Very English Shirts by Harvie and Hudson

Andrew Hudson of Harvie & Hudson was in San Francisco this week for his semi-annual visit. His ancestor George Frederick Hudson began the shirtmaker in partnership with Thomas George Harvie three generations ago. The firm is the only remaining Jermyn Street bespoke shirtmaker still owned solely by the founding families.


Harvie & Hudson tends to work principally with English shirting mills like Acorn. The made to measure shirts which are the heart of their business shirts are cut by hand and sewn by machine. And though they can make just about any style that a customer desires, most of their shirts are double cuffed and spread collared.


English makers focus on shirt and necktie colorways that complement the City's gray and blue suits, so their offerings tend towards pink and lilac. And then there's the collaboration with the silk weavers, a practice that's a specialty of Jermyn Street. Once they've chosen shirt patterns for the season, H&H commissions neckties that match their colors exactly, something that can only be done with woven ties. With a woven tie, threads of the precise color can be selected. Printed neckties, on the other hand, cannot be printed with color accuracy.

Conservative suits, black shoes and brightly colored shirts with matching neckties. That's English style the Harvie & Hudson way.

A Pause in the Travels of Dege & Skinner

The venerable firm of Dege & Skinner, founded in 1865, is a leading men's and ladies' bespoke tailor and shirtmaker. From its workrooms in Savile Row, London, Dege produces suits, shirts, neckties, military uniforms and riding clothes for clients around the world. The firm has one of the two most extensive travelling tailor programs that I'm aware of, visiting customers in the UK, USA, Europe, the Gulf States, and Japan on a regular basis. Last week they paused in San Francisco.

Graham Lawless, sales director, alternates with Managing Director William Skinner on the road. Outside of London, either Lawless or Skinner are the face of the firm to tailored clothing customers. Each travels most of a month each year. Says Lawless, "We don't believe we can just sit back and wait for our customers to come to us. We go where they are." He's wearing one of the firm's suits, a three button roll top.


The Dege house style evolved from its uniform work for the British cavalry in the 19th century. It's a military cut with a lot of structure, like these samples. To the left is a one button, peak lapelled odd jacket of silk and linen. On the right is a double breasted worsted. The other three coats hanging in the room when I visited were riding jackets.


Dege is the only Savile Row tailor with its own staff making bespoke shirts and neckties for customers. Robert Whittaker, who joined the firm 13 years ago from Bowring & Arundel (once among my favorite haberdashers), takes great pride in the bespoke necktie program. Dege commissions its own necktie silk, weaving just enough for four neckties in any colorway. Once the silk is sold out, it's gone forever.

Of course, bespoke clothing with a 150 year heritage is not inexpensive and the strength of the British pound means it keeps getting more so. Two piece suit prices start at £2,265 ex VAT (approximately $4,530) and blazers at £1,695 ex VAT (approximately $3,380 ex VAT). Bespoke shirts start at £142.50 ex VAT(approximately $285 USD). And it looks to me like next year the dollar cost will be still greater. But they don't have anything like this at Barney's New York.

Charvet in the Afternoon

My Paris shopping didn't begin well. I began by visiting the arcades at the Palais Royale where I learned that L'Escalier d'Argent is already closed for holiday and later confirmed that scheduling will keep me from seeing shoemaker Dimitri Gomez. But then I arrived at la place Vendôme and Charvet.

Charvet (there is no web site) is a well-respected shirtmaker and one of the leading sources for bespoke neckties in the world. The store is quietly beautiful - simply being there makes the day seem better - and the staff is helpful without being obtrusive.

So much of the Charvet experience is near perfection - like the pictured silk robes - that I'm unable to understand why the bespoke necktie selection process remains so cumbersome. The silks cannot be viewed in a rational fashion. Instead, the customer provides some general guidance such as "foulards on a black ground" and in due time a selection emerges from downstairs. Then repeat - it's a process that puts a damper on discovery. Someday I hope to learn of silks that I didn't know to ask for.

But, no matter. Today the shop had a wonderful selection of semi-solid bow ties, silk knit four in hands, and summer cotton pocket squares. Outside, the sun began shining.

Shirts in Context

I can think of three ways to wear shirts: with trousers but without a jacket (like the fellow in the navy sports shirt in the illustration), with an odd jacket or sweater, and with a suit. Most of the appropriate shirt details depend on the context in which they'll be worn but one applies to all and that's the length.

Short shirt tails were a pet peeve of mine once. Dress shirts should be long enough so that they don't come out of the trousers when a man's arms are raised above his head. If a shirt has to be re-tucked in during the day it's because the maker tried to save a nickel on fabric and made the tails too short. For a cure, order shirts that are a couple inches longer than standard, with a seventh button on the front.

Aside from specialty shirts for formal wear, suits call for the most shirting formality . I like to pair my suits with shirt that have French cuffs, a placket button on the sleeve and more formal collars. In my own wardrobe that means cutaway, spread, and tab collars. Straight point and Eton collars are also fine, preferably worn pinned. And suits are the only proper companions for contrast collars and cuffs.

The differences between shirts for odd jackets and shirts for suits are minor. I prefer button cuffed shirts for wear with odd jackets. Precious metal cuff links look a bit too bright and glittery with tweed but a two button cuff (the second button keeps the cuff aligned) with a placket button seems about right. I prefer Eton, tab, spread and button down collars on these shirts and point collars are also appropriate. No cutaways, and no contrast collars.

When it comes to shirts for casual wear, which is any time they are worn without a jacket, just about anything goes. Casual shirt details warrant an essay all their own. Today, I will say only that for all the marketing emphasis by some shirtmakers on thick mother of pearl buttons and hand stitching, the only time those features come into play is when a shirt is worn without a jacket. Hand sewing is critical to the construction of a tailored clothing but on a shirt it adds nothing to fit and what it might add to aesthetics is usually covered by a jacket (or, in the case of those extra thick buttons, by a necktie). My advice is to buy machine sewn MTM or bespoke shirts to wear with jackets and use the money saved for tailored clothing upgrades.

Sources: www.customshirt1.com

Years after he closed his Manhattan retail location in favor of life in rural Long Island, shirtmaker Alex Kabbaz realized he had a few dozen pair of unsold Zimmerli underwear in storage. He placed an ad on eBay, expecting to sell the goods in a couple of months. Instead, he sold out in a week and placed a call to Zimmerli asking if he could re-open his account. Three years later he sells more of that underwear than anyone else in the world.

Customshirt1.com has evolved over time into an online version of the past's great haberdashers like Sulka and Bowring & Arundel. Kabbaz is one of the world's best bespoke shirtmakers and he offers only carefully selected products that complement his customers' bespoke shoes and tailored clothing.

His newest line, hand made neckties from English tiemaker Seaward & Stearn was shown for the first time at last week's Collection of Sartorial Elegance exhibition in New York. S&S joins Zimmerli underwear, nightwear, sweaters and polos; hose by Pantherella and Marcoliani; Alex Begg cashmere scarves and Kabbaz's sublime custom shirts. All are available over the web (the neckties are not up as of this writing but should be soon) except for the shirts, which must be measured in person.

As you might expect, the service is as good as the merchandise. In stock items are shipped within 24 hours with package tracking and every effort is made to ensure that the items will be satisfactory. If all else fails, there is an equitable exchange policy.

Some of the CSE Artisans

Kelly Christy, hatmaker, and Joelle Kelly, haberdasher

Jon Greene, tailor

Dean Girling, cordwainer

Victoria Taub and Carl Goldberg, CEGO shirtmakers



Alex Kabbaz, haberdasher