We sent one of our shirts to Andrew Norman, Operations Manager at Rockingham Castle. As the shirts are a new addition to Schöffel Countrywear this season, we were interested to hear what he thought. See below for Andrew's comments:

"I have to confess that, generally, I give little thought to choosing new clothes; I play it safe and stick to what I know. Then, out of the blue, there is a reason to pay attention.

The Schöffel shirt looked great in its crisp packaging. The striking blue trim on the inner collar and cuffs were first to catch my eye. As i removed the wrapping I noted the small bag containing a spare set of collar stiffeners and, surprisingly, a beautiful pair of silk knot cuff links. Wonderfully useful to have a spare set of stiffeners, and although the shirt has button cuffs you can never have too many pairs of cuff links.

The cotton is wonderfully soft, and very comfortable to wear. Great thought has been given to the buttons or, more specifically, to their shape. The slim and slightly domed shape makes the buttoning process so easy. The cut of the shirt is 'slim style,' but with plenty of length for tucking in. The slim fit is a major step forward in country shirts - shirt makers in general tend to assume that if you have a large collar size, your waist must likewise be generously proportioned. Crucially, there is also plenty of room for movement across the shoulders, making it a practical shirt for shooting.

I half suspected that, post the first wash, the very soft fabric might lose some of its quality, but not a bit of it. It was every bit as comfortable second time out as it was on the first. I am sure that Schöffel set out to produce a high quality and hard-wearing shirt; they have certainly succeeded with the high quality. When it comes to durability time alone will tell, but my shirt has got off to a great start.

With Best Wishes,

Andrew"

Andrew Norman

Operations Manager

Rockingham Castle

Please visit www.rockinghamcastle.com