Here's a preview. Full report coming up by tomorrow.
The collar length is 3 and 7/16". The overall weight of the shirt is lighter than the previous iteration and much more in line with the golden era models. There are 7 buttons on the front.
Early conclusion: add a pocket, revert to a 6 button front, and drop the price by 15 to 20 percent. I suspect these will move during one of the sales.
Makers shirts for the iGent crew! They will love them. Hopefully 'my' BB outlet here in Austria near to Vienna has some of them in my size next year... For cheap. Then I'd buy one...
Last edited by Leer R. (2016-01-21 06:56:58)
P.S. they aren't ultraslim fit, or are they? Even the iGents won't love them. They need 'fitted' shirts...
Thanks for cutting through the fog, Farrago.
If you're in London I wouldn't bother with this nonsense at all....Drake's have some beautiful button-downs, with all the correct details, for £125 (and they're not a cheap shop!)
Even less in the Drakes Sale, nearly grabbed a couple before christmas as the collars looked great but thought best to not spend money I don't have.
They do look good!
I got something like this made several years ago in the MTM dept. They could do the unlined collar and they could do the "fishtail" (though it wasn't quite that) with the sides and of course ditch the pocket. I only did one shirt because I wanted to see if they could do it -- I thought they did pretty well. There was a guy at 346 Madison who worked there forever. I don't know if he's still there. Tom something maybe? Anyway, I wanted to get more shirts, but I think at the time I realized I had so many I just had to stop.
I've thinned out the collection since then. That said, I thought the two places that had the best shirts for a reasonable amount of money were the newer Press USA ones and the Andover ones in broadcloth. But I realize that OEM changes on some of these so a comparison on Johnny Interweb might be fruitless. I had Mercer's done when they advertised in back of New Yorker and then later when I saw them mentioned on the forums. Didn't care for them. Others think they're great. I guess I didn't like the cut. Having said that, I haven't bought a new Brooks shirt in maybe 8-10 years. But I thought their USA-made off the peg ones were great. And maybe there was a light lining -- maybe I just didn't notice it. But I thought the basic ones in white were great.
Also: MTM had some "vintage" colors -- like a slightly different pink. And I heard they were bringing back "stone" though I don't know if they ever did.
Some guy on here did that Fitzgerald shirt -- with the Brooksy like green. I thought that was cool. Is Brooks doing a green?
Last edited by Horace (2016-01-23 02:05:30)
I've got all of that on exactly, except a cardigan and brown Brooks herringbone sack instead of the Norwegian. Wonderful day to recover from yesterday.
The Mercer just feels right when I put it on. I know that sounds corny, but it's true. The fit, the billow, the construction, the collar... Definitely a shirt I can really appreciate.
I've got a number of Mercers, bought back when my Makers collection was quite small. Some are ok but there are 3 that I really rely on, and are more important to me than many of my Makers. Not because they're better than Makers - they're not although they are approaching Makers level - but because the cloths are so useful. (E.g. I have no Makers in end on end, but in the summer that cloth is perfection. My Mercer end on end is outstanding. With Makers of course I'm reliant on whatever I can find in my size.
For someone who's not a Makers fanatic then they are probably less exciting.
I totally get the Makers/Mercer love. I've just never gone wild over them. I do have to say my favorite OCBD is a 60s pink Press flap pocket. Just fits me perfectly with a great, soft collar.
I'm sure a 60s Press shirt would look very good in my collection.
Yuca, if ever you wake up to find you fancy a change in direction. I will give all your shirts a loving new home. 😉.Sounds like a very enviable collection.
Nice try but that won't be happening I'm afraid. Even if I ditch sack jackets, Shetlands etc (highly unlikely) I'm confident I would not be able to discard my Makers habit. As Feed Astaire demonstrated so perfectly in Funny Face, they look the business even with pleated trousers, darted jackets etc. (They probably wouldn't work with low rise trousers but then nothing does.)
Last edited by Yuca (2016-01-23 13:49:33)
No kidding. I NEVER see vintage Press shirts. I've seen practically everything else - Sero, Troy Guild, Arrow, Hathaway, Brooks - but never Press.
Hahaha. Damn. That guy looks like a ______
I know the J. Press shirts aren't as good as they were in the late '70s, '80s, and '90s, but too many of the company's longtime suppliers disappeared and new makers were found and they're still putting them out but they're stiffer, I'm wearing a white one I am trying to launder into submission
same with Andover
but the Brooks stuff has varied too for the same reasons during the period in question, the early '00s to now ...
I really would like to have unlined, unfused collars and cuffs without going custom and am trying to remember if anybody has weighed in on O'Connell's versions yet?