Charvet Shirts Question

[jeff13007]



No - not right. Don't ever say that again. Both Saks and Bergdorf do annual made to measure events with Jean Claude Colban where much, much more customization is offered than what you desrcibe above.

Like you said these are "annual" events so he can't really walk in and ask for it on the spot, so technically Foo is right.

I just asked about this a couple of months ago at Bergdorf.

From what they were telling me when i asked at Bergdorfs it was more akin to MTM than MTO, not sure about saks. Its the guy working there that is doing the measurements though and I'm pretty sure he's a bergdof employee and not a charvet rep.

 

[Griffindork]



Like you said these are "annual" events so he can't really walk in and ask for it on the spot, so technically Foo is right.
From what they were telling me when i asked at Bergdorfs it was more akin to MTM than MTO, not sure about saks. Its the guy working there that is doing the measurements though and I'm pretty sure he's a bergdof employee and not a charvet rep.

Sure he can. He can go and ask anytime and he can do the same with calling Charvet. Look, I have no idea what your experience with Charvet is but I've been a bespoke customer for about 4 years and my experience is that they will go out of their way to make you happy. When you go for your first fitting, their first question is "do you like the fit of the shirt you are wearing and do you want your charvet shirts to look the same.". They are sticklers about not letting bespoke shirts out the door without 3 fittings, but if Saks gives a set of measurements, they might be willing to do it as they are already making shirts measured at saks in any event. But the fact of the matter is that the OP won't know for sure unless he asks, and he can ask any time. Your notion that he can't ask is just plain wrong. And obviously he isn't being measured by a charvet tailor, but he doesn't want that. He wants a shirt based on pre-existing measurements.

 

[Kuro]

^how do you arrive at 3 fittings?
IME I count 2 and that includes the shirt that was recut.

 

[Griffindork]

At your first visit, your measurements are taken and from those measurements a shirt is produced. At the second meeting, your trial shirt is reviewed and adjusted. I suppose if that trial shirt was perfect, then you would be done. In my case, adjustments were required. Charvet insisted that I return so that they could see the adjustments before I ordered more shirts. So you are right that it could be 2 if the trial shirt is perfectly to your satisfaction.

 

[TheFoo]

The first meeting for measurements is not a fitting. The first fitting is when you try on the trial shirt, and they fit you in it.

Also, you are confusing what Charvet is able to do in Paris with what they are willing to do through Saks and Bergdorf. They call it "MTM," but if you ask them what sorts of changes they can make to stock models, it becomes abundantly clear it is more of a MTO process. That is, they will make you a new shirt, with a RTW body attached to a RTW collar. The two things they change are: sleeve length and the length of the body. They will not taper or take in the body, adjust shoulder width, or anything like that.

Unless someone at Bergdorf or Saks has explicitly stated otherwise in the past few months, that's what you are going to get.

 

[Kuro]

I see. I don't consider the first meeting a fitting. My trial shirt in toile needed adjustments, but they didn't insist on making another. Instead they made the final shirt. They told me to wash and wear that about 5 times and then bring it back...

 

[Griffindork]

I'll reiterate my advice to the OP since it is correct (and is consistent with the advice given by the only other poster in the thread that appears to have gone through the full mesure process). OP - go visit Bergdorf and Saks if you are in NYC. Bring your shirt and tell them what you want to do and that you are ready to do it that day. Call Charvet as well. You can probably find J-C Colban's email address on the LL. Write to him and tell him how much you would like a Charvet shirt and what you would like to do. I don't know what the response will be, but if you have your heart set on it then give it a try and report back. No one here has tried what you want to do so don't pay attention to anyone who says tries you dissaude you on the basis that you can get something else that is better. Its your $

Mafoofan - your experiences with many merchants is starkly different than mine. You often find frustartion where I find extreme accomodation. I don't know why that is, but this would not be the first time where your advice doesn't apply well. Hermes and Ambrosi are examples. So I would suggest the OP give it a shot.

 

[Griffindork]



I see. I don't consider the first meeting a fitting. My trial shirt in toile needed adjustments, but they didn't insist on making another. Instead they made the final shirt. They told me to wash and wear that about 5 times and then bring it back...

Sure, fitting, measurements - whatever you want to call it. I'm trying to make a point about the total number of visits to Paris one should expect in order to able to simply call and get shirts. The 5 washes of the trial shirt is consistent with my experience. Also - the $500 figure quoted above is, in my opinion, too low. There are some solid color voile and poplins in that range, but I know there are at least 6 price levels and most are well above that. And import duties exceed VAT,I think. Assume an average of approximately 600 euro per shirt all in with duty.

 

[chiefhk]

Thanks Guys, let me see what I can do. Unfortunately NYC will also be out of the question for the time being. I'll let you guys know what the response is, hopefully some magic can be done!

 

[jeff13007]



Sure he can. He can go and ask anytime and he can do the same with calling Charvet. Look, I have no idea what your experience with Charvet is but I've been a bespoke customer for about 4 years and my experience is that they will go out of their way to make you happy. When you go for your first fitting, their first question is "do you like the fit of the shirt you are wearing and do you want your charvet shirts to look the same.". They are sticklers about not letting bespoke shirts out the door without 3 fittings, but if Saks gives a set of measurements, they might be willing to do it as they are already making shirts measured at saks in any event. But the fact of the matter is that the OP won't know for sure unless he asks, and he can ask any time. Your notion that he can't ask is just plain wrong. And obviously he isn't being measured by a charvet tailor, but he doesn't want that. He wants a shirt based on pre-existing measurements.

No one is saying he shouldn't ask and if he wants to go through with it then by all means its his money not mine, all people were saying is that part of what makes Charvet great is having them take the measurements and make the shirt around that and it seems wasted by asking them to just copy a shirt. I mean hell if he is paying for the whole process he might as well get the whole process right? My only experience with bespoke shirts have been through a neopolitan maker so I'm not sure about the variance between different shirt makers and this case might not be as extreme as this but to me its as if i sent in one of my current suits to a well known tailor like rubinacci and asked them to copy it.

 

[TheFoo]



Thanks Guys, let me see what I can do. Unfortunately NYC will also be out of the question for the time being. I'll let you guys know what the response is, hopefully some magic can be done!

Where do you live? There might be a decent shirtmaker nearby. Honestly, a Charvet-copied shirt sounds like a fool's errand. What do you think will be special about it? It is an entirely machine-sewn shirt. Yes, the machine stitching is really excellent machine stitching, but that is hardly something I'd pay several hundreds of dollars in premium for. What makes a Charvet shirt special as a Charvet shirt are the fit and the fabric selection, in addition to impeccable construction.

For the price you're going to wind up paying, assuming Charvet will do this for you, you might as well get MTM shirts from another big name shirt brand that is better known for unique construction quality. Kiton, for example. Not that I'd do that myself. When it comes to shirts, fabric and fit are king. I'm just saying that if you want to poor money into a shirt that will not have a bespoke fit, you might as well pick one with lots of pretty hand-stitching.

Seriously, go see a shirtmaker.

 

[TheFoo]



No one is saying he shouldn't ask and if he wants to go through with it then by all means its his money not mine, all people were saying is that part of what makes Charvet great is having them take the measurements and make the shirt around that and it seems wasted by asking them to just copy a shirt. I mean hell if he is paying for the whole process he might as well get the whole process right? My only experience with bespoke shirts have been through a neopolitan maker so I'm not sure about the variance between different shirt makers and this case might not be as extreme as this but to me its as if i sent in one of my current suits to a well known tailor like rubinacci and asked them to copy it.

Bingo.

 

[Griffindork]



No one is saying he shouldn't ask and if he wants to go through with it then by all means its his money not mine, all people were saying is that part of what makes Charvet great is having them take the measurements and make the shirt around that and it seems wasted by asking them to just copy a shirt. I mean hell if he is paying for the whole process he might as well get the whole process right? My only experience with bespoke shirts have been through a neopolitan maker so I'm not sure about the variance between different shirt makers and this case might not be as extreme as this but to me its as if i sent in one of my current suits to a well known tailor like rubinacci and asked them to copy it.

No - youre wrong. He likes his shirt. He thinks it is perfect. Having it replicated is totally logical and so is having Charvet replicate it as opposed to someone else. By the way, Charvet is agnostic on styling. There isn't a single Charvet fit. They follow your directions. What if the OP is using as the model a bespoke Lanvin shirt from 10 years ago? Do you feel differently?

 

[TheFoo]



No - youre wrong. He likes his shirt. He thinks it is perfect. Having it replicated is totally logical and so is having Charvet replicate it as opposed to someone else. By the way, Charvet is agnostic on styling. There isn't a single Charvet fit. They follow your directions. What if the OP is using as the model a bespoke Lanvin shirt from 10 years ago? Do you feel differently?

Have you ever had a garment copied? Reverse engineering a ready-made (already worn, nonetheless) shirt will not yield you a copy that fits the same or has exactly the same cut. Moreover, it sounds like the OP does not have experience with bespoke shirts. Thus, whatever he thinks fits well now is probably not as good as it could be.

Charvet may not be known for specific styling, but they are renowned as fitters. I may like the engine in my Honda a great deal, and it may be a great engine, but it would be ludicrous to pay Ferrari prices for Ferrari to copy it.

 

[Griffindork]

I'm having Passagio Cravatte copy my Arny's ties right now. And there are plenty of replica Ferrari kits out there. There was a big lawsuit a few years ago because Ferrari sued and won to stop production. They were worried about confusion.