Am I being a cheapskate?

thecolourbox

For thinking that collar shirts for work should be findable for around £10? The ones dotted about the usual places seem to be nearer £20 and the only difference between them an a £6 Primark one is a fancy set of buttons? Finding loads under £25 that are quite see through as well

rlw

You are being a cheapskate.

A decent poplin cotton shirt suitable for work is going to cost at least £60, more for a bit of quality.

An Oxford cotton will maybe be £50 for a very average shirt.

£10.00.  What are you on?

Dalefty

Christ all mighty, damn right you're being a cheapskate, if you got any tighter nuns would be jealous and asking you to sign up to the sister hood.  Do you also hang out the bog roll to dry after you use it just so you can use it again?

DaLefty

lloyd

rlw said:

You are being a cheapskate.

A decent poplin cotton shirt suitable for work is going to cost at least £60, more for a bit of quality.

An Oxford cotton will maybe be £50 for a very average shirt.

£10.00.  What are you on?

£60 for a work shirt? Fook that. If you are looking for something half decent then have a look around the suit places in your local area-they generally have sales on for a bundle of shirts 5 for £120 which are pretty good.

Maynehead

I get all my work shirts from TM Lewin, they do a 4 for £100 deal most of the time and the shirts use really good quality material and last for ages. Plus they are the best fitting shirts I have ever tried.

thecolourbox

So on a one week washing drying cycle, I need ten work shirts, at £60 a pop? Two or three month wear out turnaround, jesus ive been massively under budget for the last five years

I look smarter than many in my office, in fact get compliments on shirts i do wear, most of which are sub £15!!!

BigMonka

thecolourbox said:

So on a one week washing drying cycle, I need ten work shirts, at £60 a pop? Two or three month wear out turnaround, jesus ive been massively under budget for the last five years

I look smarter than many in my office, in fact get compliments on shirts i do wear, most of which are sub £15!!!

What do you do to your shirts that wear them out in 2-3months?!

I've got some cheap but decent quality ones from Next before (in the sale or at the Next outlet shop)

lloyd

Next is good for work gear, always some kind of sale on too. 

2/3 months? You must have acid sweat! I can get a year out of my shirts,,,,

bobblehat

Yes  £10 is tight and you'll just end up buying more of them.

I get my everyday work shirts from M&S usually their performance non iron/easy iron range about £30 each. I have a few more expensive shirts that I wear if I am out for lunch or for particularly important clients/meetings.    

wayneirie

Try uniqlo about 20 quid, nice cut and fit.

thecolourbox

Ok two to three months may be a bit excessive but they don't last forever, just seems a crazy amount to spend on going to work. Charles Terwitt-Terwoo are my ideal shirt of choice, TM Lewin don't fit me very well and aren't my style, likewise with Next. I bought a white shirt from Next for a gatsby themed party with a collar pin, it was so see through you could see nipples!!

thecolourbox

Also staff in TM Lewin Birmingham are particularly rude, as are Slaters just over the road, they refused to return an unopened (by me anyway) packet shirt that had scuff marks on the collar haha

thecolourbox

wayneirie said:

Try uniqlo about 20 quid, nice cut and fit.

I shall have a gander tomorrow, thanks

Sassafras

Or get another job that has a more relaxed dress code: T shirts and jeans.

GuitarMonkey

thecolourbox said:

Ok two to three months may be a bit excessive but they don't last forever, just seems a crazy amount to spend on going to work. Charles Terwitt-Terwoo are my ideal shirt of choice, TM Lewin don't fit me very well and aren't my style, likewise with Next. I bought a white shirt from Next for a gatsby themed party with a collar pin, it was so see through you could see nipples!!

TM Lewin don't fit me either, too skimpy on length.

Charles Tyrwhitt are good as are Uniqlo where most of my shirts come from these days.

frankus

thecolourbox;37456" said:

Am I being a cheapskate?

Are you paying for my advice?

thecolourbox

Thanks all for the realisation that I am indeed a skinflint haha do appreciate the suggestions of places, though I will have to rule some out for various reasons, have bought from some places expecting a better quality of shirt (ie Moss Bros, Next, M&S) and have found them no better than the ones I've been able to get around the £10-15 mark when I've shopped around.

I do have that age old (I think) problem of sizing, in that I am a 15.5" neck, but shirts with that size of collar fits only at the collar and shoulders, then hangs like a tent of the ridiculously skinny rest-of-torso area. I have the same problem with jeans, a 29 waist but have to buy 32 size trousers to fit the leg. I think this might be where the scrubber nature comes from as I always find that regardless of price or supposed quality of shirt, they still don't fit well.

The urgency today stemmed from having forgotten my overnight bag this morning, but was also looking for two or three anyway that people can buy me for my birthday next week, but I am rethinking that now haha

LoFi

thecolourbox said:

I do have that age old (I think) problem of sizing, in that I am a 15.5" neck, but shirts with that size of collar fits only at the collar and shoulders, then hangs like a tent of the ridiculously skinny rest-of-torso area. 

Try Hawes and Curtis slim fit. Those on here that remember me might laugh at the idea (although I am a bit slimmer than I used to be), as I'm a pretty big chap, but found that most shirts that fitted around my neck and chest ballooned around my waist, and I have to bunch them up to tuck them in, till I tried on the above. Don't think I've bought a shirt by anyone else in about 3 years, and they're normally around the same price as most of the Jermyn St lot (3 for £90 or similar).

thecolourbox

LoFi said:

thecolourbox said:

I do have that age old (I think) problem of sizing, in that I am a 15.5" neck, but shirts with that size of collar fits only at the collar and shoulders, then hangs like a tent of the ridiculously skinny rest-of-torso area. 

Try Hawes and Curtis slim fit. Those on here that remember me might laugh at the idea (although I am a bit slimmer than I used to be), as I'm a pretty big chap, but found that most shirts that fitted around my neck and chest ballooned around my waist, and I have to bunch them up to tuck them in, till I tried on the above. Don't think I've bought a shirt by anyone else in about 3 years, and they're normally around the same price as most of the Jermyn St lot (3 for £90 or similar).

I'll give them a try as they seem to have a sale on at the mo patterned ones ton their website aren't my thing particularly but I'm sure their plain ones should be good. There's one in Brum though it's not immediately obvious where the menswear is in there, I think there must be a downstairs!

TinLip

Maynehead said:

I get all my work shirts from TM Lewin, they do a 4 for £100 deal most of the time and the shirts use really good quality material and last for ages. Plus they are the best fitting shirts I have ever tried.

Them or Charles Tyrwhitt. 5 for £100 and they last for years.

scrumhalf

Charles Tyrwhitt are very good, a little stiff in the collar at times but they last. If you can wear one of these out in 2-3 months I'd ask why you needed to wear formal shirts when clearly handling copious quantities of industrial acids.

A friend who runs a laundry service made me swear never to buy another TM Lewin shirt as their collars were so poor.

I used to work near Thomas Pink in Sloane Square and would load up on shirts in the sale, hands gown the best quality shirts I have ever owned, and so comfortable. Mine lasted for years, and that was including about 100 ,minutes of rush-hour tube-travel every day which can stuff up the best of shirts.

Too many M&S shirts are non-iron, which reminds me too much of nylon shirts from 40-odd years ago, Now I know how boil-in-the-bag rice feels. M&S also missed a trick by the lack of flexibility they offer compared to the likes of Tyrwhitt in their cuff/sleeve length options.