Turnbull & Asser

A complete farce. Waited 9 months for one shirt after two tries they couldn’t even get a decent fit. When I asked if they could rush a third attempt. They waited a week and then said no… Sad that a shop that prides themselves on custom shirts is completely incapable of doing exactly that.

I have yet to get bespoke shirts but none the less I am treated like royalty when I am here. I have only been in the store three times however both the second and third times the sales person on the second floor remembered me. T&A has a style all it’s own, the unique collars and cuffs provide a look that is clearly british. Their exclusive patterns are often a little too bold for me but I enjoy your their staple fabrics and sea island cotton very much. As with other fine shirts the devil is in the details.
My offerings continue to stand the test of time, a testament to the build quality (stiches per inch) and fabric quality.
Every dapper gentleman should treat himself to the T&A experience.

I have been scouting this place so that I can one day partake in the awesomeness that is Turnbull & Asser. The quality of the fabrics is unreal. The service was top notch even for someone just browsing. I don’t know what some other reviewers were talking about regarding the service. I’ll be back when I can spring for the custom shirts which seem to be the best money can buy.

Pretty much the best shirts money can buy. Come here if you want to look better than anyone else in the room.

I miss the old T&A store. The quality stayed the same while the experience changed. I miss conversing with the proper employees from the UK and going over the details. Now they have American’s who know they are working for someone special, but still do not get the process of their creations. The dark wood has been replaced by paint and basic fixtures. The scraps of paper of people’s sizes and framed portraits of their famous heads of state no longer exist.
With that being said, they still make the BEST ties and BEST shirts. They tie and fit perfectly. Boy, they look good.

Like Barbour, Turnbull is another English institution that is uncompromising and unparalleled in quality. Their royal appointments — though snooty — simply mean they are knighted in a sense. How else does a royal family honor a habadashery? My father bought only turnbull ties in the 70’s. I wear them to this day… timeless style and amazing longevity.

Growing up on the UES, I always passed Turnbull & Asser, but never went in to see their offerings. It wasn’t until now, in my late twenties, and after I moved out of Manhattan, that I started to develop a taste for quintessentially British style. While visiting friends in NYC for New Year’s, I knew that I had to experience their bespoke service. I have measurements that fall out of off the rack range, so bespoke is my only option if I want a proper fit (not just for T&A, but pretty much any tailored clothing as well)
The bespoke manager is amazing. He’s so personable that I immediately felt comfortable with the entire process. I hate stuffy and stuck up service, but this was the exact opposite. He was quick to offer suggestions on how he could accommodate the fact that I live out-​of-​state, since the process requires a sample to be made, and the measurements adjusted if needed. I took home two small fabric books so I could take my time picking out the next five shirts (initial minimum for bespoke is six). During the fitting process, we spoke a lot about our shared horological interests, and he provided a lot of interesting tidbits of information on James Bond.
Overall, the experience was a cut (lame pun intended) far above other shirt makers that I’ve tried. Their prices are obviously high and almost guilt-​engendering (~$ 350-​$ 600 depending on fabric), but considering that you’d pay similar for ready-​to-​wear Ralph Lauren Purple Label (or Lorenzini, maker of RLRP) or similar, I consider T&A to be a much better value.
*UPDATE* I received my sample shirt within a few weeks of ordering. The turnaround time was amazing, and the fit was great. I only had to make a few adjustments, and now I’m looking forward to receiving the rest of the lot. Be warned, though, it took me a few months to actually fly back to New York so that they could assess the fit in person. By that time, a few of their limited-​run fabrics had sold-​out, so, if you are doing bespoke and like some of their T&A patterns, make sure you order them in a timely manner.

I had read about the outstanding quality of the shirts and pajamas from Turnbull & Asser. After reading the reviews on Unilocal I was looking forward to shopping here and treating myself to a pair. We were staying nearby in NYC and I kept saying that I had to shop here. We did a recon (it wasn’t that easy to find) and then went back the next morning. There was someone sitting at a desk /​table when we walked in; I don’t know if he was a security guard or salesperson. For the next 10 — 15 minutes we walked around the store virtually ignored. Finally, I asked where the pajamas were, and was told downstairs. I look through the small selection and admired a ridiculously expensive robe. Okay the quality may be good, but since I couldn’t even get someone to help me… Maybe because I wasn’t in jeans and a t shirt, didn’t look like I slept in my garage last night or who knows? Finally, since we had come all this way, I asked upstairs if someone could help me. The salesman showed me the three or four pairs of pajamas displayed on the shelf, and then answered that was it. Okay, but my concern was that the pajama bottoms were too long. He told me I could take them to a tailor. Um, doesn’t this place have a tailor and make custom shirts? They can’t hem a pair of pajama bottoms? What is this; I began thinking, an even more ridiculously overpriced Banana Republic? They did have a cool hat that was ten times the price of what I ended up paying Paris for one similar. Maybe the quality of the merchandise is great; I’ll never know but at least I saved over a grand thanks to the poor customer service here.

If you are a politician, trust fund baby or simply James Bond, there is no better place to buy your shirt than Turnbull & Asser.
I could wax eloquent about the fabric, the longevity, the superior customer service and the bespoke options. But at the end of it all, as is the case with aging for example, one has to live the experience to know its real advantages and downsides. The only downside with Turnbull is the price — it can be quite a turnoff. But over the lifetime of the shirt, it might compare equal with two from Thomas Pink or two dozen from H&M.
James didn’t choose his watch well, but couldn’t have picked a better shirt.

I’ve never bought a shirt here, but the quality looks fantastic. Service was also terrific. Even though I wasn’t exactly dressed as their usual clientele, (jeans and scrappy t-​shirt) I never felt judged or rushed. The staff was also very helpful with any questions.
The real reason I stopped by the shop was the penthouse floor. An actual Crockett & Jones shop! I’ve been lusting after some Edward Green’s for a bit, but I could never rationalize the cost to actually throw down hard earned cash for these EG beauties. C&J fitted into my budget a lot easier, and the quality is excellent. As with the shirts, the staff at the shoe shop was just as accommodating. I left with 2 pairs of classic brogues for the price of 1 pair of EG’s.
If you are looking for a taste of classic English service and suiting (which NYC is certainly lacking) look no further than here. It’s a bit pricey, but every person deserves a good shirt on their backs.

The highest quality mens shirts. Not cheap but you pay for what you’re getting.

For the love of God! How can Thomas Pink have a higher rating than the best shirt store in the United States? Thomas Pink? The goofy sales-​people (which is I guess a fitting terms because they know nothing about shirts and only about trying to figure out whether you are gonna «drop some cash» on their boring and labor-​farmed-​out shirts) are annoying and useless. The layout is bogus and the quality is good… it’s British, for men, it’s good, yes, well I’ll give them that.
However, comparing Thomas Pink to Turnbull & Asser is like comparing the Hall & Oates to the Beatles! (For you non-​insiders, in the liner notes of H&O’s greatest hits, Darryl Hall freely compares H&O to the Beatles and in fact wonders why everyone else doesn’t see the obvious similarities… Maneater… Yesterday… okay, nevermind). Anyway, the point is…
T&A makes the best shirts in the world, everyone knows that. I guess, though, maybe, if you did, you wouldn’t be reading, so I’ll give a Mellie R. style (inasmuch as my stamina will allow) review:
#1 — Their bespoke service is first rate. This is a service where they measure your upper half thoroughly (with attention to what watches you normally wear so as to not have the annoying situation of the watch not being able to fit easily under the cuff), then send those measurements back home (Jermyn St., London) to make a pattern. At the time of the measuring (or at any point before the pattern has been completed) you can select one favorite from hundreds of fabric/​pattern combos and have a sample made up from the pattern.
The purpose of the sample is to make sure that the thing fits right. They actually care. I had my sample made 3 times before they went into production on my other choices. You can also choose the cuff style (3-​button is their trademark, so it’s a classic choice), pockets, no pockets, collar style, everything. It’s really a fantastic experience. The experience brings me to my next point… the service.
#2 — The Service is Amazing. Yes, there is one guy who is the kind of idiot that thinks working in a fancy store means you are a peer with Donald Trump, Daniel Craig, HRH The Prince of Wales and all their other clients. However, outside of one guy (easily avoided), their service team is the best, most attentive, nicest and coolest there is. If you miss out on Simon, you will be missing out on the T&A experience. He’s the best. He’s smart, he’s interesting and he’s definitely not a snob whatsoever.
#3 — The store. It’s amazing. Some people find it ‘old-​school’, I do too. In the best way. They have a freaking PURPLE VELVET ONESIE worn by Winston Churchill. One more time… Purple. Velvet. Onesie. Worn. By. Winston. Churchill. Everything about it is classic… it’s amazing. It’s also quite good for women too. All their things are beautiful.
One last note, well, two… two last notes… er, three (I feel like the Count… «one last note, no two, no, three last notes, four!)…
a) The ties… amazing. I only get Grenedine ties from T&A. That’s all I’ve got in my tie rack.
b) The first time I was in there, looking pretty punk rock as I did in those days… I walked through and was headed out (we were definitely intimidated). An older gentleman stopped me and my best bud on the way out, looked a little concerned and said, «We didn’t have anything you liked?» With total sincerity. I assured him, no everything is beautiful, I just didn’t have the money… he said, «Yet! You don’t have it yet! But keep coming back whether you’ve got it yet or not, and when you do, we’ll be happy to serve you.» They were, I did.
c) Last note, I promise. When I was 25, I had decided to go back to Community College after being in bands for years and having been a HS drop out. In my first semester I was watching James Bond movies like crazy and all the featurettes on the DVDs. Well, it was around that time I was learning about men’s clothes and trying to get as much info as I could (this was before pretty much everything was on the internet); Anyway, I remember being there, broke, in a $ 370/​month apt, a loser going to a CC, watching this guy, Simon talk about how Turnbull & Asser made James Bond’s shirts and how they did it and everything. I was like… awesome (I didn’t even know custom shirts existed at that point). 7 years later, I was graduating from Yale and getting measured by the same Simon in the DVD. Amazing stuff. T&A rules!

turnbull & asser makes some of the world’s finest shirts, rivaling the best british shirtmakers on london’s famous jermyn st. they are known for their bright colors but their look overall is on the conservative side (i think they’re the official shirtmaker for the prince of wales). their regular shirts are distinguished by the 3-​button cuffs. build quality is excellent — my first T&A shirt was from almost 7 years ago and it still looks great.
now as for the store itself, i must say that i used to think that the service there would be intimidating, given their usual clientele (which i’m definitely not one of them — T&A is an occasional splurge for me). i usually buy my T&A shirts from the nearby bergdorf (also stuffy, but not as much). so i was pleasantly surprised when last week i accompanied my friend’s uncle to buy a shirt from the store, the service was great i ended up buying a shirt for myself! well it was also on sale (cheapest in the store), but nevermind — the salesperson was very accomodating, and took the time to explain their bespoke service to me in detail, even though i made it clear that there was no way i could afford it. he also offered advise on things like collar types, choosing and buying a suit, etc.
definitely go here for awesome shirts + great service.