CUSTOM SHIRTS FINISH THE SUIT
By JENNIFER GOULD KEIL

December 23, 2007 -- Executives in the Big Apple - pinched by lower bonuses and depressed profits caused by the subprime contagion and ensuing credit crunch - are ready to trade down to $400 custom-made shirts.

Call it the budget plan for the corner office set: hold off on buying the $5,000 custom-made suit and jazz up that look with a handful of just-for-me shirts.

Jarrod Moses, CEO of United Entertainment Group, an entertainment marketing company, is one of those executives who will favor new shirts over suits when times get tough.

"I think the shirt is the most important part of any ensemble," Moses told The Post recently. "You're not going to have three to four dozen suits but you can have three dozen shirts."

"A nice, tailored shirt completes the look and you take your jacket off in the office, so that's what you're in 75 percent of the time," Moses said. "If I'm given a choice, I'd invest in new shirts to diversify the wardrobe. The shirt is your No. 1 garment, followed by the suit, then the shoes."

Moses owns about 20 custom-made shirts, and spends about $300 to $400 a shirt, which he buys from a variety of sources, including Thomas Pink and a guy who comes from Venice every quarter to measure him.

Customers like Moses help explain why Christian von Daniels, the CEO of Van Laack, a 125-year-old Germany-based custom-shirt maker is upbeat after spending big bucks to launch his first US store earlier this year.

The timing, on the surface, couldn't appear worse.

For starters, there is plenty of competition in the custom-shirt sector, with Thomas Pink, Turnbull & Asser and others.

Secondly, as Wall Street executives feel the pinch of smaller - or no - bonuses, there will be less green to spend on wardrobes.

Van Laack's prices are comparable with those of Pink, which is part of the LVMH Fashion Group and has 18 stores in the US, including four in New York.

Van Laack has 90 stores in Germany and around the world, with overall sales expected to grow by 12 percent to $85 million in 2007.

Handmade shirts range from $140 to $270. Made-to-measure shirts, the top-of-the-line product, run $250 to $400 and up.