I ought to confess that I go on wearing old(ish) Brooks Brothers mostly for sentimental reasons.  They remain, unlike Ralph Lauren (as, I suppose, the best and most obvious example) 'off the radar' for most men in England.  I've seen a single item in a charity shop, back in 2008 or 2009.  The same cannot be said for RL (or even J.Crew).

Wise words there Kingston1an

I found a small stash of old M&S in my garage a few weeks ago. I was surprised at how good the roll and size of collar was. The overall quality and cut in fact is very good. I can only imagine I put them away when I went on an extended RL binge and wrongly presumed I was now too good for them. A lot of those RL are now boxed up in the garage.

RL I still love. They fit me great and wash and wear well. I tend to think of them more prep than ivy. No idea why really. It's all the same pot to me.

Lands End I think are solid. Madras, seersucker. I like their sail cloths

Gant occasionaly hit the mark but are so variable in fit and collar. Annoyingly the best usually come with a logo. Nice details like pocket flap often come with a too small collar.

BD Baggies can be really good, but I suspect they're on a programme of modernising their designs. Which can never be a good thing.

I've got a very old Eagle Shirtmaker’s which nails every detail apart from third button. I'd have to double check whether it's US made or like Arrow, Indian. (Edited - it’s China)

Didn't Alvey say the other week that a JS madras shrunk on him? I wouldn't expect that from a shirt from there at that price.

Last edited by Spendthrift (2022-06-16 09:41:00)

I don't suppose this is a very interesting thread (you don't have to agree), but I find The Shirt so damn fundamental I can spend quality time worrying about them - especially when chaps like Horace report on the state of Brooks in the USA.  Mind you, Frosty reckoned it was all over for them circa 1985, having snagged his first university stripe from Madison Avenue when still nibbling his mothers tit.  When did TRS first get to Manhattan?  He was distinctly unimpressed.  I dunno; I shall have to give Press some consideration sooner or later (and will feel slightly sad and a traitor for doing so), but almost certainly won't bother with Paul Stuart again: poor collar design, crackly cotton.  Made in Italy but somehow just not kosher.  I do not think the Ivy Shop boys would have given them the time of day.

Yes: branding is creeping in everywhere as people choose the lazy option.  With Ralph Lauren, I suppose, it was all quite calculated.  But I made the mistake of buying an American made shirt recently that was more or less flying the Stars And Stripes.  Some branch of the Lauren tree: can't recall which; sent it to charity.
Gant - just horrible.  Paul Stuart - lettering on the outside of a sweater.  Brooks - you know about Brooks. 
But Ralphie must be held up to the light and some measure of blame.  Although, to be fair, the original designers were perhaps following the example of, say, Lacoste.

I don’t own a Mercer so can’t comment, been contemplating a purchase but I’m not there yet.
the two Jakes I have are superb, quality bang on, cut as you would want, better than my Brooks “makers?? .
Very pleased with the one Kamakura that arrived this time last week, it’s not quite as good as the Jakes but was about thirty quid cheaper.
The most inconsistent I’ve got are the JS. Lovely cloths most of the time (especially the four of five Madras offerings) but the fit various from shirt to shirt, despite nominally being the same size and the collars vary from the minuscule to looking like it was produced for a disco-dancer circa 1977.
Gant I’ve not bothered with for years, they’re for skinnier fuckers than I, RL I buy occasionally if they’re cheap, I can’t abide the logo, it’s ubiquitous with the pleb these days.

Yet this 'American tradition' palaver does rub me up the wrong way.  'Iconic' and all that meaningless bollocks.

The J Press oxford clocks in at $135, with or without the flap pocket, and that's about as good as it's gonna get right now. Press does have sales where you can get a bit of a break if you buy three.

Mercer starts at $185, and you'll have to wait a while.

The other option is O'Connell's, which is in the middle at $165.

As far as I'm concerned that's it Stateside. Two options ready to go, and the top of the line that you have to wait on.

LL Bean is all non-iron, and Lands End has become erratic at best. Both former mainstays are far better for sport shirts.

At least LLB and LE offer real sizes. Orvis dress shirts come in alpha sizes, and because Orvis caters to the well-nourished sportsman, they start at voluminous and aspire to parachute.

Huh, thats annoying

Heres their basic oxford: https://www.landsend.com/products/mens-solid-no-iron-supima-pinpoint-buttondown-collar-dress-shirt/id_242762?attributes=30442,43307,43322,44255,44896,44967,45023

I suppose you could order them from the US website and then get skinned on shipping and customs, but why?

I forgot about Joseph A Banks. WHy did I forget about them? Because they suck too.

I did get some decent shirts from Natty Shirts, which is in Pakistan. But that was some years ago, and who knows what the situation is now.

Fedex by the way was the worst. One way going from Europe to US you get dinged no matter what.

I had luck some years back selling things to UK guys. On the USPS customs form I wrote "used clothing," which sounded gnarly enough for the UK people to give them a miss. Not to mention a declared $5 value. Well, if I got the jacket from the Bargain Barn for $5, that's the value.