If you’re like me and have trouble finding a nice shirt at a decent price, fret no longer. The solution lies across the pond in the form of British shirtmaker T.M. Lewin. With all the history that one expects from a British firm located on Jermyn Street, Lewin’s operation is over 100 years old and offers great quality for fantastic prices. The firm perpetually offers four shirts at a price of 100 GBP (depending on the exchange rate, around $170CDN, or just over $40 a shirt).
I tend to prefer a wider spread collar than is typically available in Canada (other than from custom shirtmakers) and given the British preference for this look, they are easy to find in old Blighty. T.M. Lewin offers a number of different collar styles (from nearly cutaway to relatively narrow) and two different fits: standard and slim. Being a relatively thin guy, the slim fit shirts are fantastic and fit nearly perfectly off the rack.
In addition, they have a fairly extensive catalogue of styles available, from the staid white and blue to loud stripes and plaids in a variety of colours (a look that is far more common in London than in most urban centres in North America). The quality of the shirts is extremely good for this price point, but one will not hesitate to replace a worn shirt in a few years’ time at $40 a shirt. Another great line offered by Lewin is their “Traveller” series of shirts. Treated to prevent wrinkling and with special buttons that allow one to button french cuffs in the event of forgotten cuff links, they are perfect for a forgetful guy that is a bit hard on his shirts, like myself. A word of warning about the Traveller shirts, however: be sure to wash them at least twice before an extended wearing as the collar can be slightly scratchy at purchase.
These shirts can be purchased online at www.tmlewin.co.uk, with shipping available at reasonable rates to North America. Or, if your travels take you to the United Kingdom, T.M. Lewin has shops throughout the country.
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