Oh dear, dear me - I'm not quite sure what happened! I bought six shirts from this branch of Charles Tyrwhitt. Let's just say that the fine weave and tailoring of these shirts is putting the rest of my wardrobe - the battered Barbour-copy, the worn chinos - a bit in the shade.
King Street is nicely set up to allow comparison shopping between Charles Tyrwhitt, Thomas Pink and T.M. Lewin all just a few doors from each other, with House of Fraser on nearby on Deansgate. (Plus, a bunch of cutting-edge fashion stores that you will need to ask someone else about.) By a process of elimination, Pink's sale prices were still very steep by my standards, T.M. Lewin didn't look 'weekend' enough for me, so Tyrwhitt it was. I actually know the Tyrwhitt name quite well as I previously lived in the stately home headquarters of a educational charity and this Tyrwhitt seemed to have cornered the shirt market for all the executive and wannabe executive fellow residents of mine.
Customer service from the young lady and then mainly from an Israeli guy was top notch. I was measured up, and advised on my size and the type of fit that would suit me best, and tried on a shirt to double-check the fit. The other main advice was that the 'easy iron' label on about half the shirts referred not to some sort of chemical coating. Instead, these shirts are low-maintenance because of the finer weave. I was told that all Tyrwhitt shirts are 100% cotton, but within that, basic shirts are made in Egypt, whereas 'easy iron' shirts are from Portugal, Spain, France and so on. I decided on one white shirt. I was advised that both poplin and herringbone, despite being the lightest and heaviest fabrics, both need a lot of ironing. So I took the advice that a white twill shirt was what I needed. I look forward to the prospect of wrinkle-free shirts without ironing and will report back with an update on whether these shirts deliver on this promise and how hardwearing they are.
I decided to go for all 'easy iron' shirts priced at up to £28 or so in the sales, versus £18 sale price for regular shirts. However, perhaps due to me buying six shirts at once, the sales assistant not only knocked the price down from £28 to £25, but also threw in a £10 voucher, so maybe I will go back for some cufflinks!
Especially in the sales, I think you owe it to yourself to check out Tyrwhitt. This is for formal shirts, and also relaxed shirts which are still fairly square. Plus suiting and various overcoats and formal accessories - belts, cufflinks, ties etc. Very good quality and value, but not super-deluxe as if you have money to burn and want shirt-tails down to your knees, Thomas Pink is definitely an option. One thing is that even the informal shirts here are not at all loud. So I am thinking I maybe still need a couple of shirts from Boden or somewhere.
Anyway, one type place I will definitely be wearing my new shirts is Manchester's fine dining venues such as Cicchetti. I will now walk in with my head held high and no longer fear being kicked to the kerb by the maitre'd! read more