www.meinelt-fashion.com, a Jantzen alternative

[mack11211]

Dear Folks:

The above site was mentioned in the thread on Jantzen shenanigans. I had not heard of it & checked it out for shirts. Fabric selection seems limited, but does include cotton/rayon blends, which I like. Prices are Jantzen-comparable, and the company cares about customer service: my email query re fabric was answered in minutes. They even have a US phone #, voicemail really, to save customers the expense of calling overseas.

None of this means anything if the shirts are poor. Has anyone ordered from them? How did it go?

 

[Kevin_lee]

I don't know how the workmanship is, I'm waiting for my first shirt. The customer service is outstanding, so far.

Fabric selection for shirts:

I count 265 different shirt fabrics, that's ok in my opinion.

 

[johnnynorman3]

Those fabrics look terrible, in my opinion. I'll be interested to hear though.

 

[odoreater]

I think that for $55 a pop, they're worth a shot. I'm going to give them a try and I'll let everyone know what I think. I have a good basis for comparison since I already own shirts from WW Chan and from Hamarajani.

 

[thinman]

I think that for $55 a pop, they're worth a shot. I'm going to give them a try and I'll let everyone know what I think. I have a good basis for comparison since I already own shirts from WW Chan and from Hamarajani.

Does this mean you're not completely satisfied with either WW Chan or Hamaranji, or just looking for something different, perhaps different fabric selections?

 

[odoreater]

Does this mean you're not completely satisfied with either WW Chan or Hamaranji, or just looking for something different, perhaps different fabric selections?

No, I'm very satisfied with both my Chan shirts and my Hamarajani shirts. The thing is that Chan doesn't have a large selection of pattern shirts. They're great for solid colors, but when it comes to stripes, their selection is very limited, which is why I like Hamarajani. Hamarajani has a huge selection of patterns. They're both a little more expensive than $55 (both are in the $85 area). I'm basically just trying these guys for experimentation. I don't see myself becoming a loyal customer because their fabric selection is quite limited (and they don't even say what quality the fabric is). But, for $55 it's worth a try. What's the worst that can happen?

 

[Hartmann]

Among WW Chan, Jantzen, Hemrajani,and Meinelt, who does good detail work re pattern matching, sleeve/front plackets, button quality, etc.?

Also, I assume that WW Chan and Jantzen compare favourably to most decent RTW makers (Coles, H&K, Tyrwhitt) given the general mood of the forum. I'm interested as to how the latter two do...

Cheers.

 

[odoreater]

Among WW Chan, Jantzen, Hemrajani,and Meinelt, who does good detail work re pattern matching, sleeve/front plackets, button quality, etc.?

Also, I assume that WW Chan and Jantzen compare favourably to most decent RTW makers (Coles, H&K, Tyrwhitt) given the general mood of the forum. I'm interested as to how the latter two do...

Cheers.

I can only speak about WW Chan and Hamarajani because I don't own any Jantzen or Meinelt shirts. Both Chan and Hamarajani do an excellent job in pattern matching. The yoke pattern matches the sleeve, the front and sleeve plackets match, all that good stuff. As for the button quality, if you request in the comment section that you want thick Mother of Pearl buttons then they will accomodate your requests. In fact, they'll accomodate just about anything you request. I currently have on order from Hamarajani a bunch of shirts with three button single cuffs, which was a special request that Joe was willing to accomodate. In fact, that's the one thing that I love about these guys, they'll do just about anything you request.

Regarding to how they compare to the RTW makes, the following: to me (and most other forum members) the most important thing is fit, and that's what you get with the MTM shops, you get a perfect fit to your own peculiar specifications. I have a bunch of Tyrwhitts and I love the patterns, but what good are excellent patterns when the shoulder is hanging an inch over where it's supposed to be and the waist is blousy. I guess if you know you're going to be wearing a coat all day then it might not matter, but when the coat comes off and all you see is a shirt, a well fitting Chan, Jantzen or Hamarajani will look a lot better than an ill fitting H&K or Tyrwhitt.

 

[Mike C.]

Jantzen does amazing pattern matching; even on complicated checks. IMO pattern matching is most important on the front placket and back piece; once you get to the shoulders, it's just nit-picking.

With pattern matching on the front placket, it's very important to have an anchor button to keep that pattern matched up when you are wearing the shirt. Jantzen will neglect to do this if you don't request it.

 

[johnnynorman3]

What is an anchor button?

 

[faustian bargain]

just struck me that when the question arose several months ago about the horizontal buttonhole at the bottom position on some shirts...all of us amateurs were speculating different reasons for it. my guess now is, this is the 'anchor button', a fairly clever answer to the mystery.

mike c., is this correct, and if so, is 'anchor button' an industry-wide term? i feel i'm on the verge of learning something.

/andrew - always on the verge of...something or other.

 

[odoreater]

Ok, so I put in an order with meinelt today. The order process went pretty smoothly, though there was one wierd thing. In the special request section I asked for mother of pearl buttons. I then got an e-mail from them stating the following: "As for the buttons, we do not have Mother of Pearl buttons. Those buttons are mainly used by Tailors rom Kongkong and extremely difficult to get outside Hongkong. We will use normal Pearl buttons instead."

Wtf does that mean?

 

[Kevin_lee]

I think they mean that they don't have Mother of Perl Buttons....

 

[odoreater]

I think they mean that they don't have Mother of Perl Buttons....

Well, I guess that's not that much of a problem since I can't really tell the difference between Mother of Pearl or plastic anyway. I have a feeling that my experience with this company will be interesting.

 

[Kevin_lee]

The only difference between normal Pearl buttons and Mother of Pearl Buttons seems to be the size. Mother of Pearl Buttons are bigger as normal Pearl Buttons, according to Jantzen. He call it nature Trocas Buttons.