Are Charvet dress shirts worth the price? The best?

[mrbrioni]

^^^^^^^^^


Thanks for your input! I appreciate it!

I'm still learning new things everyday thanks to SF

 

[Griffindork]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

'Better' or not is the wrong way to look at it. A Charvet shirt (either RTW, MTO, or bespoke) is nearly entirely sewn by machine. There's nothing wrong with that and Charvet is known for very meticulous craftsmanship, but many Italian makers utilize a lot of hand-sewing, which produces a shirt of a very different character. We could go on and on about the merits of machine versus hand, but the point is that they appeal to different interests and talking about whether Charvet is better than all the rest fails to capture that fundamental bifurcation

While its true that Charvet bespoke shirts are generally sewn by machine (everything but the buttons, I believe), I assume that they would hand sew if requested. I've yet to make a request that Charvet won't accommodate, and in my experience bespoke shirt makers (italian or otherwise) will hand sew for an additional upcharge. Ascot Chang is an example.
A

 

[TheFoo]

Originally Posted by agjiffy

While its true that Charvet bespoke shirts are generally sewn by machine (everything but the buttons, I believe), I assume that they would hand sew if requested. I've yet to make a request that Charvet won't accommodate, and in my experience bespoke shirt makers (italian or otherwise) will hand sew for an additional upcharge. Ascot Chang is an example.
A

They will sew the sleeve attachment and buttonholes by hand upon request, for an additional charge, not anything else. At least, that's what I was told.

 

[Cary Grant]

Originally Posted by mktitsworth

Odd. Both Hamilton Bespoke and MTM start at $250.

I get Hamilton through my local tailor, not online. While they do have MTM fabrics that start the shirt at around $250, the price goes north pretty fast. If anybody is getting their full bespoke for $250 I'd like to know where, I've never seen an offer close to that price.

I'm please with my Hamilton thus far- but I don't have enough stock to compare. TCHouston is pleased with them as well; he has the advantage of working directly with them in Texas.

 

[gopherblue]

At the pricepoint you quoted for Charvet off the rack shirts, you could've had Geneva Custom Shirts make you bespoke shirts out of top of the line fabric and still had money left over.

Goph

 

[mktitsworth]

Originally Posted by Cary Grant

I get Hamilton through my local tailor, not online. While they do have MTM fabrics that start the shirt at around $250, the price goes north pretty fast. If anybody is getting their full bespoke for $250 I'd like to know where, I've never seen an offer close to that price.

I'm please with my Hamilton thus far- but I don't have enough stock to compare. TCHouston is pleased with them as well; he has the advantage of working directly with them in Texas.

When I called them in Houston about their bespoke prices, the person at Hamilton I spoke to said that the prices for their bespoke shirts were the same as the prices for their MTM shirts listed online. The difference was that there is a minimum order of 4 shirts for your first bespoke order to cover the cost of making your pattern. Here in Dallas, I spoke with Stanley Korshak who are part of Hamilton's bespoke program here, and to order through them has a minimum order of two shirts with the same prices as directly from Hamilton. Pockets (also here in Dallas) have a minimum order of 3, but they charge $50 more per fabric.

 

[KObalto]

Originally Posted by DerekS

Charvet ***** are my personal favorite probably.
Still my favorite frequent SF typo.

 

[Cary Grant]

Originally Posted by mktitsworth

When I called them in Houston about their bespoke prices, the person at Hamilton I spoke to said that the prices for their bespoke shirts were the same as the prices for their MTM shirts listed online. The difference was that there is a minimum order of 4 shirts for your first bespoke order to cover the cost of making your pattern. Here in Dallas, I spoke with Stanley Korshak who are part of Hamilton's bespoke program here, and to order through them has a minimum order of two shirts with the same prices as directly from Hamilton. Pockets (also here in Dallas) have a minimum order of 3, but they charge $50 more per fabric.

Good to know- thanks

 

[mrbrioni]

Originally Posted by gopherblue

At the pricepoint you quoted for Charvet off the rack shirts, you could've had Geneva Custom Shirts make you bespoke shirts out of top of the line fabric and still had money left over.

Goph

Does the quality compare to Charvet?

I've had bespoke shirts made by Ercole in Brooklyn, and they are amazing, however they don't compare to Charvet in my opinion.

 

[Mac]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

In the RTW world, Kiton does an infinitely better handsewn shirt than Borrelli. But I'm not very familiar with RTW shirts. All I know is that the handsewing on my bespoke shirts blow away anything I've seen on a shelf.

I didn't say Charvet shirts are machine made--I said they are machine-sewn. Regardless of how they are stitched together, they are still closely handled by human beings. You aren't getting a factory-made shirt or anything.

How can the fit of a RTW shirt make it a 'better' shirt? It might be better for you just because it happens to work on your body, but obviously such may not be the case for others.

How does Barba Napoli compare to other Italian-made shirts?

 

[tweedtie]

If you want a very good bespoke shirt, probably one of the world's best shirtmakers, go for anna matuozzo!

 

[Wongtouski]

I'm totally off topic here but I am currently making my first pricey shirts through Ascot Chang, and they're very helpful because I've gone for fittings two times now and about to be a third. Main reason being.......I want to make a wide spread collar shirt and I'm constantly asking them to improve it. But I digress.

I'm actually going to Paris in less than a month for 4 days, is Charvet worth a visit?

 

[Kuro]

Originally Posted by Wongtouski

I'm actually going to Paris in less than a month for 4 days, is Charvet worth a visit?

certainly, but please remember to push the door.

 

[TC (Houston)]

Originally Posted by Cary Grant

I get Hamilton through my local tailor, not online. While they do have MTM fabrics that start the shirt at around $250, the price goes north pretty fast. If anybody is getting their full bespoke for $250 I'd like to know where, I've never seen an offer close to that price.

I'm please with my Hamilton thus far- but I don't have enough stock to compare. TCHouston is pleased with them as well; he has the advantage of working directly with them in Texas.

If you hit the summer sales with Hamilton, you should be able to get pretty close to $250/shirt.

I've got about 8 shirts at this point on the full bespoke program, and given the quality to price ratio (and the convenience of having them local), I don't envision ever sourcing shirts from anywhere else. The real cost for me has been the premium laundering and hand-finishing, since I want them to stay as fresh and perfect as the day they I took them home. As has been discussed before, run of the mill cleaners around here who use machines to press really struggle with the lined but unfused collars (in fact they ruined the test shirt on the first go).

Also, I made a bunch of adjustments to my pattern, but I'd imagine that for a lot of people who use Hamilton, there is virtually no difference between the MTM and bespoke, which isn't to say they aren't getting fantastically made, well-fitting shirts. But they seemed to think it was a bit odd that I actually wanted the woman who cut my pattern present at the fittings. When I (very politely) asked for the tailor to come out so I could discuss with her a couple of possible adjustments, the owner told me "uhh, I've been doing this for 20+ years, I'm certainly qualified to fit your shirt." LOL I told her, no offense, but I just want the feedback from the person who is actually making the pattern and cutting the shirts. In the end they were very accomodating, but I was a little put off by the gruff response to a request that seemed pretty fundamental in my eyes.

 

[Shirtmaven]

Originally Posted by TC (Houston)

If you hit the summer sales with Hamilton, you should be able to get pretty close to $250/shirt.

I've got about 8 shirts at this point on the full bespoke program, and given the quality to price ratio (and the convenience of having them local), I don't envision ever sourcing shirts from anywhere else. The real cost for me has been the premium laundering and hand-finishing, since I want them to stay as fresh and perfect as the day they I took them home. As has been discussed before, run of the mill cleaners around here who use machines to press really struggle with the lined but unfused collars (in fact they ruined the test shirt on the first go).

Also, I made a bunch of adjustments to my pattern, but I'd imagine that for a lot of people who use Hamilton, there is virtually no difference between the MTM and bespoke, which isn't to say they aren't getting fantastically made, well-fitting shirts. But they seemed to think it was a bit odd that I actually wanted the woman who cut my pattern present at the fittings. When I (very politely) asked for the tailor to come out so I could discuss with her a couple of possible adjustments, the owner told me "uhh, I've been doing this for 20+ years, I'm certainly qualified to fit your shirt." LOL I told her, no offense, but I just want the feedback from the person who is actually making the pattern and cutting the shirts. In the end they were very accomodating, but I was a little put off by the gruff response to a request that seemed pretty fundamental in my eyes.

they were very nice to accommodate your request.
I doubt she had much experience with customers. who ever was fitting you at hamilton, may have been better at noticing fit issues and relaying the information to the women.

Charvet makes a beautiful shirt. I would suggest trying to get shirts made from older fabric inventory. Older fabric in lower yarn counts IMO is much better then the newer ultra high count fabrics.