Has Borrelli lowered his quality this season?

Originally Posted by winston

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I can definitely see that the buttonholes are machine-made. I still don't think he was informing you of a decrease in quality in his message though.

I had noticed machine-made buttonholes on these shirts currently on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/BNWT10-Borrelli-...item667236b5fd


Curious, my first message on this forum was to answer an add from this same seller dmpol1 who was offering those on the B & S section. It was smoke then...

I have updated the pictures. above

These shirts seem to have Barba levels of hand sewing now. I hope this is not true of all Borrelli shirts from 2010.

You could probably find a shirt like this at shopthefinest. It's not a hard colour to find.

Is BESPOKE/CUSTOM not the answer for all the demands about specific color and handwork?

Or are you too cheap?

Originally Posted by winston

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These shirts seem to have Barba levels of hand sewing now. I hope this is not true of all Borrelli shirts from 2010. You could probably find a shirt like this at shopthefinest. It's not a hard colour to find.
It is, I got the post please help me find the right blue. I´ve been searching for that exact tone for 2 years with that collar. Lance from can tell you...

Originally Posted by lee_44106

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Is BESPOKE/CUSTOM not the answer for all the demands about specific color and handwork? Or are you too cheap?
I am so cheap... that I´ve been calling Andrea Finamore 3 months for having some swatches sent with no luck, called all the shops in my country for the same tone with no luck. If you can give me any contact of a neapolitan shirt maker... In fact I wanted it with french cuffs instead of that cheap cuff.. But I found the right tone at last..

The machine sewn button holes seem to be the norm for 2010, a drop in quality to recoupe some funds to repay the Italian government might have come about by whom ever is running LB right now.

Originally Posted by SpallaCamiccia

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Ive been calling Andrea Finamore 3 months for having some swatches sent with no luck, called all the shops in my country for the same tone with no luck.

I'm meeting Andrea and Simone this weekend in Naples. Even before reading this thread, I decided to switch from Borrelli MTM to Finamore MTM simply for cost/benefit reasons. If Borrelli is indeed lowing their quality (intentionally or not) then this equation tips even further in Finamore's direction.

Originally Posted by pponu

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The machine sewn button holes seem to be the norm for 2010, a drop in quality to recoupe some funds to repay the Italian government might have come about by whom ever is running LB right now.

The shirt seems not doing by Borrelli but a third party. The worst of all is that I got the return it as this size is small for me.

medtech_expat;3240093 said:

I'm meeting Andrea and Simone this weekend in Naples. Even before reading this thread, I decided to switch from Borrelli MTM to Finamore MTM simply for cost/benefit reasons. If Borrelli is indeed lowing their quality (intentionally or not) then this equation tips even further in Finamore's direction.[/QUOTE

He told me to go Naples, but I can´t afford at this time... He told me that he would send me some swatches but not. Finamore is my favourite shirtmaker by far... You do well, but he refused to do mtm for me on the internet... I don´t understand why as I one local shop is going to have their services thanks to me, free of charge in my case.

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Originally Posted by idfnl

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The top photo looks fine. Cant tell with the bottom photo. We'd need much better photos to tell.

Also, take the shirt to saks or Neiman Marcus and compare it with new shirts.

Neiman's no longer carries Borrelli Shirts. Not sure if saks ever did.


-LR

Originally Posted by medtech_expat

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I'm meeting Andrea and Simone this weekend in Naples. Even before reading this thread, I decided to switch from Borrelli MTM to Finamore MTM simply for cost/benefit reasons. If Borrelli is indeed lowing their quality (intentionally or not) then this equation tips even further in Finamore's direction.

I also have switch from Borrelli MTM to Finamore MTM. I have met with the brothers from Finamore twice and have purchased a number of shirts from them. Very good quality, however the turn around time is incredibly slow. I am not sure what the reason is but my Borrelli MTM shirts usually took 4-5 weeks. The Finamore shirts have taken 7+ weeks. Which is find to be somewhat annoying. Otherwise I think you will enjoy your Finamore experience experience and I find the brothers to be fairly entertaining.

-LR

Wow, looks like I will have to treasure my handsewn beauties.
Those do not look anything like what they used to.

Did they not used to cut the fabric and drop off the cut pieces to various old ladies in the city, and come back around and pick up the finished shirts (meaning a very high amount of handwork)?
This would indicate that this romantic practice is no longer as there is nothing in the shirt that was pictured that would be done by an old lady in her living room on a Wed. evening....so sad.

My 2p worth contribution on this vital topic. Don't shoot the messenger. I'm currently selling a bunch of Borrelli shirts (2010 season) on eBay and researched these issues pretty extensively. Here are some of my key findings: 1. I can't give 100% assurance but there is a gossip that the brand has been taken over (essentially bailed out) by Giampaolo, another shirtmaker 2. They are currently using faster production methods (3-4 manual operations vs. 7-8 before). It probably detracted from the overall perception of quality but in reality the shirts started looking more durable. 3. The most critical elements (armholes) are handstitched and the fit is exceptional (the legacy traditions are well maintained). They are still produced by the expert seamstresses. 4. I would strongly disagree with the poster: the fabrics are top notch! 5. The amount of handwork is AT LEAST on par with Finamore's and Barba's main lines but the fabrics and fit are generally NICER. Still worth every penny. 6. The retail prices in Italy would remain largely unchanged - €210-240 range Here is the link to my current auctions: http://shop.ebay.com/dmipol72/m.html...&_trksid=p4340 If you are interested, please give me a shout and we could possibly make a better deal. Forgive my small marketing gimmick. I just could not stay silent as there is too much unwarranted speculation

just wondering if the current borrellis on virtualclotheshorse and shopthefinest are the 2010 non-borrelli made ones or the original borrelli made ones?

why would not you ask Ian and Lance?
Also let's be very clear. They are still produced by Borrelli's personnel under the different management and using slightly different production methods.
A tenuous but important difference

Originally Posted by dmipol1

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why would not you ask Ian and Lance?
Also let's be very clear. They are still produced by Borrelli's personnel under the different management and using slightly different production methods.
A tenuous but important difference

Lance for example is cool guy, but he sometimes doesnt give clear answers. also he doesnt know alot of the times when i ask him these things and it just seems like im bothering him with 'nitpicky' things about my one or two purchases

His shirts appear to be from the old production but you need to see very detailed pictures to tell exactly. On the other hand, this shirt is definitely from the new bunch: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...fvi%3D1&_rdc=1