I think the consensus was that while the website pictured button-down collars the shirts in reality did not actually have BD collars. I checked a few of the London stores last summer and none had a Madras button-down in stock.

New Madras should never really be expensive. For something so artisanal and hand-made in nature it's cheap to buy as it is (perhaps an unfortunate choice of word) 'properly' sourced from the genuine Third World. If you're paying more at Brooks Brothers you're paying more of a mark-up for their branding and marketing as well as the special characteristics of their shirtmaking (such as they are these days).

It would be nice to think of the individual producers of genuine Madras fabrics banding together to create some form of appellation society like Harris or Donegal tweed and getting some tangible financial recognition for creating an iconic fabric. Sadly that will probably never happen.

Indeed. I was looking at the JPress ones the other day - and there's a lot of mark up on those shirts! (Though they are on sale at the moment - so I might put in an order - I've had pretty good mail order service off them before).

Presumably though, there's "Madras" and Madras - if you know what I mean.

Aha - see sbove!

Last edited by Harpo (2010-05-27 08:41:16)

I bought one at the Oxford street store last week, this year there are some with button downs and some without but, as you say, the collar is very small. On the plus side some of the colours are very nice. Quality wise, for a £14.99 shirt it's fine, better than the new gant madras, which was several times more expensive, that I put my finger through while taking it off last night!
I don't have any but some of Lands End ones look ok too, unfortunatley again with very small collars.

http://www.landsend.co.uk/pp/Madras-Shirt~3853_59.html?bcc=y&CM_MERCH=IDX_00001__0000000112&origin=index

Yes, I was disappointed last summer to find that there was a distinct lack of the BD versions on the shelves in the Uniqlo stores that I visited. That said, their pairs of 'Madras' shorts in the same colour ways were pretty decent for the money and have washed well. No 'bleed' though needless to say.

Staceyboy

p.s. Croeso i "Talk Ivy", Harpo.

Last edited by Chris_H (2010-05-27 10:01:14)

Can you add a button to the collar? I know you won't get the collar roll, but wonder if they might look neater with that addition?

Uniqlo shirts are quite a close fit - a bit on the skimpy side. I have some of their Madras patterned shirts from a year or two back and apart from the close fit they are fine.

I also have O'Connell's bleeding Madras. The fabrics do not bleed like Ivy Shop Madras from the early 70s.

Incidently, and it will bore you know, my mum worked at Uniqlo when it first came to the UK in the late 90's. It wasn't a success first time around and they shut up shop.

Uniqlo fills that market that Gap should really belong to. Great for students and as Weejun says, "for knocking around in".