Charles Tyrwhitt was a brand of shirt maker I first came across in the mid 1990s, when they started advertising in The Times, and I remember sending off for a catalogue. Unfortunately my budget back then didn't run to Charles Tyrwhitt shirts - now they form a very substantial part of my wardrobe - and as I travel a lot for business I am always needing business shirts. It was in 2004 that I rediscovered them, this time online under the guise of www.ctshirts.co.uk, when I needed a lot of business shirts.

I have always been somewhat sceptical about buying clothes online - I have had some purchases on Haburi which I have never worn because they just didn't suit me when I put them on. Other shops have claimed to have stock and then conceded they don't - with Charles Tyrwhitt such a fear is allayed. Having a "businessman" figure - i.e. my sizes seem to conform to the most popular, I have to strike whilst the iron is hot if I want to get clothes from their sales - these sizes sell out quickest. On the site you can choose whether you have metric or imperial measurements, enter default collar and chest sizes etc. as well as default monogramming options.

Originally it was also the fact that I was using Mutualpoints and that they were offering cashback that I went for Charles Tyrwhitt - since my orders are usually for several hundred Euro in value, I usually get a handsome mutualpoints reimbursement - e.g. the last order got me the equivalent of GBP 11 back - current they are doing 5% cashback - among the highest cashback rates on mutualpoints of their fashion partners.

Since I started shopping with them their range has expanded massively - they now do suits, ties, casual shirts, casual wear, knitwear, a women's range and have even started doing shoes. There is a more or less continuous sale - there are often reduced items, and the reductions can be very substantial - to give you an idea, I bought a pair of handmade black Chelsea boots - they were reduced to EUR 149 (GBP 100) from EUR 270 (GBP 180) and a crewneck Kashmir jumper was reduced from EUR 249 (GBP 180) to EUR 100 (GBP 67). Their business shirts are usually about GBP 70 when sold at their RRP, but often in the sales you can get them for approx GBP 45.

They also have some wonderful silk ties - I have a quite garish seven colour tie with matching cufflinks which I bought a couple of years back and which I still often wear. I have always been critical about ties - I see far too many anodyne ties with black suits - a tie and cufflinks are therefore my way of trying to express my individualism. Nearly all their shirts can be bought in either a single cuff or a barrel cuff - I always go for the latter.

In addition to their clothing, they also offer tailoring - e.g. you can have sleeves shortened, turn-ups put on suits etc. for a relatively low cost. You can also have monograms put on shirts - something I have yet to do, although may do in the near future - there are lots of monogramming options. The tailoring services and monogramming services of course increase the order time - they say to allow an extra 10 days for such orders.

Their website is easy to use - I have never had any problem with the online shopping options and have always been satisfied with my purchases and have never had to return any of the clothes I bought there. One considerable plus point from my perspective, given that I am based in Austria, where the shipping costs in the past from UK retailers have been close to prohibitive - e.g. a friend of mine once paying EUR 88 postage for cricket shoes, is that the shipping is very cheap because they have a large warehouse in Germany. As a result my latest order has only EUR 6 p&p costs - which I can not fault for one instant!

Delivery usually takes about 5-6 days - usually I have to collect the parcel from the post office at the end of the street - I am going to look into whether I can get the parcels put into the Post 24 facility - that way they will not try to delivery at home and then only have the parcel available for collection at the post office the next day, but I will get an SMS to tell me to pick up my parcel. Payment on the website can be done using Switch/Maestro, Visa, Delta, MasterCard or Amex cards - there are also offline ordering possibilities - by phone or by post (for the latter you can pay by cheque also). Once you have shopped online with them you are put on their mailing list - you get relatively frequent mails and seasonal catalogues, although it is possible to opt-out from this if you want.

All in all I find Tyrwhitt hard to fault - admittedly their prices are still higher than many people can afford, but their Jermyn Street quality is at less than Jermyn Street prices, which makes them a popular option for me. I am also happy to say that a lot of Austrians have liked the Tyrwhitt clothes I have bought and have starting buying from them - it is good to see that they are exporting well!