Bespoke Drawers - Not In Any Stores

I like to match my boxers to my shirts.  It's just a thing I do. Call David Mercer for details. Not about my boxers but about his boxers.  

Mercer Shirt Giveaway

The secret Good Bye


Windsor White 140's: $155



White Oxford Straight Collar: $107.50



Blue University Stripe: $115



Red Bengal Stripe in broadcloth: $115



Blue & White Stripe #598: $115




Gold & White stripe #241 in Broadcloth: $115



Blue Black Tattersall #988 in Broadcloth: $115



James Bond 4mm Broadcloth Tattersall: $115



Highland Pima Cotton Broadcloth: $117.50

Congratulations to dukeandduke29 for winning the Mercer Shirt Giveaway. duke identified the hidden message, "good bye" in David Letterman's argyle sweater. Good eye. This was the last issue of M (11/1992) and my subscription was replaced by GQ until expiration in August.

Above are some of my favorite Mercer shirts from the Mercer web site. While the shirt isn't custom, you can customize your shirt with plenty of options here. That includes a trimmer cut, pocket options, button options...In short, you, as the customer, get to design your own shirt at a fair price.

Mercer shirts are not cheap but they are a great value. They stay true to their size after numerous washings. The oxford is the beefiest I've found. The unlined button down collar has the best roll out there and you'll have a wonderful time dealing with the company and David. Which reminds me of another contest.

David Letterman & David Mercer Giveaway

You'll have to work for this one. Somewhere on the above David Letterman "M" cover is a clue to the future of the magazine. According to a staff member at the time, it was secretly added by an employee of the art department.

The first reader to correctly identify the hidden clue by commenting wins a $130 Mercer shirt courtesy of another great Dave -- David Mercer -- One of the nicest guys you'll ever have the pleasure of talking to and stealing shirts from. However, you want a collar button, pocket flap, pop-over or some other whiz bang treatment -- You'll have to cough that up on your own.

You have until this Friday (7 September 2012) at 9:00AM EST. Relatives of John Tinseth, M Magazine staff (then and today), powerHouse Publishing employees and legal residents of California are prohibited from playing.

A Shirt for Both of You: Mercer & Sons

Flagler College, St Augustine, FL, 1983

That's M.E. up there in her dorm room 27 years ago. I'd like to make it clear this was a self portrait. If I were in the room that can would not be Diet Pepsi. M.E. wasn't shy about picking through my college closet and here she's modeling a hand made linen shirt issued to me by the National Park Service for living-history events at Castillo de San Marcos. I still have it, and after 27 years the linen feels like melted butter on Wonder Bread.


The Mercer Roll

Women have longed shopped the boy's department for shirts. Cheaper than a blouse, better made, more fabric, and half the cost at the dry cleaners. What's not to like? David Mercer and I were talking about how women are hosed when it comes to, 'tapered', 'no-iron', 'over-priced' shirt options. And I said, "I don't think anything looks sexier than a woman in a man's shirt."


'Your favorite shirt is on the bed...' Haircut 100

So when you order your husband's shirt -- remember, its yours as well. It's too late to order for Christmas, but in my family of slackers we always celebrated Three Kings. A perfect holiday for the forgetful, lazy and overwhelmed since it arrives on January 6th. It's sort of the last chance to get Christmas right. (Trad Three Kings Story)


Who knows...maybe the shirt you order will last 27 years.

My Boxer Story Part II

The single best ad campaign for boxers without Seams (from apostrophe...9)

The Duke of Windsor's Boxers - Can't see any Seams


The point of comfort

Boxers with a seam - Uncomfortable and very British

Sunspel makes good looking boxers -- but with seams


Derek Rose also makes boxers with seams -- why are men in the UK so unhappy?


Tied boxers from Brooks Brothers - No Seams.

Even the Italians - No Seams -- Loerenzo Uomo boxers - Now made in China


Saks house brand and made in Italy - No Seams - Still available for $28.50


Luxe, John Nordstrom boxers discontinued in 2003 - - Two pair left and No Seams


Regular Nordstrom boxers - - No Seams - Still available for $18.00


Brooks Brothers Makers -- No longer made and No Seams

If you've never worn seamless boxers then the odds are pretty good you have a Morning Suit. That is, you're from the UK. The US invented the boxer (circa 1927) but they didn't get to the UK until 1947. I assume they were far too comfortable. But English underwear manufacturers fixed that. They created boxers with two seams running the length of the back panel.

This panel seam is a fatal shot to Sunspel's beautiful and expensive (40 pounds) Liberty print boxer made in Turkey. The Sunspel white boxer is a more affordable 20 pounds but those seams are just as deadly. Imagine, walking around with two pieces of string hanging down from the waistband to the crotch and you have a pretty good idea of what these things are like.

These Derek Rose boxers also have seams. Is this is an English phenomenon? Derek Rose, now made in the Czech Republic, sells their boxers in Saks Fifth Avenue for $40 a pair. Little steep considering Saks house brand boxer sells for $28.50 and is made in Italy. It's also seamless.

College girls in the '80s were fond of stealing boyfriend's boxers and sewing velcro closures to the fly. Patch tartan and madras were usually in their sights. It was also popular for men to allow a little boxer to peek out from the legs of their shorts. Some called it 'peacocking' although I'm not sure why.

Here in NYC, the options for boxers have dried up considerably in the last 10 or so years. Brooks Brothers no longer offers anything made in the US although they do offer a German made Golden Fleece boxer for $80. Hanro, which was made in Switzerland, and is now made in Portugal, retail for $70 a pair. These options are the provenance of fur sink money.

I haven't tried shirtmaker David Mercer's boxers yet. Knowing David, I'm guessing they're built pretty tough. He's using shirt fabric and I have no issue with that. At $25 a pair they can be stolen here. I was once described by a relation as someone who would spend his last $50 on a pair of silk monogrammed boxers. To which I replied, "Hunter green with a red monogram." But silk boxers aren't what they used to be and neither is that relation.

Cold Comfort

David Mercer's Bold Multi Plaid 763 & J. Press Shaggy Dog

Was moving to Chicago when a buddy from New York asked if I had "Chicago" gloves. I pull a pair of B-squared outta my pocket. He looks. Shakes his head, "Those aren't gonna cut it." It took one Chicago winter for me to figure that out. But I swear - (holy shit it's cold) - New York has turned into Chicago.

A sadistic wind blows cross town and walking west for five minutes reminds me of my first Slurpee brain freeze. Eyes tear up and ears sting. I cross streets against red lights and when cars honk I give them my best, "You have heat. I have the right of way."

The problem with Chicago winters is they go on forever. In March you still have snow up to your pipik. I don't know how many times I froze my ass off at the Cub's opener. Early May could be rain and 37 degrees. Then it's June and 100 degrees. Seems to me New York is doing a helluva impersonation. Only problem is we don't have Daley here. Our mayor lives in Bermuda.

Winter depression can be overcome with caution (never listen to the wind chill) and an optimistic color wheel. This is no time for Joseph Abboud's earth shades. That stuff'll have you jumping off a building. You need bold color just so everyone knows you're laughing. You're actually crying 'cause the wind is ripping your forehead off but they'll all think your laughing. That or you're a circus clown.

Mercer & Son's Buffalo Bill Gingham

"Our shirts really do have character where other shirts look like they're made by robots. If it looks perfect, it really has no style. Art not science. " David Mercer

"Being as small as we are, often we're doing one shirt at a time. We have always been focused on quality first and value second." DM

"We were 5-6 weeks and are 7-8 at moment. -hope to cut that back to 5-6." The wait

"Dried Blood Gingham."

Same Mercer roll as the button down

Best to stay outta PJ Clarke's

Perfect button holes

Broad cloth, surcingle & canvas

Understanding the history-

if for no else...

...than you.

I reckon I've tried a half dozen MTM shirt makers in the last couple of years with varying success. I have developed an eye for a well made shirt and my rule is, "The simpler the better." If Mercer & Sons aren't MTM - they should be. Left arm half inch shorter than your right? Mercer will take care of it. Don't want a pocket but do want a locker loop. Mercer will take care of it. Each shirt is cut for you after you order so nothing is off the shelf.

David Mercer and I worked on this shirt together. I wanted a dark burgundy-over sized gingham and no one had the fabric. A lotta folks said, "No problem, we can get that." And when it came time to get -- they couldn't. This happens a lot in the MTM shirt biz. For whatever reason the swatch in the book is not supported by yardage at the plant. It's frustrating.

I'll never know how David found this fabric but my "Dried Blood Gingham" was perfect for what I had in mind. David did talk me into a plain collar for what he calls, "the Buffalo Bill." My first plain collar will not be the last.

It's softer and more comfortable than the button down. It's not lined and unbuttoned it's very relaxed looking with a perfect roll. There's no matching sleeve to yoke patterns but that's easily overlooked by just how damned well this thing is put together.

There's a lotta mass produced crap out there with bespoke details like split yoke, double/ triple button cuffs and contrast button hole stitching but they come in M, L and XL along with goods of questionable origins. It's amazing what some folks are getting away with. I paid $135 for mine but David is offering you the Buffalo Bill for $102 and free shipping.

That ain't bad at all for what probably are the best, non-MTM-but-better-than-MTM-shirts out there. Go here for details and the secret order code.

Blind Oxford Tasting: No. 1

$95 (1st time customer $88.75) available from Mercer & Sons - Shirt #1

Collar: Unlined 3 7/16" collar with full roll and large tie space.
Body: Single needle stitching with one piece yoke. 24 1/2" wide x 29 1/2" long on 15-4.
Sleeves/Cuffs: Single needle except cuff with 9" wide sleeve and one cuff button.
Pocket: 5" with 'V' stitch.

G. Bruce Boyer (15 1/2 - 2)
"Very good cloth, nice rich color, but would be better with a slightly tighter weave."

The Goods-
Color: A
Weave: B
Hand: A
Weight: A
Quality: A

Robert Bryan (15-4)
"Crude button holes. Much too wide body. Very nice color - bit deeper blue. Neck small."

The Goods-
Color: A
Weave: B
Hand: B
Weight: B
Quality: B

Mercer makes the only ready-made unlined collar. Judges agreed on the perfect oxford blue which has amazing depth to it. While Bryan was put off by the wide body and crude button hole stitching...Boyer rated it Most Traditional, Best Overall and Best Value adding, "It's simply the best shirt, at any price."

Off My Back: Mercer & Sons

Brook's Brothers Catalog - Christmas 1983

Mercer & Sons - Young Putz Designers Need Not Apply

The 80's Weave

Soft is key

Unlined Collar

When I started working for Brook's Brothers sometime in the mid-80's, I had only been a customer since the early 80's. There were few stores and since my father wore an army uniform to work every day... Well, lets put it this way, there was no passing down of the Golden Fleece.

As an employee of Brooks, I had plenty of their button down oxfords. And without getting too sentimental, they are today only a whisper thin cotton strand of what they once were. This decline, according to many including long time Brook's employee, Tom Davis, started shortly after I became a customer. The unlined collar became lined because someone at Brooks thought it 'looked better' according to Tom.

Mercer & Sons went to work in 1982 to correct the changes being made to the Brook's oxford and they do the shirt better than anyone I've come across. Not that I've stopped looking. The shirt weighs in at a thumping 13 ounces. And the weave is a dead ringer for the old Brooks oxford. The collar is perfect. Unlined and easy in appearance. That was the whole point of the collar before some git at Brooks decided it needed to be lined. Most likely a Californian.

The shirt's made in Maine. Score 1 point. The shirt's authentic to it's history and hasn't been screwed with by some putz designer. Score 2 points. The quality of the manufacture is top of class. Score 3 points. The shirt is not a good value. Score 0 points. Three outta four ain't bad. These are expensive. $90 and up. But they're the best out there and compared to what some designers are getting, $150 and up, they may indeed qualify as a damn good value.