If you want to give Proper Cloth a try follow the link (Proper Cloth) for 10% off your first purchase.
I’ve always wanted to try out one of the online custom shirt makers. However the process seemed cumbersome and the potential for making expensive mistakes kept me away. It felt easier to simply buy OTR (off the rack) clothing and return what doesn’t work. Fast forward to Proper Cloth reaching out to see if I’d like to try out their shirts.
Back to my fit fears. My biggest fear isn’t making a shirt that doesn’t fit well. My biggest fear is making a shirt that doesn’t fit well and then having to paying for it. My contact over at Proper Cloth pointed out their perfect fit guarantee which is, “If your first shirt isn’t perfect, we’ll remake it—free of charge.”. This guarantee definitely eased my mind a bit.
For sizing I started by using their smart sizes algorithm. I really just wanted to test it out. It was much more accurate than I had expected. They have lots of other ways to measure for shirts including measure a shirt of your own, measure your body, and send us a shirt of yours to measure. I tweaked my smart fit using the measurements of a Michael Spencer OCBD that fits me well. I know how to measure a shirt, but I watched their video tutorials on measuring to make sure I was doing it their way. The videos were short and easy to follow. I was done in under 15 minutes.
My first shirt, true to my moniker was a Light Blue American Pima OCBD. Despite being very close in measurements to the Michael Spencer shirt the fit was a little off. It was tight in the back, shoulder, and arm area. I sent my fit advisor a some pics and he made a couple recommendations. He suggested moving the chest posture back 1″ (this is a standard option in the fit dimensions) and changing the shoulder fit to sloped shoulders due to my physique. He made a few other suggestions, but I was a little concerned that his other ideas would lead to a slimmer shirt than I wanted. I want a fit that is in-between baggy and slim. I’d rather have a shirt that is a little too big instead of a little too small. In addition to the two suggested changes (chest & shoulder) that I detailed above which I will say would have never occurred to me to make I added a quarter inch here and there where it seemed the shirt may have shrunk after washing. I crossed my fingers and sent it off.
When I received the second OCBD the fit was spot on. Now for the details on the shirt. Obviously I went with the soft ivy button down collar. It’s a 3.5″ collar, has a soft interlining, and makes a good roll imho. I chose the soft one button cuff which has the same soft interlining as the collar. I lowered the the top button a 1/2″ to get the 7-button spacing that I was after. I finished it off with a box pleat and locker loop. The result was a classically trad OCBD.
All together I made three shirts. I picked the Light Blue American Pima OCBD, a Burgundy American Pima OCBD, and the Stanton 120s Navy Bengal Stripe Broadcloth shirt. You can see all three below. I will follow up later with a more in-depth review of each shirt. Overall I was very pleased with my experience. My only disappointment is that they don’t have single flap pocket option. I am happy to have my size nailed down. I will be making another shirt at some point for sure. If you want to give Proper Cloth a go follow the link (Proper Cloth) for 10% off your first purchase.
You are branching out beyond OCBDs!