I have both. My experience with Charles Tyrwhitt shirts has been that after a few washings they have shrunk more in the neck than a Brooks Brothers shirt will. My solution has been to buy the Charles Tyrwitt shirt one half neck size larger than a Brooks Brothers shirt.

 

Within the same price range as Charles Tyrwhitt, Hawes and Curtis do slim-fits shirts as do TM Lewin.

Hawes and Curtis's collars and cuffs are stiff; TM Lewin's are quite soft; Charles and Tyrwhitt sits in between.

Quality wise, I think they are similar, with their own positives and negatives. For the price, though, I guess one cannot complain - or, at least, not too much.

 

+1 on the neck shrinkage issues with Tyrwhitt.

Joel

 

You can't beat the texture and feel of the BB.

 

I have a few Charles Tyrwhitt shirts, and several BB shirts. BB makes a better quality shirt. CT provides some more interesting patterns than BB and the default cuff is French with CT. Finally, I wear slim fit BB, but I've found the slim fit CT shirts too restricting in the back and shoulders.

 

BB makes an extra slim fit. Have you tried those?

 

I've been gone a while, nice to be back. But back on point, I have shirts from both. BB is superior quality and have not had any size or shrinking problems. I agree with the others, CT will shrink. CT seems to have a perpetual sale so buy a few of their mainline shirts and see if you like them.

 

BB vs CT

Both make 'good enough' shirts, but I do think BB's price is a bit high for the shirt quality.

You can get MTM shirts for less than BB.

BB's classic cottons are usually had at 3 for $199 (not including F&F discounts, etc)...but compare that to CT shirts at 4 for $199...with both being of similar quality.

As far as issues, CT shirts are known to shrink a bit, and the sleeve altering ads cost and can also lead to two shirts w/ slightly different sleeve lengths. BB are known to be 'full' in the cut, sometimes more appropriate for a schooner than a person. Also BB shirts in my experience tend to fray and 'fall apart' a bit quicker than many others.

I think value for CT is better, quality between the two is a wash. And as an earlier poster noted above, better options are out there.

 

Thanks for the opinions, the sizing info should help me in picking out some CT shirts to try out.

If any of you have other suggestions of similar shirts or even mtm shirts you think would be good to try I would love to hear about them.

 

I have always had positive experiences with Tyrwhitt shirts. They fit me well, and they are fuss-free.

The only MTM I have tried is JantzenTailor. Sometimes it takes months to receive a shirt from them, but the quality to price ratio is outstanding.

 

I have a few CT shirts they were my first foray into English shirting's and I still get a fair bit of wear out of them. I found that they offer a good range of colours and pattens.

And yes the collar shrinkage is an issue but having lost weight they fit fine. Currently I have been buying Hilditch and Key shirts the collars are softer than the CT and fabric is of better quality but at double the price of CT shirt when on sale.

 

BB makes an extra slim fit. Have you tried those?

I have one of the extra slim fit shirts from BB, I am not impressed with the quality. It is not a non-iron shirt, but the material is not a soft cotton. I recently bought some CT shirts and I like feel of the material, but I need to have them tailored.

 

I have a few CT shirts they were my first foray into English shirting's and I still get a fair bit of wear out of them. I found that they offer a good range of colours and pattens.

And yes the collar shrinkage is an issue but having lost weight they fit fine. Currently I have been buying Hilditch and Key shirts the collars are softer than the CT and fabric is of better quality but at double the price of CT shirt when on sale.

Since I don't put my shirts in the dryer, I haven't experienced any shrinkage in the collars of my CT shirts.

 

I ended up picking up a few of the CT slim fit shirts during a sale the manhattan store - I was very impressed with the array of colors / styles. On the whole I think they are a great fit and the feel is better than BB shirts, especially for the price. The bengal stripe pattern that they offer is also very sharp in a variety of colors.

 

I have to admit I don't own any items from Brooks but I agree with you - the fabric is great! Time to get my hands on one.

 

Thanks for the opinions, the sizing info should help me in picking out some CT shirts to try out.

If any of you have other suggestions of similar shirts or even mtm shirts you think would be good to try I would love to hear about them.

I like the feel of BB shirts, but I've never been able to see an extra slim fit in person. And even if I did, they don't come in the style I want anyway. That said, their slim fit cut is like a tent on me.

I've used a few MTM shirtmakers in the past. ModernTailor used to be pretty cool with their constant sales. However, I've become quickly disillusioned with their quality control. Too many problems for me to continue being a customer with them. Plus, their sales aren't that good anymore anyway.

My current favorite is ProperCloth. They should be a sponsor here, so there should be a banner somewhere. Here's $10 in credit for signing up, if you do order from them. Although it does take a while to receive your shirt, but they're upfront about it.

Other options I've heard good things about are Deo Veritas and Mytailor.

 

BB is a notch above CT, having owned both.
Both blousy in slim fit and tent like in normal fit.
However BB has the advantages of:

- Additional extra slim fit cut as mentioned above
- More choice of collar styles and cuff styles
-Better quality fabrics

 

I've only owned 3 BB shirts, all non-iron slim fit. They weren't very slim and started fraying at the cuffs and and placket faster than I expected (<50 washes). And they feel kinda of plastic-y. I tried out CT and have stayed with them for the last few years. Their shirts are slimmer, cheaper, and last longer.