Hemrajani Shirt Review by a Novice

Since the board has provided very valuable information I thought I would share some comments/reviews on the 4 hemrajani shirts I recently received and assist other "novices".

ORDERING

I was measured by Joe H. during one of his nyc hotel visits. He is pretty much a gracious and courteous fellow. He took about 10 measurements and was somewhat helpful with fabric selection. Very good selection of patterns brought along a specific Italian shirting fabric to match and he was not able to or too busy to best match it. "its close, next". I had to go through all of the books myself to approximate the material. Problem as I see it as there are too many scheduled meetings before and after my appt. All in all nice but too rushed. Grade C+

FIT

Interestingly, the fit of one of the three of my shirts is different then the others. The first three were spot on and I mean GOOD. I don’t own any bespoke or AK, or CEGO but way better then any mtm ive worn, including T & A, Battastoni, Pink etc. Shoulders were almost perfect and JH even remembered to make the watch cuff a bit larger. Top to bottom and sleeve length was good. Collars were good and after two washings have not shrunk. GRADE B

The last shirt --a nice blue herringbone-- was not close. The biceps arm area is too large and the sleeves are too long. I suspect this shirt was made differently in time or person because this shirt has built in collar stays as opposed to the others which contained the removable stays I requested. Grade D

COLLARS

I requested that JH copy a turnbull type collar. I did not get that but a decent medium height classic spread. It works.

More importantly, is the question of feel. Overall the collars have a cardboardy feel which I have not experienced in any rtw shirt of any quality. This may be the quality or nature of the "interlining" but I leave it to the experts. In sum, I don’t like the feel of these collars. It’s weird and hard to describe but as this is subjective to some degree others may find them fine. In contrast, the Cuffs have a very thin type feel, although they seem to hold there shape thus far. Grade C-

I also requested one button down collar. This collar is sad . Period. There is no roll whatsoever, and it looks like a simple classic old style collar with two buttons at the end as an afterthought. Anyone with any thoughts about ordering a button down from JH should skip it. It has no style and looks funny Grade D


Construction and Quality.

Overall I have a somewhat nagging feeling about these shirts which I can’t put my finger on. It’s not that that look "cheap" but there is a slightly chintzy overall feel. The button down disaster that I spoke about earlier also puckered and picked along the shoulder line. I will give it one more good hand press (Hallak, NYC) before I rendering final judgment and request a refund. Similarly , the herringbone waivers a bit down the front on the button line and is starting to concern me....

I am not qualified yet to opine on the "single needle tailoring" and/or the amount of stitches per inch. This is better left to the experts. However, the stichwork to this layman looks very clean and neat. Straight lines and discreet.

The metal collar stays are a nice touch, and the fabrics are definitely good to very good. The patterns matches very well which I understand is point of quality for most. There is no split yoke but again this seems not to be a mandatory reference point for quality. The shirts stay tucked in a feel great. The fit makes them among the most comfortable shirts I have worn. I feel good when I where them - e.g. unconstricted.

Buttons are very skinny. im not sure of the composition but they look to be above average quality although not on the MOP level of the isia, and battastoni I have worn. One or two have already chipped at the cleaners and they appear to be way too thin. They do have a nice luster to them however. Future orders must specificy thicker buttons.

OVERALL

the bottom line, if any cares, is would I order again. Im not sure. The $20 surcharge per shirt is a bit weird. I wonder if they ship all the shirts to California--where they are mailed from-- in bulk and then charge each customer?

Right now at this moment id probably save the extra 50-75 and go to cego for the next order. But this is a decent shirt with good customer service. If rtw fits well you could do better. For example the carlo franco shirt i ordered is way ahead in feel, overall construction, etc.