Some of the finest clothing I’ve found in a long time is made by David Reeves, of David Reeves Bespoke here in New York. Having cut his teeth on Savile Row at famous houses like Gieves & Hawkes and Richard James, David struck out on his own here in NYC, and has been making beautiful things ever since.
Mr. Reeves is probably best known for his finely crafted bespoke suits, but today I’m going to focus on his shirts. Like everything from David Reeves, the thing that distinguishes his shirts from the rest of the pack is attention to detail. The construction is flawless, and he throws in very cool (and labour intensive) flourishes like hand gathering of the sleeves at the cuffs, instead of a traditional pleat. Or, say you happen to order a check pattern shirt…you can count on the patterns lining up flawlessly at every seam, pocket, and cuff. These may seem like little things, but they make a huge difference in how the shirt looks on you. The details are so precise that they’re not something most people will readily see, but they’ll feel them, and that’s true tailoring.
At around $250, a David Reeves shirt isn’t cheap, but it’s not a cheap shirt either, if you know what I mean. For a custom made shirt however, it’s hardly a bad deal. When you consider the quality and craftsmanship involved it seems better still. For the time being if you want to get yourself a David Reeves shirt, you’ve got to make an appt. and see him in NYC. However, starting in a couple of months I’m told they will be offering ready to wear shirts of the same quality through their website.