What we’re wearing…Shirts by David Reeves

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One of the great decisions (and good investments) a man can make in life is to dress himself in good clothing. By good, I don’t necessarily mean a well known name or a huge price tag. I mean well thought out, well cut, well constructed. By this logic, a perfectly tailored suit, a high quality boot, and a really good pair of jeans all fit neatly into the same category. You want to steer away yourself away from the idea of “fancy”, and concentrate on “fine”. Finely made things look good and last. Which means they make you look good. For a long time. That’s a good deal.
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.

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…Gathered cuff detail
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…Signature bias cut and split yoke
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…Everything lined up the way it should be
David Reeves pulls all of this off with the help of another fellow named Dave, who runs the factory in Manchester UK where all the shirts are made. Mr. Reeves is very proud of the fact that his shirts are made in this small factory in Manchester, and of the work they do there. He was kind enough to share some photos of the shirt construction process…
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…Dave in the Manchester factory
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…Laying out the pattern
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…Cutting the cloth

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.