Benson & Clegg sell Cleeve shirts but they don't look anything special. Budd charges around £80 to £90 for a shirt. Turnbull and Asser have a unique collar which some love and others hate. I find T&A shirts blousy and the collars are too stiff. At the T&A price point (over £100), I would try Emma Willis.

Most of my shirts over the last 25 years were bought from Hilditch & Key. The classic collar shirts make up over 75% of the stock so I don't understand why you think that they madly keen on cut-away collars. The advantage of H&K is that they offer a good, cheap and fast alterations service. Another is that they offer a decent range of slim fit shirts but they are, in general, not included in the sale. If you are buying a standard spread collar RTW shirt, you can't beat H&K's sale-by-mail which has just started.

You may wish to consider an Ulster firm called Smyth & Gibson - http://www.smythandgibson.com/ They offer MTM, classic fit, slim fit and law shirts. They have a London rep who will visit you in the office or at home. I think that the RTW shirts start at around £80 to £85, the same as Budd & Hilditch & Key.

You could try Stephan Shirts

http://www.bespokeme.com/article.aspx?id=63
http://www.bespokeme.com/article.aspx?id=79

In my opinion the best value shirts in the world.  Made in Cyprus, they make a lot for the British Military.  Minimum order of 1.  I got Erlend to make 1 up, I washed and wore it half a dozen times.  Then we looked at it and altered shirts 2 - 7 accordingly.  They do all the usual, different inside collar and cuffs (no charge), left cuff bigger than the right, single cuff, double cuff etc.  They will charge a few quid extra if you want MOP buttons.  And Erlend himself will replace the collar and cuffs himself!

Stonking vlue at 69 quid, and you can pay 50% on order and 50% on delivery, which is usually about 5 weeks

Looks good.

Would go to T&A for rtw shirts .. quality of manafacture, good service and choice of all patterns make it worth it.

Would avoid Budd, there's a reason they hardly have any customers, very little choice in patterns and materials .. rude and unhelpful manager (Rowley) .. its a miracle they are still in business operating like this.

The free market is working as it should .. two companies which are operating in the same tier of the market .. one has become a resounding success because of their business practise while the other is suffers as a result of piss poor service to the customer.

oldfruit

Last edited by Oldfruit1 (2013-02-03 03:57:55)

Budd service is much more than awful, the manager Mr Rowley is probably one of the most rude shop assistants ive ever had the displeasure to meet .. he has apparantly worked at Budd for 30 years .. i cant work out how someone can work in a customer facing role for decades and have developed no basic grace and manners over this time, its quite unbelievable (perhaps doing the job for 30 years is the reason he's so frustrated!?).

This has reminded me that i have to go back when im next in the area .. not to buy anything but for some free entertainment watching Rowley spit feathers as he reprimands anyone foolish enough to wander into the shop from the arcade. Infact if shirt making isnt for Budd anymore (& looking at the amount of customers they get apart from the odd stray tourist its not going great) they could do a fly on the wall documentary and sell the rights to channel 4 .. it would be like a modern 'Are you being served' but without the laughs.

fruity

Last edited by Oldfruit1 (2013-02-03 05:51:33)

Maybe Mr. Rowley was on an off day, but last week my daughter went to Budd and found him charming and helpful. She loved loved one of fabrics he showed her and since they are imminently making a run of RTW shirts with that fabric, I shall have it soon.
She loved the experience so much, she is bringing her boyfriend along to Budd on their next trip.
Everything I'm reading here is so contrary to my daughter's experience.