# Charles Tyrwhitt, T.M.Lewin, Pink, Austin Reed – how would you rank their shirts, ove



## Omega (Jul 10, 2005)

I saw today T.M.Lewin was doing sale on many items at the moment. How would you rank their shirts, overcoats and raincoats in comparisons with Charles Tyrwhitt, Pink (not sure if they do coats or raincoast) or Austin Reed?

Shirts - I prefer slim fit easy-care or non-iron (sorry, but this is my choice). Overcoats - it seemed to me the quality of T.M.Lewin was the same as of CT or Austin Reed, but it was the first impression from quick browse without much attention to details.

Thank you!



> *ASK ANDY UPDATE:*
> In addition to all the helpful information below, be sure to check out our comprehensive guide on T.M.Lewin!


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## dfloyd (May 7, 2006)

*As far as shirts go....*

I would rate as follows:

1. Charles Tyrwhitt

2. T. M. Lewin

3. Thomas Pink

I would not buy a raincoat, coat from any of these. The closest to these I would buy would be Brooks Brothers


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## The Louche (Jan 30, 2008)

I know that non-iron gets a lot of guff here - much of it deserved. I decided that I would limit my non-iron shirts to work travel recently. This being said, however, I bought a BB "Luxury" shirt the other day that is a non-iron twill and is very nice. The fit is slimmer than a regular BB, but not as slim as their "Slim-fit". These shirts generally trade for about $105 - $115 at full price. While discounts at BB seem to be much less frequent than CT, they _do_ happen enough to make discounted purchases easy when well-timed. I would consider the BB Luxury shirts a great alternative to the upper-mid range CT; certainly warrants an investigation.

My 2 cents...

- The Louche


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## smr (Apr 24, 2005)

For value priced "British" (who knows where they are really made?!) shirts:

1. Harvie and Hudson (cost a bit more, but you do get MOP shell buttons)
2. Lewin
3. Pink
3. Tywhitt

Also, on sale, I'd put Hilditch and Key above the rest. I don't buy from Pink or Tyrwhitt anymore, and haven't for several years. I know that Tyrwhitt makes a slim fit shirt. Not sure about the rest. I don't buy non-iron shirts. Might be that BB would be your best choice, since that's most of what they sell these days, and they do have slim fit non-iron shirts. Fit is most important, so you might go try on a few shirts at BB, and at CT, too, if you have one in your city.


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## Buffalo (Nov 19, 2003)

I would certainly place Lewin ahead of CT and Pink as it seems to be better made, use better cottons and fits better as well.


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## AlmostSmart (Jul 12, 2007)

1. TM Lewin

2. Austin Reed

3. Thomas Pink

4. Charles Tyrwhitt.


Purchased a navy coat from Austin Reed last Saturday... well pleased with it!


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## PJC in NoVa (Jan 23, 2005)

The Louche said:


> I know that non-iron gets a lot of guff here - much of it deserved. I decided that I would limit my non-iron shirts to work travel recently. This being said, however, I bought a BB "Luxury" shirt the other day that is a non-iron twill and is very nice. The fit is slimmer than a regular BB, but not as slim as their "Slim-fit". These shirts generally trade for about $105 - $115 at full price. While discounts at BB seem to be much less frequent than CT, they _do_ happen enough to make discounted purchases easy when well-timed. I would consider the BB Luxury shirts a great alternative to the upper-mid range CT; certainly warrants an investigation.
> 
> My 2 cents...
> 
> - The Louche


Actually, the BB Luxury-range shirts now list at $135, up from $108 just a few seasons ago. They are typically labeled as made in the USA (I'm guessing at BB's NC facility) of Italian-woven cotton fabrics. The regular cotton Luxury shirts I liked, but the more recent noniron ones still have the plastickey feeling to me, no doubt b/c the shirts are dunked in a resin to give them their noniron finish. Ugh. Just not my cup of tea.


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## Leather man (Mar 11, 2007)

I have shirts from AR CT and Lewin - my ranking is 

CT
Lewin
AR

Overcoats

AR
CT
Lewin ( I have AR and CT over and rain coats but only seen Lewin)

LM


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## encyclopedia (Jan 3, 2008)

Lewin is always having a sale (this has been disucssed many times).

Having said that as long as u r ok with plastic buttons I think lewin offers the best value in british-style shirts. Not the best or least expensive, but best combination at the low end (vs hk at the high end).


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## Brian D. (Oct 29, 2007)

*I have*

both Lewin, and Tyrwhitt shirts. My one complaint with Lewin, is the shirts are made baggy enough to double as a parachute if needed.


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## Zingari (Jul 9, 2007)

Brian D. said:


> both Lewin, and Tyrwhitt shirts. My one complaint with Lewin, is the shirts are made baggy enough to double as a parachute if needed.


I would rate Lewin last as they are too boxy and short in the body. At least CT are a decent length and make 35" sleeves.

I am surprised how poor Pink is rated now. I have some of their older shirts and found them to be good quality - even when they made detachable collar styles. Pink create the 'illusion' of granduer with their shop design which explains how they get away with charging the excessive prices.

I have several James Meade (UK mail order) shirts - a white that I have worn for over 20 years and it is still as bright as when I bought it. Alas they have dropped 15 x 35 from their catalogue.


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## Bishop of Briggs (Sep 7, 2007)

Pink's Prestige range, made in the UK, is better than Tyrwhitt, Lewin or AR. At £89 a shirt, it should be too.


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## smr (Apr 24, 2005)

Zingari said:


> I would rate Lewin last as they are too boxy and short in the body.


I am 6'4" and have a 16.5" neck, and Lewin's shirts are generously long in my size in the regular fit.


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## NU81 (Jan 29, 2008)

encyclopedia said:


> Lewin is always having a sale (this has been disucssed many times).


I received a Lewin sale catalog in the mail today. I have a problem with what I consider an unnecessarily large shipping charge to the U.S. (£17). I don't understand why it is so much more than others in the same vicinity charge.


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## Rossini (Oct 7, 2007)

Reluctantly, 

1. Pink, 
2. Lewin, 
3. CT, 
4. AR

But it's a bit like asking someone to rearrange the following in the order in which they should be ingested:

1. Arsenic
2. Sulphuric Acid
3. Mercury
4. Tetraethyl Lead (thanks Mr. Midgely)


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## The Family Guy (Aug 23, 2007)

CT slim fit shirts are quite a bit trimmer than their standard shirt, but they aren't as long. This may or may not be a problem depending on how tall you are. I am six feet tall, and they are a bit short.


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## smr (Apr 24, 2005)

NU81 said:


> I received a Lewin sale catalog in the mail today. I have a problem with what I consider an unnecessarily large shipping charge to the U.S. (£17). I don't understand why it is so much more than others in the same vicinity charge.


I'm pretty sure that Harvie and Hudson charges even more than Lewin for shipping to the USA.


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## capitalart (Apr 2, 2007)

smr said:


> I'm pretty sure that Harvie and Hudson charges even more than Lewin for shipping to the USA.


Just went to the Lewin website and notice they were having some specials, for some reason i am having trouble with the website. Can you tell me the approximate time it takes to receive the shirts?


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## Leather man (Mar 11, 2007)

I don't know why Lewin get so much praise on here - often ranked better than CT. They are short in the body compared to CT, the cloth is inferior and they do not have the nice touches like side gussets that CT have. Don't get me wrong, I like my Lewin shirts but no way are they better made or cut than CT shirts, and I'm not saying CT shirts are the best by a long way - just much better quality than Lewin.


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## StickPig (Feb 8, 2008)

Out of curiousity,and the fact I need two more white shirts soon, where does the BB slim fit line fall in this hierarchy?


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## Buffalo (Nov 19, 2003)

StickPig said:


> Out of curiousity,and the fact I need two more white shirts soon, where does the BB slim fit line fall in this hierarchy?


Certainly above [way above in MHO] the hierarchy being discussed here.


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## BAB (Dec 22, 2007)

from this price level, i would certainly recommend Hawes and Curtis. Great fit and great value for money.


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## NU81 (Jan 29, 2008)

StickPig said:


> Out of curiousity,and the fact I need two more white shirts soon, where does the BB slim fit line fall in this hierarchy?


I have a few of the BB slim fit white shirts and I am very pleased with them. I like them better than the Tyrwhitt's I own.


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## smr (Apr 24, 2005)

StickPig said:


> Out of curiousity,and the fact I need two more white shirts soon, where does the BB slim fit line fall in this hierarchy?


If you are looking specifically for slim fit shirts (especially if you also want the non-iron variety, which I don't wear), which I don't think Lewin or Harvie and Hudson make (don't know about Pink), I'd probably go with BB. For non-OCBD's, I would rank Lewin and Harvie, and maybe even Pink, above BB (which outside of the OCBD's has gone downhill over the last decade in my opinion).


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## PJC in NoVa (Jan 23, 2005)

The BB slimfits are very ho-hum, IMO. Their Luxury shirts are much better, and still reasonable if you get 'em on sale.

Lewin does make a noniron range, called Traveller, but it's regular cut.

Of the brands listed to start with, I have no experience of Austin Reed, but I'd rate them:

CT
TML
Pink

CT's plastic buttons (on the nonpremium ranges) are a drawback, but otherwise they're quite good value and I've found they launder and wear very well. I particularly like the way their collars look, and they stay crisp all day.

Lewin's styling and fit I find quite good, but somehow their fabrics don't launder up as well as CT's (I get all my shirts commercially laundered and pressed). The colors and patterns are nice, but the TML cottons don't seem to have as much body or as nice a hand as the modal CT fabrics (to say nothing of H&H, H&K, or T&A fabrics).

Pink isn't really much worse than TML, but they're just so darned overpriced they're a bit of a joke in my mind, really. Paying anything much more than about 33% of list for a Tom Pink shirt is a total sucker move as far as I'm concerned . . . I don't know how they get away with it. Is it the heavy scent in the shops? The toothsome little shopgirls? Joachim Mugatu-style subliminal messages on their website? Or what?


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## smr (Apr 24, 2005)

PJC in NoVa said:


> The BB slimfits are very ho-hum, IMO. Their Luxury shirts are much better, and still reasonable if you get 'em on sale.
> 
> Lewin does make a noniron range, called Traveller, but it's regular cut.
> 
> ...


Does BB have slim fit luxury shirts? I assumed they did when I recommended them. I like the slim fit ocbd's, and my old pinpoint bd's are pretty decent, but I agree about their other shirts.

Funny how many of us who have no bias when it comes to Lewin, Pink and CT have such different experiences with them. For me, when I found fusing in the neckband part of the collar with CT (their 100's fabrics shirts), that was it for me, because it made the shirt less comfortable, and the fabrics I got back in 1999 and 2000 lacked body compared to shirts from Lewin, so I've stuck with Lewin to fill in gaps in my wardrobe. But I guess for others, that fusing may give them a look they desire and of course their basic shirts may have changed in quality. It's just that after my experience from them, I cannot even bring myself to try them again at any price. Also, I'm still satisfied with Lewin given the price I pay for them, although lately, given the number of shirts I've accumulated, I've mainly been buying shirts from H&K (though Saks and Saks Off Fifth).


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## PJC in NoVa (Jan 23, 2005)

BB's Luxury shirts are trimmer than their Classic shirts, but fuller than Slimfit.


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## BAB (Dec 22, 2007)

well, now that i've got my first H&K shirts, i must say that i agree with those who speak of the quality, fabrics and the overall impression. as to the fit, however, i'm sorry to say, but the shirts are far from well-fitting...
pound for pound, i'd rather choose hawes&curtis.. probably made in turkey and probably without MOP buttons, but the fabrics are no worse and the fit is much better.

tell me i am ignorant, but i really feel no urge to pay double for a rather ill-fitting shirt though obviously made in scotland and having MOP buttons.


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## RJman (Nov 11, 2003)

Well, Hildeetch also has a line of slim-fit shirts...


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