Shirt Construction Pictures

This seems to be all the rage right now, so I figured that I would take some pictures of some of the construction details of an Anna Matuozzo shirt. Note that some may seem similar to various RTW Neapolitan shirts, but the hand stitching is much finer and the stitches per inch are close to double what one would find on a Kiton shirt. 1. Shoulder seam hand finishing 2. Sleeve attached and stitched by hand 3. Collar hand finished 4. Back armhole seam finished by hand 5. Side seams sewn first by machine and then by hand, shirt hem rolled and stitched by hand and seam joint made without the ridiculous gussets that hide sloppy work.

Continued:

1. Handmade buttonhole
2. Hand-attached thick mother of pearl button in buttonhole
3. Hand sewn front of sleeve attachment
4. Hand stitched collar attachment.

Now, I am not sure what role some of these features play in the quality of a shirt. Some would say none, some would say a lot. Certainly they take a lot of time and in some way justify a higher cost. Nonetheless they are interesting to see as would some from other shirtmakers.

Some similar photos I posted a few weeks ago of a Frank Foster bespoke shirt.

Beautiful pics.

A couple of questions. First, what in your experience is the advantage of hand stitching on shirt seams? I've read the argument that machine stitching is stronger. Second, what besides ornamental value would hand stitching a machine stitched seam serve?

Originally Posted by Nantucket Red

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Beautiful pics.

A couple of questions. First, what in your experience is the advantage of hand stitching on shirt seams? I've read the argument that machine stitching is stronger. Second, what besides ornamental value would hand stitching a machine stitched seam serve?

First, all shirt seams are stitched twice. Generally they are done either with double needle one pass or single needle two passes. The first is to secure the seam and the second to hold the seam allowance in place. Instead Anna does the first pass by machine, and the second by hand. She believes that she gets a less bulky seam this way and that the seam is less rigid and therefore more body conforming than the two machine stitches while retaining the strength of a machine stitch. Also, she says that this is how she learned almost 50 years ago and likes keeping the tradition. This is really for side seams and sleeve seams. The bottom hem is done only once and by hand for aesthetic and tradition reasons as it takes no wear.

The body-sleeve and body-collar attachments are done by hand because she thinks they are more comfortable and flexible that way.

How much do AM's shirts cost these days?

Originally Posted by brescd01

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How much do AM's shirts cost these days?

Go to Napoli David! Antonio and Salvatore send you their regards.

Matt

AM's shirt is quite beautiful. I am not a fan of hand work. this is much finer then what I have seen from the usual suspects.

Hoff: next time press your shirt before taking the photos. the seams all look tight and puckered.

carl

Matt,

Great pics. Would you have a scan of the MOP button from the side?

Thanks for these pictures. I hope to one day see a well-made shirt with hand stitching like a Matuozzo in person. That will probably change my opinion. But for now, this only confirms that my tastes have been conditioned to prefer a well made machine stitched shirt. The one place where I really like the extra handwork is on the buttonholes (and, of course, the button shanks). I also really like the finishing on the hem, but the fact that it is hand done isn't as important as the general clean appearance. Where I dislike the hand stitching the most is where it looks "picked", like on the collar band and the shoulder seam.

Originally Posted by brescd01

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How much do AM's shirts cost these days?

Classic Bresch.

Originally Posted by brescd01

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How much do AM's shirts cost these days?

Originally Posted by Manton

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Classic Bresch.

No, manton. The classic Bresch demand is:

"How much did you pay for those, and does anyone know where I can buy them for less."

Originally Posted by dopey

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No, manton. The classic Bresch demand is:

"How much did you pay for those, and does anyone know where I can buy them for less."

Preferably in a Eastern block nation.

Originally Posted by aportnoy

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Preferably in a Eastern block nation.

Copied from Jantzen.