Comments on: shirts, shirts, shirts

By: Antoin O Lachtnain

Antoin O Lachtnain — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 08:19:45 +0000

The original Thomas Pink shirts were made in Ireland, in a town with a long tradition of shirtmaking, coincidentally in a factory which a relation of mine owns a significant share of. The original shirts were great, weren't they? Pink and others moved their business elsewhere, mainly because of cost factors and the factory moved to a Baltic state last year. From what I can see, Thomas Pink have cut the quality in order to be able to maintain the margins which will sustain their high-street locations and relatively high volumes. I think this is a pretty stupid thing to do if you ask me, but LVMH obviously know a lot about this stuff. Anyway, there is no reason why something like the Thomas Pink shirts could not be made in a lower cost economy to the same quality or almost the same quality, for a slightly higher price. I think this is a good opportunity, if you approach it the right way. We've kicked another shirts idea around before - http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/002098.html

By: malcolm

malcolm — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 05:46:17 +0000

James — interesting to see you mention quality of cloth. I have an English Cut shirt and more on order. The quality of the cloth is better than in any shirt I have bought — no question — no comparison. IMHO these are an absolute bargain when you compare them to off-the-peg shirts from Savile Row.
Hugh — what next … What else does a “gentleman” need?
:bM

By: James Thomson

James Thomson — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 18:27:46 +0000

hmm — Thomas Pink is an Irishman and I started buying his shirts when he just had one London shop. He was a friend of a friend and so word quickly got around. Now they are owned by LVMH. I still buy their shirts. The other day I pulled out an old one that I hadn’t worn for years. I immediatey noticed that the cloth was better, the cut more generous (length) and I realised that their standards had dropped. It seams that the carrier bags, branding and image has got slicker while the product has slipped that mainstream way. I will buy English Cut shirts — if and when Thomas has the time.

By: Dave Wheeler

Dave Wheeler — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 00:16:53 +0000

Hugh
,
This is probably going to sound like heresy but …
what if you scaled English Cut into “casual wear”? Once you have your customer’s measurements, how hard would it be to provide MORE OF THEIR WARDROBE? Think “Share of closet”.
I have spoken to some apparel people in the states and while I don’t wear them, there seems to be a HUGE market for VERY EXPENSIVE denim jeans. Most of the “cool” stuff is related to hip-hop artists, but if Savile Row did denim… that would be a BIG STORY!
[insert “proper” response here .… “You are Crazy”… “That’s not in line with Savile Row”…etc.]
Just an off-the-wall idea …
Dave

By: Ian Green

Ian Green — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 02:45:50 +0000

Hi Hugh,
This is pretty much the co-creation argument we are advocating at the Ladybank Company of Distillers with James Thomson, where I am helping out as a member and as the PR Man (yes I know!).
With English Cut I believe you can create a great online community of people who really appreciate fine tailoring. I know of another tailor in Doncaster, Yorkshire doing the same thing as English Cut and what he neatly illustrates is that people are prepared to ignore big brands for LOVE.
People want to engage with people who are going to make something for them out of an act of respect — and to use your words “enagage in a conversation”.
I’m not a suit man myself and I’ve always thought that if I had a bespoke suit made for me I would be spoiled forever — ie could never go back to off-the-peg.
However, having looked at the English Cut blog I know that if I ever did order a suit off Thomas I would look like the Dog’s Bollocks. At present when I wear a suit I look like Gollum in a Suit — not nice!