Here's to you, Mr
Robertson...
Calling all dapper gents. Sure you could pop down to your
local menswear store and scoop up a few new outfits... if you wanted to look
like everyone else in your town. We were looking for something a little more
bespoke, but fearing a creepy tailor might enjoy measuring our inside legs a
bit too much, we introduced ourselves to Mr Robertson. A website that offers
male fashionistas the chance to design their own custom suits and jackets, Mr
Robertson gave us the chance to create a brand spanking new shirt. So we did.
Mr Robertson (www.mr-robertson.co.uk) is a clean, crisp and beautifully
easy to navigate site. Once you create a free account you simply hit the big
button for what you want to create; a suit, a jacket, or a shirt. As we'd been
given a few quid to spend there, like kids in a candy shop, we delved on in to
the shirt section.
Every aspect of the shirt is customizable, beginning with
the fabric (of which there is an impressively diverse selection) and then
moving through onto sleeve length, collar style, pleat, cuffs, buttons etc.
Every time you make an alteration to your developing design, the image on the
site updates in real time, allowing you see your changes as you go. Once you've
selected all the colours and styles that you would like in your garment, you
enter personal details like collar size, fit, etc. To design our shirt took
just five minutes.
There are some nice little tweaks you can make to your shirt
to make it a true individual item - the most interesting of which being the
option to add a monogram. Your initials (or anything, we suppose) can be embroidered
onto the breast pocket or cuff, with a choice of stitching colours available.
As our shirt was being made to fit the boss (The Lord Commander and Editor, AKA
'Spellchecker') we opted for his initials on the cuff - and a splendid and
unique thing it is to behold.
Once the shirt arrived (in lavish packaging including a free
tape measure - YAY!) we opened it up and were immediately impressed. It feels
like a quality product and our chosen material looked just as it did online.
Our Ed popped it on and apparently it fit like a glove - no doubt as a result
of entering his actual measurements (and not just guessing from a choice of M,
L or XL like in most high street shops). The monogram looks neatly stitched,
and the lack of inside neck label (there is a tasteful tag on the underside of
the button seam) eliminates that shop-bought bulge you often get with cheaper men's
shirts.
But what makes the service really special is the fact that
you can create hundreds of different combinations - and it won't cost the earth.
The shirt we made (including P&P) weighed in at £80, with the suits starting
at around £300. That really isn't a lot to pay for a quality outfit made to your
specific measurements, and we get the impression that our Editor will be
wearing his shirt proudly for a great deal of time to come.
Unless he has to enter witness protection and change his
name.
Visit www.mr-robertson.co.uk
