The Irish, it has to be said, will probably never win prizes for being the best-dressed people in Europe. I think I can say that fairly, coming from the neighbouring country where, these days, the same is certainly true. (To my mind, it is obvious who the runaway winners are…)

To be fair, when in Ireland I tend to head out to the rural west, and it is a good while since I was in central Dublin where a more urbane disposition might perhaps be expected. But as with many aspects of Ireland in the quarter-century that I have been visiting regularly, things have moved apace.

So I hope that the owner of Vestiti will not take affront at the above comments, for he is doing a good bit to bring more elegance to not only his homeland but also the rest of these islands. No surprise, though, that through his wife’s family, Jon Carmody has connections in the Italian clothing industry, and he has been able to source excellent quality shirts for his e-business and his one current connected shop outlet in Dublin.

I happened on Vestiti shirts purely through its social media presence, and it was immediately clear to me that here was excellent tailoring at a reasonable price: hardly cheap but certainly nowhere near the figures being asked for comparable items by the big Italian names. The high thread count is there, as is excellent stitching, and give-away details such as generous tails and the lowest buttonhole being placed horizontally as an anchor.

What’s more, Jon has been able to adapt the cut of his shirts to suit his home market, away from the ultra-slim offerings that have dominated in recent years – but which are of no use whatsoever to those of us who are not ourselves of an ultra-slim cut. But the cutaway collars, which for me are the epitome of Italian shirt style, are still there.

In a sense, I regret the need of those of us who live and dress in other countries to refer back to the “one true source” of really great modern clothing; it ought to be possible for others to develop their own styles too. There have, of course, been designers from other countries, including Britain and Ireland. But I suppose the Italian benchmark is so well established that it is inevitable that that is where we will look, and in my opinion (being just back from Italy) even today, nobody does it better. That said, it is good to see a small entrepreneur taking the inspiration and offering it more widely – and I have remarked before that, for all its negative impacts, e-commerce does allow one to support worthy small businesses without requiring geographical proximity.

Jon’s business still seems to be developing; his prices have crept up in recent months, but for the quality, they are still competitive.The shirts come well-presented, as one would expect for a high-quality item.

I will close by saying that I have no personal stake in Vestiti; I just so happen to have been one of Jon’s early customers, have had several excellent items from him, and a degree of subsequent correspondence following my feedback. However I am happy to do what I can to support wider knowledge of an excellent small supplier. Having just retired, it might seem I have no great need any longer for “work” shirts. But, as Jon agreed, there are only good and bad shirts, so I shall continue wearing these good ones, even if not in the workplace!

Disclosure: Jon has offered me an ongoing price reduction for personal use, and he is happy to offer a similar 15% reduction for first purchases made as a result of this review.  

The Vestiti website can be found here and the following discount code may be used: SPREZZATURA

This image from Vestiti website.