Posted By menjie on January 22, 2010

The first thing about a men’s shirt is often that it’s dull, white and work.

But originally men’s shirts were loose blouse made in light white cotton which looked almost feminine, had no structure and were extremely baggy and long.

Up to this day very few colors are considered acceptable for dress shirts: white and off whites (yellow), blues, pinks and lavanders.

For after work and nights out black is often considered a must.

Few rules: if you gonna wear a white shirt, make it a pure white, if you prefer a blue make it light blue; the lighter the shade of blue the nicer it will be, you can leave the french blue to the french.

More casual the outfit the stronger the shade of color you can wear as long as it pairs well with the other pieces.

Remember a crisp white dress shirt is like a canvas on which you can wear many ties and/or intricate jackets, you can wear one formally at the office or casually on a day off, it should be your first commission by a tailor for a custom shirt.

lapo elkann by the sartorialist , florence, jan. 2010

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Posted By menjie on December 31, 2009

What is customer service when you do custom shirts?

Some would think it’s about proper measurements taking, good advice on fabrics, making sure the collar the customer chooses will not ridicule him at the office and that his wife also likes what he pick…..

It’s that but one more critically important thing:

FIT!

You see no matter how accurate your measurements are it has little to do with how the shirts will fit at the end of the process, a parisian office worker and a NY office worker wear their shirts (and all their clothes for that matter) differently.

In the US shirts will be roomier,baggier, and more conservative overall.

In france shirts will fit snugger will have small eccentricities, some fashion too it.

If you don’t understand how the customer wants the shirt to fit you will get the shirt fit wrong and you will have to either alter the shirt or even tailor a new shirt from scratch.

Ultimately the tailor’s job is to get the customer fit ideal down to a T, either by getting him to talk or by trying on him different shirt options on him until he likes one of them….

The B&B team

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Posted By menjie on October 28, 2009

(weaving & ironing)

Ever wondered why some shirts look great at the store and then fall apart after a few dry cleanings?

There is no single cause to this. Sometimes the shirt fabric is simply made out of low-grade yarn, which gets worn out very quickly, and sometimes the dry cleaning is too ‘’harsh’’ (chemicals & industrial pressing) and destroys the fabric.

Some things to remember: even very high quality cotton if it is too delicate will suffer at the dry-cleaning. Use a gentler home washing machine and wash the shirt inside out.

Iron it by hand while still slightly damp and don’t hesitate to use softener in the washing cycle.

Know this: many brands will not carry any ‘’delicate’’ fabrics and stick to ‘’tougher’’ and often times cheaper type of fabrics (like oxford and pinpoint cotton). But if you want to experience a more varied selection of cottons go custom and trust Italian and Swiss mills to deliver outstanding fabrics which will look like new after every wash…

shirt: CAIRNS , Paris

tie: Calabrese, Napoli

photo credit: Joel Mergui

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