I’ve recently got back into Gingham, aided by a Gap navy/white shirt (£30). If these is a piffling amount to you, this shirt by Daniele Alessandrini is very nice (and £100).
Category Archives: Shirts
A revelation at £20.
Hold it next to a shirt from Gieves & Hawkes and the difference isn’t great, except one costs £20 and the other £80 (and G&H shirts are bizarrely sized in my opinion).
COS – from the people behind H&M. The prices start where H&M’s stop, and the clothes look a little better too.
EDIT: I’ve visited the Regent Street store, they’re quite boring.
Next must be one of the must dull & reactive clothing retailers on the High Street, better suited to dressing salesmen from Carphone Warehouse than anything else.
However for very dull clothing (plain shirts) they’re not too bad. Their “slim fit” shirts (which can’t be that slim as they fit me with something to spare) with a mitre cuff feel and look good and are only £20. What’s more, unlike M&S they have 16″ & 16.5″ sizes in plentiful supply.
Just steer clear of most of the patterned shirts, their ties, and indeed any of their “casual” clothing.
And finally on the subject of shirts, here is an encyclopaedic view from Wikipedia, so you never commit the social faux pas of confusing a Turnback and French cuff again
Oscar Milo in Spitalfields is a menswear and womenswear store that currently has a sale on. One item that caught my eye amongst the bright shirts was a sparsely pinstriped (pink pinstripes!) grey suit with a de la mode one button jacket from Holland Esq.
However the most beautiful item of all in the shop was an Italian leather overnight bag available in tan, red & chocolate. This was not in the sale, but was an absolute bargain at £139… a similar bag in Selfridges would be upwards of £300.
My wife was eyeing the bag enviously and has declared that if I get one, she wants one too… well I suppose it is our 3 month wedding anniversary.
As I’ve written before, my new love is the floral print shirt, preferably long sleeved.
Paul Smith is one of the prime purveyors of these, and I particularly like this one, available from their online store for £130:
There is a similar style in Liberty, if you fancy saving £55 😉
The new loves of my life are Liberty floral print shirts. They come in 3 sizes: normal, slim, very slim (I wouldn’t say the slim is particularly snug-fitting however, more straight) and a large number of different print designs. They are £75 each and can be found in menswear department in the basement, along with London’s best selection of ties. Personally I like the look of at least 15 of them, which would certainly up the points total on my Liberty card.
Massimo Dutti is a worldwide chain – with a large London branch in Regent Street. From outside, you’d think that suits would be £700+, but you’d be surprised.
I recently bought my wedding suit here – and it was a very reasonable £270. A lilac shirt was similarly reasonable at £42. They also sell jumpers, wonderfully soft leather jackets, shoes and most “smart” clothes and accessories.
They also had a watch at £95 I was very keen on – but I suspect it was quartz, and I am too lazy to get the batteries replaced on quartz watches I currently own!
Bailey in New Bond Street has a very good sale on: shirts, trousers, jeans, t-shirts, polo shirts and some very nice coats half price.
Additionally Jake’s (formerly known as Plum) on Berwick Street has their Burlington Argyle-style jumpers half price and very warm Penfield jackets half price too, a bargain at £75.
Modern Amusement is a label which offers something different to boring high street shops.
Stocked in Urban Outfitters and available online on eBay and at karmaloop.