The men’s style market is growing to the point it’s becoming tough for newcomers to tell good deals from bad ones. Offers abound, many of which are too cryptic for the uninitiated to judge the caliber of the product and to know whether the asking price is fair or not.
But amidst the cloudiness of information is a silver lining. These days, it’s easier to strike good deals on good products (regardless of your budget), whether you’re interested in shirts, shoes, suits or accessories. With a little savviness, you can find a lot of different options to cater to your needs.
It’s been a while since we’ve attempted a “Shirt Recommendation” article, and so we’ve put together this short list of six houses we like a lot, omitting so-called “luxury brands” who are selling plastic at the price of gold—in favor of a selection of carefully-curated brands which are good examples of today’s dynamic market.
These six houses are worthy of your consideration and you may be drawn to one house versus another based on personal taste, willingness to wait for your order to be complete, and the size of your bank account. We hope you find something of interest in the list, which is sorted from least costly option to most expensive.
Lanieri is a small Milanese brand led by a dynamic team of (very) young and passionate Italian entrepreneurs, offering a convincing online made-to-measure experience both in terms of quality-price-service ratio and overall customer experience. From the measurement process, which you can do by yourself at home or at a Lanieri showroom, to the ordering and follow-up of your purchase, the fast delivery and the excellent return policy, the overall ease and quality of the whole experience is impeccable.
An easy customer experience can’t be underestimated, and Lanieri meets the challenge, comparable to the Suitsupply experience, with a no-frills-no-questions-asked approach and a painless return policy.
We’ve tested Lanieri’s suits and blazers recently and admit to being pleasantly surprised.
Lanieri also launched a MTM shirt service that hits the same pleasant notes : fabric selection may be limited but is well thought-out, and the ordering process allows you to customize a few important elements, like collars or cuffs for instance. The overall quality for the price is satisfying and as far as industrial MTM goes, Lanieri is a solid choice.
Lanieri’s approach lies in a sophisticated measurement algorithm, created in collaboration with actual tailors, which double-checks accuracy, whether you took measurements alone or at their showroom. In other words, if a measurement on the order form seems unusual to the program, it’ll flag a “double-check” and request a redo to make sure you got the measurements right—a simple additional step, but an effective one.
In about four weeks following your order, you’ll receive your shirt at an average of 80 to 100€ per shirt…a great quality-price ratio.
Should you wish to try out Lanieri for yourself, the brand has provided us with a promotional code (PARISIANGENTLEMAN-15) which you may use to get a 15% discount on the whole range for a limited time, which makes a shirt sit at around 68€ !
(Please note that we do not receive a single cent from sales using this promotional code).
A great budget option and definitely worth a try –
Link : LANIERI SHIRTS
Langa Madrid is a current favorite of ours : a wonderful made-to-measure offer led by the very sweet and talented Mariano Arroyo Langa, who’s been conceiving, cutting, and making shirts by hand in Madrid for over 62 years (!) along with a small but dedicated team. Langa’s superb traditionally-made shirts have little to envy from many products sold for twice or thrice the price, albeit with more “prestigious” name tags…
I’m personally the proud owner of two shirts by Mariano, and I can personally attest to the undeniable talent and know-how shown by this small Spanish brand, which has just recently began to make itself known outside a very select circle, thanks also to the work of the in-house tailor Joaquin Prats, a young, passionate and talented bespoke cutter. We’ll dive deeper into the work of young Prats in the following weeks; a name which (we hope) will become one of the rising stars of bespoke tailoring in Spain.
Should you be interested in a Langa shirt assembled by hand, you’ll have to go to Madrid, and take into account that you’ll need at least an additional intermediate fitting for your first order. Afterwards however, if your morphology stays roughly the same, you’ll be able to simply choose a fabric and have the shirts sent to you by mail.
Langa is a brand which I warmly recommend you to try out if you ever find yourself in Madrid – if you like a fairly conservative style of shirts cut in fine fabric by an authentic shirtmaker. From 170€, it’s a very good deal.
Link : LANGA MADRID
We recently dedicated a lengthy article to 100Hands, which you can read HERE, a quality high-level shirt brand, based in Amsterdam with a factory in India.
The overall fabric quality, shirt assembly and finishes on all 100Hands shirts are particularly convincing given the price range (from 169 to 249€ for RTW, with an extra 15% added for MTM), and the sheer number of elements made by hand on each products is nothing less than impressive.
You’ll find 100Hands shirts in retail stores in Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK – notably at Chittleborough and Morgan or Edward Sexton (which is quite the statement !)
Highly recommended should you ever find yourself in one of the brand’s retailers.
Link : 100HANDS
If you’re a Pitti Uomo regular (or at the very least if you routinely browse Pitti-related pictures), then you must know the famous, the astonishing, the one-of-a-kind, the deeply endearing Ignatious Joseph – the sharp behatted and über-elegant character with the oxblood shoes and his own brand of shirts, made in Italy, which he distributes under his own name in many a retail store throughout Germany, Belgium (at Degand) and online at Shoes and Shirts (based in Maastricht).
Ignatious’ shirts are quite simply high-quality RTW, beautifully made, and always highly tasteful. You can’t go wrong with IGN Joseph – it’s a serious product through and through.
The average price ranges between 200 & 300€ depending on the fabric and the retailer.
Link : ING Joseph at Shoes and Shirts
With Marol, we’re switching categories entirely by referring to a fully made-by-hand product, crafted in a workshop in Bologna (Italy). Marol’s fabric selection is insanely quality-based…think Carlo Riva, rare silks, linen / cotton blends and high thread counts every step of the way. The shirts themselves are wonders of precision craftsmanship : the patterns are beautifully aligned, the needlework is stunning, and the finishing touches are extreme in quality.
Some of the models, most notably those destined to specific markets, can be audacious for western tastes (notably a couple of patterns in silk fabrics) but Marol’s production remains one of the most beautiful and luxurious in the market today.
Marol – established in 1959 – is led with grace and conviction by Manuela Vignudelli of the founding family. A splendid house indeed, still too obscure, in our opinion, in regard to the impeccable quality of their shirts, which they make for both men AND women (a benefit rare enough to be noted).
The brand is distributed in 35 stores around the world, including at the famous Sirecci, 27 rue Marbeuf, in Paris.
We have a particular soft spot for Marol’s range of formal (black tie) shirts…
Average Price : 450€ (depending on the fabric)
Link : MAROL
With Milan’s very own Siniscalchi, we reach the cream of the bespoke shirt making crop. If Charvet in Paris is still for many (yours truly included) the shirt making Everest, then Siniscalchi is at least the shirt making Annapurna, if not the shirt making K2.
Stepping into the cozy workshop of Alessandro Siniscalchi (the son of Vittorio, who founded the brand in 1948) is a unique experience—the kind which only bespoke can still offer in a cold and uniform 21st century, dominated by marketing and focus-tested lines of forgettable products.
At Alessandro Siniscalchi (assisted by his lovely wife Cinzia), I was able to touch fabrics I never touched before : vintage Simonnot Godard fabric from the 60’s, linen / cotton blends from Carlo Riva tinted in almost surreal hues, and other wonders which should prove beautifully overwhelming for the discerning connoisseur.
To be continued in an upcoming article, Siniscalchi offers a quality of fit that rivals perfection – with two fitting sessions before the shirt is delivered, and yet another fitting after five days of wearing the shirt and five “washings” to check if the fit held up! There is an insanely exclusive fabric selection at Siniscalchi and a rare level of personalized care for each customer.
Visiting Siniscalchi is like taking a trip through time – which the purists among our readers are sure to appreciate to its full extent.
Average Price : 750€
Link : SINISCALCHI
