Hilditch & Key vs New & Lingwood vs Russell & Hodge shirts (RTW)

Need to order a white English shirt online quickly (long story). How do the three above makers compare? I'm particularly interested in fabric quality. Or should I just play it safe, ignore the sales, and go T&A? I have an irrational dislike of Emma Willis.

Info on fused/unfused collars for the various brands?

Other recommendations?

Thanks.

I have no experience with R&H, but would say N&L over H&K. Although they both fit large in the body.

TM Lewin. Cheap as chips and the semi-fitted shirts are good and slim. The arms run a little short, the necks are bang-on.

Originally Posted by letmebefell

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TM Lewin. Cheap as chips and the semi-fitted shirts are good and slim. The arms run a little short, the necks are bang-on.

Yes, they are very cheap, but I suspect something's gotta give there. I think it was Henry Ford who said "I'm too poor to spend little", or something like that.

don't sweat the price. The quality is fine.

Originally Posted by letmebefell

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don't sweat the price. The quality is fine.

So where's the catch? They don't have MOP buttons? Fabrics are considerably worse? Sweatshops in the Far East? I just can't believe that, even on sale, one can sell a good 2-ply cotton shirt for £25.

+1 on TM Lewin. I picked up a few recently. Fabric is a little chintzy but the slim fit is pretty nice. I like the collar too.

I really don't know about Lewin. I often pass by one of their stores. There is nearly always a sale on. Now that's got to be just a marketing ploy: you can't keep selling shirts with an alleged RRP of £80 for £25. If the £80 RRP were reasonable they would have gone out of business a long time go.

Having said that, the shirts do look like very good value at £25. It's just that I'm looking for something a bit better, even if the value will be worse. Unless you can really show that they're no worse than the makers mentioned above. Which brings us back to the initial question. Any other recommendations?

Originally Posted by radicaldog

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Need to order a white English shirt online quickly (long story). How do the three above makers compare? I'm particularly interested in fabric quality. Or should I just play it safe, ignore the sales, and go T&A? I have an irrational dislike of Emma Willis.

Info on fused/unfused collars for the various brands?

Other recommendations?

Thanks.

I have one N & L. Black label reads "Tailored". Got in on-line. Don't think I'll get anymore. When I compare it next to my Lewin, the N& L has somewhat of a "creamy" hue to it.

Originally Posted by BRITINLA

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I have one N & L. Black label reads "Tailored". Got in on-line. Don't think I'll get anymore. When I compare it next to my Lewin, the N& L has somewhat of a "creamy" hue to it.
Is the creaminess good or bad? Are you saying that Lewin is better than New & Lingwood?

Originally Posted by radicaldog

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Is the creaminess good or bad? Are you saying that Lewin is better than New & Lingwood?

I don't care for the "creaminess", if you're going white go stark white. The colour looks a little "off to me".

As for quality (fabricwise) Lewin seems to be a crap shoot. I've had about 8+ Lewin shirts - sometimes the fabrics seem really nice and smooth, othertimes rough and coarse.

Based on my experience I would go with Lewin for cheap and save money and go to the next level rather than New and Lingwood.

My other "English" shirts are Coles - not bad and T & A (my favourites).


Hope this helps.

Both TM Lewin and Charles Tyrwhitt make reasonable shirts, particularly at their price point. The choices that they offer in neck sizing and sleeve lengths are excellent, too. However, their lower lines don't have MoP buttons and the collars are fused and - for my taste - quite heavy and stiff. The Thin Red Line is another purveyor of shirts on sale. I have four of their mini-gingham check shirts and I like them a lot. They are a little slimmer than TM Lewin or CT and the collars are lighter, which I like. I like H&K a lot, although, as others have said, they are not terribly slim-cut. Quality is very good, at least in the five H&K shirts that I have. I believe that T&A shirts are typically slimmer-cut than H&K. I don't have one, but a couple of friends of mine do, and I would say that the quality is pretty much on par with H&K but the shirts are a little slimmer. Another brand to think about is Coles. Their shirts are very nice and their slim cut is genuinely quite slim. I've only got one of their shirts, but I like it: http://www.coles-shirtmakers.com/Pro...im_Fitted/129/

Do Thin Red Line have slimfit shirts, or are they all cut rather slim?

How do they compare in quality to TML and CT?

Sorry if I go a little off-topic, but I've a question about the TML casual BD-shirt sizes. I've tried both the Medium and the Large but I really think I'm somewhat in between those sizes - do you think it's OK if I pick the Large then (will it shrink in the laundry?), or should I don't buy at all? £19 per shirt is very tempting, though!

Originally Posted by Journeyman

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Both TM Lewin and Charles Tyrwhitt make reasonable shirts, particularly at their price point. The choices that they offer in neck sizing and sleeve lengths are excellent, too. However, their lower lines don't have MoP buttons and the collars are fused and - for my taste - quite heavy and stiff. The Thin Red Line is another purveyor of shirts on sale. I have four of their mini-gingham check shirts and I like them a lot. They are a little slimmer than TM Lewin or CT and the collars are lighter, which I like. I like H&K a lot, although, as others have said, they are not terribly slim-cut. Quality is very good, at least in the five H&K shirts that I have. I believe that T&A shirts are typically slimmer-cut than H&K. I don't have one, but a couple of friends of mine do, and I would say that the quality is pretty much on par with H&K but the shirts are a little slimmer. Another brand to think about is Coles. Their shirts are very nice and their slim cut is genuinely quite slim. I've only got one of their shirts, but I like it: http://www.coles-shirtmakers.com/Pro...im_Fitted/129/
Thanks for this informative response. I've now narrowed it down to Coles vs H&K, and I've asked the question here: http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...99#post2184099