You can walk into anywhere at the moment and get a half decent OCBD..They're on trend.. youll even find them in the frozen section in Sainsburys.. hiding under the bags of peas

But every single one of them is not a touch on what you'd hope someone who appricates Ivy would want from the design. Fine for my workwear fodder but not much to be proud about..

I own a few Uniqlo and I have to say their quality is good not only for the price but even better than Gant..which isnt saying much I guess..but a Gant shirt comes in at the price youd pay for a Fitz and the quality and production of them was a 1000 times better..

Anyway my point was/is when it all goes off trend where the hell are you going to buy a half decent shirt? Let alone a decent one. .

Anyway, Im gutted I finally lost the weight to fit into one...

Last edited by Bop (2015-02-23 14:09:35)

Sorry to hear, Henry. I like my asparagus green button down a lot and wear it regularly. It was a valiant effort!

Thanks for all the kind words. I'm just glad that I didn't end up out of pocket and that i got to get shirts made exactly how i wanted, pleased that you all liked them too. You never know, if I find myself with some spare time and the money to do it, I may make some more one day.

Last edited by Bop (2015-02-24 14:12:19)

The latest Madras by JSA is incredible, one of my favourite shirts. It is much better than the other two shirts I own by them, both of which I like, but this one simply got all the details right.

However I stupidly did not buy a Fitz, despite seeing at least one in the flesh and being very impressed. They were priced in relation to what others were charging and probably due to the high production costs, compared to the buying/ manufacturing power of say John Simons/ Mercer.

I own a Makers and a J Press both of which are incredible shirts, I was aiming to add a FC to the collection, but stupidly waited too long. I feel it would of been a great addition.

Unfortunately UK manufacturers seem to be very unreasonable and difficult and slow to learn, which along with stupid government policies is why so many manufacturing industries in this country have fallen apart. However to be fair Portugal seems to have a skilled, unionised, clothing industry so maybe this could be an alternative if you ever want to continue Henry?

The problem is of course, finding a manufacturer willing to take on small runs at a reasonable price and commiting to dates for delivery.

Over time as processes are refined and improved in the supply chain, combined with economies of scale, then the cost of the manufacture of shirts for H's Fitz's would come down, also guarantees that delivery dates would be met, but the conundrum is the limited runs. That pretty puts a kibosh on it.

Even if he had out-sourced to Far East, this problem would persist.

As for JS, I haven't seen the latest madras yet, but the white OCBD of theirs takes some beating, superlative!

My JS is a decent shirt but I think the Fitz were a step above quality wise
I know I worked with H on this but it's not me being biased, I have plenty of friends with both who agree with this opinion.

As Hepcat points out it's all about volume - it's the same reason shoe manufacturing waned and only a few survive.

It's a pity.

The GBP/Euro exchange rate made them too expensive for me, unfortunately.

Just received a blue chambray regular fit - the very last - and I've really impressed by the quality, material, weight, cut, collar. Really impressive and a real shame that this is the last batch, although pleased that Henry hasn't been left out of pocket from this project. The sale price is more up my street but can understand the original cost, and if you're paying for quality, I guess you (we) really don't need that many shirts.

Anyone have any experience regarding shrinkage from washing/drying?

The union-made thing is interesting, possibly warrants into own thread.