotton used can also vary - Pima, Sea island, Egyptian. The thread count, ply, mill and weave all plays a part in determining how the fabric will feel.

Wild guess here. I think the finer the threads and the tighter the weave, the more lustrous a fabric gets.

I find both equally scary

Paul Frederick on sale is pretty good when you pay for higher grade cloth.

Thanks for the comments/tips guys. I noticed that a few of the online shops (Eg TM Lewin) sell Herringbone shirts, would they be similar fabric-wise to the ones sold in Herringbone shops in Sydney? Are they considered softer than Oxford or Poplin?

The 'Herringbone Sydney' is a brand.

The 'herringbone' TM Lewinn refers to is a type of weave pattern.

Once you get into good quality shirts, it is not really about the softness. Even the higher quality 'stiffer' fabrics will be more comfortable than some Australian department store junk. The weave, such as herringbone that you mention will have no impact on the 'softness'. It is all very dependent on the quality and type of material used. A herringbone weave shirt can be as soft as a silk shirt or very stiff all depending on the material used.