Step up your black tie game with these avant-garde dress shirts
With their new Evening Shirt Collection, Turnbull & Asser are championing this oft-overlooked garment
Words: Jonathan Wells
The evening shirt has a hard time of things. Often playing second fiddle to a bold tuxedo or dominant dinner jacket, it’s a garment that usually buttons up, shuts up and just does its job.
But Turnbull & Asser, Royal Warrant shirtmakers and masters of detail, have decided to champion these oft-overlooked fixtures of formalwear — and have just introduced The Evening Shirt Collection. With a focus on craftsmanship and attention to detail, these are no ordinary shirts — and here’s why.
They are inspired by bespoke orders from history
From Winston Churchill and Charlie Chaplin, to Pablo Picasso and Laurence Olivier, Turnbull & Asser have dressed some of the most eminent and influential gentlemen in history. For their latest collection, the Jermyn Street shirtmakers have looked back at old bespoke orders from customers for inspiration.
Tailored Fit Navy Silk Evening Shirt, £325
Cream Silk Ruffle Front Shirt, £425
From the paper patterns to imagery of famous clientele past and present, the Evening Shirts Collection has taken the best in silhouette, fabric and detailing to create a set of uniquely impressive shirts — all in an elegantly tailored fit.
They are crafted using the highest-quality fabrics
And the attention to detail doesn’t end there. Each piece brings an element of individuality and refined confidence to the typical dress shirt — and in a range of bold fabrics you may not expect from a dress shirt.
The bib-front shirt, for example, comes in a blackwatch tartan made from soft-brushed cotton — but also a West Indian Sea Island Cotton or Sea Island Quality Cotton. Other pieces are available in cream silk, herringbone cloth and silk cloth.
They are limited edition — making them collector’s items
If the designs alone — from a white dress shirt, reinvented with a 70s-style long point collar and lightweight lining, to a monochrome striped grandad collar shirt — weren’t enough to make these shirts exclusive, then the news that only a limited number of shirts will be available in each style surely is.
Stripe Evening Shirt with Grandad Collar, £265
Tailored Fit Evening Shirt, £305
Individually hand-made in Turnbull & Asser’s Gloucester shirt factory by skilled craftspeople, these intricate, detailed shirts — which are typically only available in bespoke — make these attainable works of art. And, much to our delight, they’re finally giving the dress shirt the recognition it deserves.
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