Help Me move up in shirt brands

[prady]

Looking at my lifestyle it's kinda hard for me decide the shirts I should buy. I'm 30 and work in a environment which is a typical biz casual, chinos with button downs kind. 90% of the ppl don't know how to dress or just don't care.

I've bought a lot of zara shirts in past during college days and continued after that, coz I still go out in NY with friends and zara stuff is trendy (quality we know is blah) and I buy a lot of Charles Tyrwhitt shirts as their biz casuals are very colorful and young ppl friendly.

I'm trying to move out of these two brands and at my paychek (6 figures ) I can afford better brands but just clueless where to look. I've even searched for Borreli shirts but most I found looked like for middle age office goers (srsly no offense guys) with checks and stripes. What are some good brands I can try under $200 for shirts where I can get good quality biz casual kinda shirts. I do like some Thomas Pink but TP is pretty trashy as per SF standards from price to value perspective, so I dropped the idea. Any specific online or in store recommendations would be appreciated guys.

 

[mcbrown]

TL;DR

What exactly is it you think is wrong with your existing shirts that you want to change? Start there.

 

[manchambo]

If you want to spend 200, you should probably have shirts made at any of the numerous quality makers recommended on this site.

If you want to spend less, you will generally have good luck finding decent shirts at the Rack, Off Fifth, and Last Call. John W Nordstrom is pretty good value for the money and comes in a wide variety of patterns. I recently ran across a couple of Behar Gold Label shirts in 120s fabric for the first time. Their black label shirts are nothing to write home about but these gold labels are considerably nicer though I've only washed them once so far so we shall see how they hold up. You can also find Canali and Zegna at those places. Not the best in the world but a decent step up from what you've got now.

 

[prady]



TL;DR

What exactly is it you think is wrong with your existing shirts that you want to change? Start there.

Well nothing really wrong but im tired of em lol.. I love CT but now I have so many that their new collection resembles the old and they all look similar if not same. Zara I keep buying once in a while but its a same thing with them. I wanna try something new and better and since I can afford a little more then Y not a better brand.

What is TL, DR?

 

[Ivar]

You're not very clear about whether you want shirts for work or for play. I'll assume play, and that you're looking for something flamboyant, in which case I'd check out:

Duchamp
http://www.duchamplondon.com/menswear/shirts

Richard James
http://www.richardjames.co.uk/shirts.html

Etro
http://www.etro.com/en_us/man/spring-summer/shirts.html

 

[mcbrown]



What is TL, DR?

http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Google

Well nothing really wrong but im tired of em lol.. I love CT but now I have so many that their new collection resembles the old and they all look similar if not same. Zara I keep buying once in a while but its a same thing with them. I wanna try something new and better and since I can afford a little more then Y not a better brand.

If you're just looking to spend more on shirts just because, peruse the thread below. Lots of shirt p0rn as the title promises. Pick out stuff that catches your eye. Spend your $$$ accordingly. http://www.styleforum.net/t/36514/folded-up-shirt-p0rn/ Just know that spending more just to spend more is a recipe for disappointment; you may spend a bunch and still end up with the same problem. A better idea is to diagnose the problem (fit, materials, style, construction quality?) and then try to find a solution.

 

[prady]



You're not very clear about whether you want shirts for work or for play. I'll assume play, and that you're looking for something flamboyant, in which case I'd check out:

Duchamp
http://www.duchamplondon.com/menswear/shirts

Richard James
http://www.richardjames.co.uk/shirts.html

Etro
http://www.etro.com/en_us/man/spring-summer/shirts.html

Well since play is something I am able to use towards biz casual most of the times here in NY, I think i would say Play. Zara is definitely not biz but most work places I've been able to fly with it here in NY as an Software Engineer. Now of course if I was an investment banker it would've been different.

 

[Ivar]



Well since play is something I am able to use towards biz casual most of the times here in NY, I think i would say Play. Zara is definitely not biz but most work places I've been able to fly with it here in NY as an Software Engineer. Now of course if I was an investment banker it would've been different.

OK, great. In that case, the brands I listed will serve you well. They are all at least a step or two up in quality from Zara.

 

[prady]



http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Google If you're just looking to spend more on shirts just because, peruse the thread below. Lots of shirt p0rn as the title promises. Pick out stuff that catches your eye. Spend your $$$ accordingly. http://www.styleforum.net/t/36514/folded-up-shirt-p0rn/ Just know that spending more just to spend more is a recipe for disappointment; you may spend a bunch and still end up with the same problem. A better idea is to diagnose the problem (fit, materials, style, construction quality?) and then try to find a solution.

I don't wanna spend more like an idiot and wear tent like shirts. It's just that I wanna try some different brands and since I mostly shop my stuff online i am a little nervous about spending my cash and getting something which is not good. Oh and thanks for not reading my post... lol..

 

[prady]



OK, great. In that case, the brands I listed will serve you well. They are all at least a step or two up in quality from Zara.

For example I just got one of these a few weeks back from CT and I wear this to work and can go out in evening wearing this too lol

 

[comrade]

Check out SF affiliates Virtual Clothes horse, Shop the Finest and ehaberdasher.
They offer high end shirts at deep discounts. Caution: Shop the Finest only
offers store credit on returns. You may also be interested in Hilditich &Key
(still on sale, I think) and Harvey & Hudson. For both, go for their slim fit.
Even for me ,who wears a 44R jacket, the H&K regular fit is too full.

 

[msulinski]

I have the same problem with CT. It isn't a problem with the shirt exactly, it is just that I am tired of their patterns. Brooks Brothers has some decent ones, but not a huge selection in extra slim fit. You could try TM Lewin, though they don't have a US B&M store.

 

[Ich_Dien]

There's a shirt hierarchy thread out there somewhere.

 

[archibaldleach]

I'm not entirely clear what sort of budget you have in mind. I'm guessing you're looking to potentially spend more than $50 per shirt (which is a rate at which you can get Tyrwhitt's regularly). If your budget is $100 or more per shirt, I would go custom (as I'm using the term, made-to-measure counts). Any custom shirtmaker will have far more patterns than your usual ready to wear maker and plenty of them will be more casual.

For shirts in the $100 per shirt range, I've had great experience with www.mytailor.com, specifically using Joe Hemrajani. If you're willing to spend $150-$200 per shirt, I'd go with CEGO. Carl, the proprietor, is a pleasure to deal with and has probably forgotten more about shirts than most of us will ever know. If you decide to go custom, I'd look at some of the threads about the process, specifically ones mentioning whichever shirtmaker you go with. If you understand how the process works and what sorts of things you'll be asked about, you'll be a better informed customer and will end up with a better shirt. The best relationships with custom shirtmakers (tailors in general for that matter) happen when an informed customer works with a knowledgeable person on the other end. Carl and others will make you a good shirt no matter what, but it will be much better if you're able to bring more knowledge and solid ideas of what you want to the table.

 

[Quadcammer]

gieves and hawkes