Shirts, like people, come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Charles Tyrwhitt also offers a range of collar and cuff styles, as well as three formal shirt fits in any number of fabric weaves. Here is our guide to them all.
It's all about the fit
Classic fit
Our classic fit is generously cut across the shoulders, chest, waist and hips, with long tails that stay tucked in.
Slim fit
This is our standard, regular fit and suits most shapes and sizes. It is more trim at the waist for a neat shape.
Extra slim fit
Our sleekest cut fits more closely to the body with extra back darts for a more modern look. This makes for a very smart shirt and a smooth tailored silhouette.
Fabric
Choosing the right fabric can depend on your style and how warm you require the shirt to be. We use nothing but pure cotton in our men’s shirts because it’s dressier than coarser fabrics, the colour is more defined and it feels the most comfortable against the skin. We offer shirts in various different weaves.
Poplin
The the original Jermyn Street fabric, poplin is formal, crisp and clean. It is a light weave that allows for maximum breathability and softness. All our shirts have a poplin weave unless otherwise stated. If choosing a shirt fabric is all a bit of a minefield, I suggest that poplin is your safest bet.
Pinpoint
I tend to wear a pinpoint shirt in cooler weather. It is a denser weave with a subtle basketweave effect that produces a heavier and warmer fabric than poplin. It is also incredibly soft to the touch and is favoured for its durability.
End-on-end
This weave has the same simple construction as poplin but with a lighter colour woven through to create a subtle two tone or ‘chambray’ effect.
Textured weave shirts
Textured weaves like herringbone and twill are a little heavier in weight than poplin and are particularly popular in cooler months. Those gents who despise ironing should take note; this fabric is very easy to iron.
Sea Island quality 140s
I find I receive more compliments when I wear a Sea Island quality shirt which may have more to do with the shirt’s subtle silky sheen than my sparkling smile. This fabric contains 140 stitches per inch and the cotton has particularly long and fine fibres. It produces a light and breathable shirt with a silky finish.
Superfine 180s
Shirting fabric at its finest – the 180s yarn is beautifully light, soft and silky which makes it incredibly fine and comfortable. It is perfect for the discerning man who will only wear the very best.
Collar
It’s amazing how much a difference your collar style can make to your overall appearance. We offer five collar styles – choose one to primarily suit your face shape, and the occasion.
Classic
The classic collar is a fail-safe collar style for formal occasions and is particularly flattering for larger faces. It works well with a four in hand tie knot.
Cutaway
Also known as a spread collar, this traditional English collar has slightly wider collar points and suits narrower, longer faces. It suits the half - and full Windsor tie knots very well indeed.
Black Label
The most contemporary collar style we offer, the collars of our Black Label shirts are designed to look good with or without a tie.
Business-casual
The collar of our business-casual shirts sit somewhere between our classic and Black Label collars and is perfect for smart-casual dress codes. It looks great with or without a tie.
Button-down
A casual collar designed to be worn with or without a tie. This is our most relaxed collar style for more casual occasions and is characterised by a button fastening to stop those pesky flyaway collars.
Quality
Look at one of our shirts closely and you’ll notice every stitch, weave and seam is flawless because we use only highly skilled craftsman – and the finest materials - to make them.
Fabric
We turn our noses up at any nasty man-made fibres and use only the finest, purest cotton that is made up of extra long fibres, also known as long staple cotton. The cotton threads are made of two strands rather than one to ensure the shirt is strong and durable, hence the term ’two-fold cotton’.
Collars and cuffs
All our shirts have crisp collars which will frame your face well. We’ll even send you a free pair of collar stiffeners with every formal shirt so they will stay that way. Shirt cuffs – which should end four and a half inches from the end of your thumb – are pristine so they’ll look smart under your jacket sleeve. We offer a choice of single (button) cuffs, or double (cufflink) cuffs with many of our shirts.
Stitching
We use twin-needle stitching to hold our shirts together because it is tough and ensures the stitches will move with the fabric. Voilà a more comfortable shirt that will last for years. What’s more, our shirt buttons are lock-stitched so they won’t fall off.
Other details
Our shirts feature details you would normally find in bespoke shirts. For example, you’ll find our classic shirts have extra long tails at the back which won’t become easily untucked from your trousers. Our shirts also feature a split yoke, when the back panel below the collar is ‘split’ with a seam. This ensures the shirt will hang better and move more easily and comfortably.
