As some of you will know, I reside near our esteemed colleague Kingstonian. I do most of my non-clothes shopping in Kingston-upon-Thames, a short walk from my house.
The only brands that I buy in Kingston are Gant and Polo RL casual wear. I have not been impressed by the Polo button downs - small collars and cuffs and they wore out quickly. Gant BD shirts are now a staggering £90 in the local department stores.
Brooks Brothers in London charges around £70 for OCBDs made in Malaysia. As I commented on another thread, a US made OBCD sported a £150 price tag!
In the past, you could buy reasonable quality OCBD shirts in Gap and Marks & Spencer but that no longer appears to be the case. I would welcome any suggestions.
One of the reasons why I'm fond of lacoste is that their button-down shirts are spot on for someone my height (5'9") w/a 16"neck. The quality is great and the prices are affordable (on the continent at least as opposed to the UK, apparently). You'll be able to find some classic items each season, both plain and paterned.
I can see why people won't consider it as an option because of the logo and/or the lack of certain details such as the third button on the collar etc, but it remains a fave of mine whatsoever. Obviously I tend to buy my basic stuff during the sales, but anyway.... apart from certain sources one can buy vintage or NOS stuff from I am tempted to consider Mercer as an option although buying through the net remains somewhat tricky IMO...I hope this helps...
Last edited by Alex Roest (2010-08-15 12:53:01)
Last edited by Alex Roest (2010-08-15 13:53:11)
The Lacoste collar roll is magnificent, you can't argue against that.
Mercers are only mail order throught their website, the new customer deal is great. And of course you can get negotiate on every order, if there are several shirts. Their tartan cloths are seriously beaming with colour, oxfords are great too. If you want something more than a plain BB oxford, this is where I would go.
Last edited by Boarshead (2010-08-16 13:19:01)
over here, as well, it is difficult if not impossible to find a proper ocbd off high street, especially with a decent price. rl and gant are available, though, but with current rl's indeed do have tiny collars and the high pricing definitely does not match the quality. as for gant, always some nice looking stuff on offer, but, the pricing is just stupid, from 120 euros onwards. i do buy gant stuff of their sales though. also, a fact i can stand on some of the gant shirts, the logo. i don't have a problem with logos per se - a small polo rider or a croc will do, no probs with them - BUT the gant logo embroidered - say - on a blue ocbd is just ugly as fuck. so, that puts me off of most of their offering. thus, so far, the internet hasmostly been my option.
alex, thanks for mentioning lacoste, though, i must check a the local retailer out. i'm afraid, however, that their pricing is even more ridiculois than gant's.