Deo Veritas cocktail cuff shirt review
thelordflasheart
Posts: 314MI6 Agent
I just received a made-to-measure cocktail cuff shirt from Deo Veritas yesterday, and I thought I should post a review as I don't recall anyone else having done so.
I had seen Deo Veritas listed among several places where you could order a cocktail cuff shirt and then forgot about them. I had thought about ordering from Marks and Spencer but they only have cocktail cuffs on their made to measure shirts, which they won't offer to Canada. I didn't want to order from Anthony Sinclair as I don't like ordering RTW items "blind" when I can't try them on. I tried made-to-measure from Magnoli but the quality of the product and the service was a disaster. Then, I read a review of Deo Veritas on a menswear site and then looked them up again. I found the review from Clothes on Film quite helpful, and with a promo code from another site I thought I'd give them try.
First off, the ordering experience was very smooth. There are the typical options to choose from and their collar selection is surprisingly large. I've had a hard time finding collars that are substantial enough to go with my Tom Ford ties so I ended up ordering their largest collar, a 2 button with 3-1/2" points. I'm not sure of the measurements of the Tom Ford shirts in SPECTRE but it looked to be similar. Once I had placed the order, I sent a message with detailed instructions of the shape of the cocktail cuffs, with photos to go along. I also asked for the collar to be fused but for the cuffs to not be fused, which sounds strange but I thought the cuffs might "flow" back better.
The turnaround time on the website said two weeks so I put a reminder in my calendar to check on my order at that time. When I brought up the website again imagine my surprise to see a phone number I could call! I spoke directly to Vinnie in Chicago and he told me that the shirt was being worked on for two reasons. First, I had ordered it during holidays (d'oh!) so that added time. He also said that they had moved production from China to Turkey. That worried me a bit, but he said that it was easier to ship from that location.
I had notification that they shipped the shirt on Friday and they tried to deliver it on Wednesday (from Turkey and through customs!) but I wasn't home. I signed that they could leave it the next day, and it was there when I got home with no additional duty or charges.
When I opened the bag there was a very sturdy rectangular cardboard box inside. That was a very pleasant surprise. I guess I should have expected it, but my previous cocktail cuff shirt (from a different place) came in a plastic bag inside the envelope. I opened the box and as soon as I tore away the tissue paper (a nice touch) I was gobsmacked. The shirt looked fantastic; and all the plastic forms to hold the collar in shape and pins to hold it in shape were there (not overly pinned like in some stores, but enough to keep it together).
When I put it on I thought - holy cow, this fits like it was made for me! And then I thought...oh, right. The measurements were all spot on. The fabric was thin but good quality - I guess "light" would be a better way to describe it. Great colour and a great fine twill. The cuff shape was exactly what I had specified and the buttons were up high, close to the fold. All the seams were tight and there were no no loose threads.
There were two pleasant surprises as well. I use brass collar stays as the plastic ones that come with shirts these days are so thin and flexible that there may as well not be there; does anyone else remember the stiff, heavy ones that we used to get? Even my shirts by Canali and JP Tilford suffer from this. Anyway, the collar stays were more robust than usual. But the real surprise was that under the collar were "keeper buttons" to hold the collar down. Unlike the ones you sometimes see at the ends of collars (like a button-down without buttoning through holes in the collar) these are recessed back to remain unseen. Loops of stretchy material on the underside of the collar fit around the buttons. To me, that was genius and something I've never seen before.
Now, the not so good. The buttons are sewn directly down onto the fabric; there is no shank made out of thread. I didn't even notice this when buttoning up the front of the shirt, but it made buttoning up the cuffs and using the keeper buttons a little difficult (I emailed Vinnie about this and he said that would be rectified in future). The other thing was that both the collar and the cuffs were fused, when I asked that the cuffs be not. They don't look bad, I just wanted to see how they looked without it.
All in all this was an even better surprise then when I received my suede "Morocco jacket" from Talfa products off of ebay. The quality of this shirt is great, the service fantastic, and all of the little touches are so great that I was willing to overlook the buttons and interfacing issues. And best of all was that I got it for $97 all in (including shipping). Although the next ones will likely be higher (no promo code and I may choose different fabric) I really can't recommend this highly enough.
I had seen Deo Veritas listed among several places where you could order a cocktail cuff shirt and then forgot about them. I had thought about ordering from Marks and Spencer but they only have cocktail cuffs on their made to measure shirts, which they won't offer to Canada. I didn't want to order from Anthony Sinclair as I don't like ordering RTW items "blind" when I can't try them on. I tried made-to-measure from Magnoli but the quality of the product and the service was a disaster. Then, I read a review of Deo Veritas on a menswear site and then looked them up again. I found the review from Clothes on Film quite helpful, and with a promo code from another site I thought I'd give them try.
First off, the ordering experience was very smooth. There are the typical options to choose from and their collar selection is surprisingly large. I've had a hard time finding collars that are substantial enough to go with my Tom Ford ties so I ended up ordering their largest collar, a 2 button with 3-1/2" points. I'm not sure of the measurements of the Tom Ford shirts in SPECTRE but it looked to be similar. Once I had placed the order, I sent a message with detailed instructions of the shape of the cocktail cuffs, with photos to go along. I also asked for the collar to be fused but for the cuffs to not be fused, which sounds strange but I thought the cuffs might "flow" back better.
The turnaround time on the website said two weeks so I put a reminder in my calendar to check on my order at that time. When I brought up the website again imagine my surprise to see a phone number I could call! I spoke directly to Vinnie in Chicago and he told me that the shirt was being worked on for two reasons. First, I had ordered it during holidays (d'oh!) so that added time. He also said that they had moved production from China to Turkey. That worried me a bit, but he said that it was easier to ship from that location.
I had notification that they shipped the shirt on Friday and they tried to deliver it on Wednesday (from Turkey and through customs!) but I wasn't home. I signed that they could leave it the next day, and it was there when I got home with no additional duty or charges.
When I opened the bag there was a very sturdy rectangular cardboard box inside. That was a very pleasant surprise. I guess I should have expected it, but my previous cocktail cuff shirt (from a different place) came in a plastic bag inside the envelope. I opened the box and as soon as I tore away the tissue paper (a nice touch) I was gobsmacked. The shirt looked fantastic; and all the plastic forms to hold the collar in shape and pins to hold it in shape were there (not overly pinned like in some stores, but enough to keep it together).
When I put it on I thought - holy cow, this fits like it was made for me! And then I thought...oh, right. The measurements were all spot on. The fabric was thin but good quality - I guess "light" would be a better way to describe it. Great colour and a great fine twill. The cuff shape was exactly what I had specified and the buttons were up high, close to the fold. All the seams were tight and there were no no loose threads.
There were two pleasant surprises as well. I use brass collar stays as the plastic ones that come with shirts these days are so thin and flexible that there may as well not be there; does anyone else remember the stiff, heavy ones that we used to get? Even my shirts by Canali and JP Tilford suffer from this. Anyway, the collar stays were more robust than usual. But the real surprise was that under the collar were "keeper buttons" to hold the collar down. Unlike the ones you sometimes see at the ends of collars (like a button-down without buttoning through holes in the collar) these are recessed back to remain unseen. Loops of stretchy material on the underside of the collar fit around the buttons. To me, that was genius and something I've never seen before.
Now, the not so good. The buttons are sewn directly down onto the fabric; there is no shank made out of thread. I didn't even notice this when buttoning up the front of the shirt, but it made buttoning up the cuffs and using the keeper buttons a little difficult (I emailed Vinnie about this and he said that would be rectified in future). The other thing was that both the collar and the cuffs were fused, when I asked that the cuffs be not. They don't look bad, I just wanted to see how they looked without it.
All in all this was an even better surprise then when I received my suede "Morocco jacket" from Talfa products off of ebay. The quality of this shirt is great, the service fantastic, and all of the little touches are so great that I was willing to overlook the buttons and interfacing issues. And best of all was that I got it for $97 all in (including shipping). Although the next ones will likely be higher (no promo code and I may choose different fabric) I really can't recommend this highly enough.
Comments
Due in part to this review at Clothes on Film a few years back (http://clothesonfilm.com/deo-veritas-creating-the-james-bond-cocktail-cuff-shirt/33376/), we get a handful of recurring Bond requests -- namely around collar and cuff styles. Couple shots I included below are from another customer that was looking for us to re-create the pinned collar shirt (w/ cocktail cuffs) worn by Craig in Spectre.
KH
https://www.bondsuits.com/connery-shirt-deo-veritas/
I have that replica shirt. It’s great. My favourite shirt this year. Worn it many times. The fabric has softened but in a very nice way. It’s more elegant softer to the touch.
I provided existing shirt measurements for them to copy, so that's what determined the cut. I believe that selecting "tailored" or "slim" only applies if you provide them with body measurements. If you have a well-fitting shirt, it's usually safest to copy that so you know exactly how your shirt will fit.