February 5, 2006
english shirtmaker
English Cut moves the “$300 shirt conversation” forward by revealing to the world who will be making them for us. Thomas also mentions why we chose the manufacturers we did.
To make a long story short, my favourite shirt is one I’ve owned for over eight years. It still hangs in my wardrobe. It’s all dog-eared and worn, because I’ve enjoyed wearing it so often. Sadly, the label only mentions the retailer who sold it to me, not the actual manaufacturer. The retailer I bought it from went out of business a few years ago, however there was something special about this one, so I kept it around as a reminder of how a real shirt should feel.
When I decided to start selling shirts, I promised myself that this old favourite shirt would be the inspiration. This old shirt embodied everything I was after.
I’m happy to report that after doing some digging and a lot of phone calls later, I finally discovered the manufacturer of the shirt. Rayner and Sturgess Ltd, based in England’s garden county of Kent, about an hour South of London.
English Cut is making no claims to being master shirtmakers [unlike SOME prominent English brands that I won’t mention].
What we are claiming to be is a most excellent interface between customer and shirtmaker.
If our customers go for it, they go for it. If not, at least our losses will be minimal. Rock on.
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Will there be a lot of different shirt styles/types, or will it just be “dress shirts?“
I bet there are a lot of people out there reading GV and in a position to at least consider a $300 shirt but only if it can be worn outside the whole office/suit context.
Left-coast USians, people like Steve Jobs and me…
Good stuff. I like that approach, and glad you’re/he’s not taking the cheap route. I remember buying a ready made shirt some time ago from a Savile Row name — it turned out to be one of the worst ones I ever had, like a big tent that you had to wrap two times around your waist (I’m not that thin), the sort of thing you would expect to get from a store for the big & tall. One shouldn’t get it that wrong with even the ready made ones.
Frosty, the shirts will look wonderful with a blazer and jeans, and a nice pair of freshly polished oxford shoes.
The line seperating formal from casual is a very subjective call…
Awesome stuff Hugh! Your English/British shirts that are actually made in England (i.e. authentic) are a great way to go. You’ll also be effectively repositioning many of the other brands as “English-brand but mainly foreign”.
There may be a danger that we don’t want to know that our old branded shirts are made in Peru, though. Is this the “lie we want to believe” that Seth Godin talks about?
There has to be a market for the real deal. Small at those prices, but there are plenty of fussy shirt people around the world. Try it and then you’ll know. Good luck.