• The “Lean” size, is now “Slim”. So, if you were a Short/Lean, Average/Lean or Tall/Lean — you’re now a Short/Slim, Average/Slim, Tall/Slim, respectively.
• The “Broad” size, is now “Athletic”. Similarly, if you were a Short/Broad, Average/Broad or Tall/Broad — you’re now a Short/Athletic, Average/Athletic, and Tall/Athletic, respectively.

Oh — if you’re a “Skinny”, nothing changes. But you already knew that (a fantastic read, from a customer of ours)

Our fit chart includes these changes.

So why’d we do it? Two reasons for this change:

1) Familiarity of the terms

• Most guys are familiar with the terms “Slim” and “Athletic”, given their inclusion in the sizing of a few mass brands. Also, technically speaking, “Athletic” is more spot on for its fit — broad shoulders, and a bigger drop from chest to waist. If you have shape through you upper-body that resembles a “V”, chances are you’re this size. Given the terms are used more frequently, they fare better in the world of SEO/search marketing. This is important for us as we continue to grow the company through our primary channel — our website.

2) to make room for a new size (pun intended!)

• The second reason is because we’re expanding our line (another pun!) to include a broader size than (the-previously-known-as) broad. These guys are still have shape through the body (and thus difficulty finding shirts that fit), but they’re just… how do I say…big dudes. Like football player big. If you’re in this category, stay tuned, we’re going to be rolling out this size in the coming months.

Next time you’re on our site shopping, you’ll notice these changes reflected in the size drop down box on each product page, like below.

We all love Friday evenings. And what other way to celebrate the last day of work than by rocking our new Vanderbilt shirt. This shirt is the easiest way to add color to your wardrobe. Purple? Why not, everyone is doing it. The difference is the tartan check fabric – unique for this colorway.

Add a tie or a v-neck pullover and throw a sportcoat over it, and voila! You will no longer be confused as a defense contractor. [For the non-Washingtonians that are reading this, let's just say DC has an unfortunate uniform: blue ill-fitting shirt, and black pleated pants -- defense contractor "chic"].

The Vanderbilt carries the Hugh & Crye cutaway collar, contrast gussets, and convertible cuffs – giving you the ability to throw in cuff links and wear tucked-in or more casually un-tucked with sleeves rolled up. Dress it up or down! A hallmark of the H&C dress shirts

Try pairing Vanderbilt with:

•      A Navy blue blazer, sportcoat, or even raincoat (see picture below)
•      Grey plimsoles (canvas upper, rubber bottom — casual cool)
•      Dark fitted or slim jeans
•      A watch with a black (or dark colored) band

Finally, grab a glass of wine or bubbly and toast your new look!

-Francisco G.

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Another look with the Vanderbilt, from our tumblr (Making Hugh & Crye):

If you followed us on our recent sourcing trip, you’ll know that we traveled to 9 cities, across 3 countries, working our way to better relationships with our fabric and trim suppliers, as well as our manufacturers (ha!). We’re back in DC now, and excited to reconnect with all of you.

It was a pretty amazing trip – we saw our shirts undergoing production, prototyped a few new collar styles, OD’d on fabric for shirts, accessories, and jackets… and managed to have some fun too.

As you know, we started this shirt company a little over 2 years back, and we started small… out of a 10×10 subleased office in Georgetown. Thanks to you, our volume has ramped up significantly, and though most of our customers remain in the Washington, DC-metro area, we now have dapper guys wearing H&C in nearly every state, and in many countries outside of the good ‘ol U.S.

Why am I telling you this?

Well, operating at larger volumes – be it the procurement of raw materials, or a finished product – gives us the ability to buy in bulk, thus reducing our overall cost of goods. This makes perfect sense, right? During our trip, we were able to negotiate lower costs. WIN.

Something you might not know is how 2011 was a horrific year for cotton prices. Since all of our shirts are 100% cotton, you can imagine how delighted we were to see prices come back down closer to earth, and we hope they stay there. WIN, numero dos.

..

Today, we’re launching 10 new shirts, in our very popular H&C cutaway collar. Per usual, these shirts have two back-darts, contrast gussets, and convertible cuffs (they can be buttoned or worn with links). Fabrics include checks of all sorts, even a few tartans. Given we were able to produce these at a lower cost than usual, we’re introducing them to you at a lower price point.

We’re introducing these at $65.
That’s right.
Same awesome fabric, same construction, same details.

As you’ve figured out, the costs of goods can fluctuate due to a variety of reasons. I’d like to think that most brands that experience savings, pass it on to their customers. There are as many approaches to pricing as there are apparel brands in the market. And if you follow this sort of thing, you’ll know that there is an ongoing debate on how brands price. I’d be foolish to say there is a right and wrong – each brand owner has their own reasons for what goes into the price of a finished garment. I will say this — whenever, and wherever we can, we’re committed to bringing you a competitive price, without sacrificing fabric quality, construction, or of course, design.

One more note on price — for obvious reasons, we can’t commit to the $65 price point for future collections, but well, here it is for these 10. We hope you enjoy them. Please do get in touch with any questions or thoughts – pv@hughandcrye.com.

Pranav Vora
Founder/CEO
Hugh & Crye

If you were hoping for new shirts, don’t worry! We’ll be releasing them very soon. For now, we’re excited to launch our new collection of skinny ties – eleven 2″ ties that are university inspired.

Seven of ‘em are in classic collegiate stripes, but in interesting color combinations not found at any ivy or state school. We kind of like the notion of an anonymous university.

Two ties are repp inspired, by the classic repp stripe style that everyone has come to love, in purple/black and black/orange colorways.

On our recent fabric and garment sourcing trip abroad, Phil and I took some time to reflect on the year past, and the feedback we’ve received from all of you. We were reminded by what a few fantastic customers told us - Take a vacation, you’ve earned it. We’re happy to report we did, and in style.

You’ll also be happy to know that we’ve taken your product, website and operations feedback to heart as well, and we’ll be sharing improvements and things-to-expect-from-us very soon.

We also thought of a simple way to thank all of you for your support, and I’m happy to introduce it today: Thank You Thursdays

Every Thursday at Noon EST, starting today, we’ll gift a lucky customer on our Facebook page with a little H&C happiness. We’ll post what the gift is, and all you have to do is “like” it, comment on it, or share it. Nothing else required. Free stuff, basically, because we like you.

So check back on Facebook in a few hours, and good luck!

– Hugh & Crye

Of course, his wife looks beautiful too! As she grew up in Hawaii, Jesse was blessed by his father-in-law with a maile lei.

Congratulations to you and your wife, Jesse! Thank you for choosing us for your wedding, we really are grateful.

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Looking good fellas! And lucky you to have Ilona in your lives!

Thanks for sharing Al!

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