The Science of the Bespoke Shirt I, with Ede & Ravenscroft

Discovering Ede & Ravenscroft's beautiful Chancery Lane store last weekend was a real delight. Meeting with Mr. Roy Sarling, Ede & Ravenscroft's Bespoke Shirting Specialist to order my first bespoke shirt proved even more enjoyable. Having a bespoke shirt made is a similar rite of passage to a first bespoke suit - the level of attention to detail, precise measuring, the thousands of beautiful shirting cloths and superior craftsmanship makes a bespoke shirt a truly wonderful thing to commission and collaborate on with a shirt maker. I haven't experienced such a rush of excitement and anticipation when ordering clothes in quite some time.

In ordering a bespoke shirt I was hoping to create something that wouldn't be available off-the-peg, whilst also resisting the temptation to go for something so outlandish that would become completely impractical. Although overwhelmed by the vast variety of weaves, colours and cloths (it is hard to describe how much more variety is available for bespoke shirts than is offered off-the-peg), I think I managed it. Despite being tempted by a tangerine herringbone, as well as a superfine plain imperial purple and even a turquoise, the eventual choice was something fundamentally more subtle. Dusty coral pink is fast becoming one of my favourite colours for accessories, because its soft, subtle and believe it or not was a hugely popular colour during the early 20s. I originally suspected that finding a coral pink shirting fabric would prove difficult, but I need not have worried.

A superfine two-ply ninety gram cloth, with an extraordinarily fine, silken handle was the eventual choice (the top swatch pictured below). The cloth itself comes from one of the most technologically advanced shirting fabric producers in the world and was out of this world in terms of soft handle and precision of weave. Having had a good look through a number of bespoke shirting bunches for the first time, it has to be said that the quality of cloth available has to be one of the premier advantages of going bespoke when it comes to shirting.

The other great advantage of going bespoke, is the level of expertise and personalisation a shirt maker can bring to a commission. This shirt is littered with lots of little points of personalisation, care of Roy's expert eye. Given that I wanted a long pointed collar, akin to that on a typical spread-collar from the 30s, Roy has deepened the collar and band from that of my off-the-peg shirts to allow for a long, narrow point. A collar tab is also being added to allow for the collar to sit close around a tie knot and button underneath the tie, helping it to lift a little from the neck, sitting proud, just the way I like it to. To match the tab on the shirt collar, the shirt gauntlet buttons are also going to fasten with a tab - a lovely little stylistic touch that was again Roy's suggestion.

The collar itself is going to be fused - this is not traditional but it'll keep the collar looking neat and clean with no puckering when its bent around the tie-knot and tabbed in place; its the modern, innovatory equivalent of a stiff starched collar. Even the collar bone pockets are being made precisely to fit my own collar bones. The front bottom edge of the shirt cuffs are also going to be 'mitred' or cut away in a rounded diagonal shape, to prevent the bottom of the cuffs from wearing thin due to constant contact with a desk - a feature recommended for those who spend a good deal of their day sitting and either typing or writing in the office. The body and sleeves are being cut slim - all judged by Roy's expert eye. It was particularly fascinating to see him pluck at the cloth of the shirt I was wearing all around my chest and arms, to assess the 'depth' of the shirt, so he could decide upon the necessary sleeve and body proportions. Another delightful feature is that Ede & Ravenscroft insist on lining the front of every bespoke shirt with a superfine voile lining, to prevent any skin tone from showing through - a wonderfully thoughtful feature that allows the colour of the shirt the shirt to shine through true.

Roy is a third generation bespoke craftsman, and as you will have gathered by this point, he is something of a shirting maestro. With some thirty five years in the business, twenty one of them with Ede & Ravenscroft, his passion for shirting is infectious, his relationship with his workshop extremely close and his technical understanding is superlative - though he would put it differently. "Its not about what you know, its about what you don't know - in this business you never stop learning". I certainly learned an awful lot from him at the fitting.

Also refreshing, is Ede & Ravenscroft's approach. Roy emphasised to me up-front that the process is slow and careful and that I won't be leaving the shop with the shirt until he is happy with it - a reassuring thing to hear for a first commission. Also refreshing is the fact that Roy, unlike a lot of shirt makers, has no minimum order requirement. It doesn't matter whether customers come in for one shirt or six, its all about providing an old fashioned, uncompromising service. Indeed, the store is imbued with the most illustrious sense of old-world comfort, service and glamour - right down to the excellent selection of gentle jazz standards melodiously serenading in the background. I was highly impressed by the personal, relaxed and generous service in the shop. I say generous because the time and warmth that Roy and his team exude is truly delightful.

The bespoke shirt making service is available exclusively in Chancery Lane, by appointment. Shirts start at £295 and as we have heard, refreshingly there is no minimum order required.

www.edeandravenscroft.com