The Proper Blog

If you’re really after the perfect fitting dress shirt, you’ll want to understand how the slope of your shoulders can affect the fit of your shirt.

While this may not be an issue for most men, it’s worth mentioning because it can make a dramatic difference for certain men.

To evaluate your shoulder slope, it’s important that you wear your dress shirt fully buttoned up and stand in your natural/relaxed position. Also, it can be hard to honestly evaluate your shoulder slope by simply looking in the mirror or having someone look at you.  Taking a photo and looking at the photo can sometimes be very helpful.

Sloping Shoulders

Sloping Shoulders are commonly found in men that lift-weights.  Larger trap and shoulder muscles will create a steeper angle from the neck to the end of the shoulder.

Sloping shoulders is not only a symptom of Men’s Fitness types.  Some men are simply shaped this way.

If you’re wearing a dress shirt, fully buttoned up, the poor-fit-symptom of sloping shoulders is the appearance of lines/wrinkles pulling from the top of the shoulders/back of the collar down towards the arm-pits of the shirt.

BTW – this fit problem can also be a symptom of the shirts chest being too tight, or sleeves being too narrow, so you may try relaxing those specs a bit too.

Square Shoulders

Square shoulders are the opposite.  The angle from the neck to the outer edge of the shoulder is closer to horizontal than average.

In our experience, square shoulders are usually found in skinnier guys.

If you’re wearing a dress shirt, fully buttoned up, the poor-fit symptom of square shoulders will be the appearance of lines/wrinkles pulling from the outside of the shoulders down towards the center of the shirt.

If you’re seeing this fit problem, you should also double check that the shirt yoke is not too narrow for your shoulders.

Normal Shoulders

There’s not a whole lot to say about normal shoulders.  Basically, our standard fit fits you just fine.

Your shoulder slope is average and you don’t see any of the poor-fit symptoms mentioned above .

Canclini Tessile is an Italian fabric mill started in Como.  Como is about an hours drive north of Milan.  I’ve never been to Milan, but I hear it’s nice.

Canclini was started in 1925, originially producing silks.  I find it difficult to imagine what life was like back in the 20’s. The internet hadn’t been invented (neither had television).  Hawaii wasn’t even a state.  Women knew how to cook and clean…

In the 60’s, around the time Dustin Hoffman was filming The Graduate, Canclini switched to making cotton instead of silks.  They exported most of these fabrics to France and Germany.

In the 80’s, the world had come a long way.  Major achievements include the mobile phone, the walkman, VHS, Indiana Jones and Michael Jackson. Also during the 80’s, Canclini moved their operations from Como to Guanzate and upgraded their weaving machinery.

Today, Canclini is extremely well known for producing some of the finest quality cotton shirting fabrics in the world, and we’re honored to be able to incorporate some of them into our custom dress shirt line.  Check these out and let us know what you think!

Canclini 100s 2-ply Light Blue Tattersall Broadcloth

Canclini 100s 2-ply Yellow and Brown Tattersall Broadcloth

Canclini 100s 2-ply Blue and Green Windowpane Twill

Canclini 100s 2-ply Blue and Light Blue Windowpane Twill

Canclini 100s 2-ply Green and Purple Multi-stripe Twill

Canclini 100s 2-ply Blue and Purple Windowpane Plaid Broadcloth

Canclini 100s 2-ply Pink and Brown Check Oxford Cloth

Canclini 100s 2-ply Blue Check Oxford Cloth

Canclini 100s 2-ply Blue Glen Plaid Twill

Tessitura Monti, is located about an hour drive North of Venice.  According to the company, “thanks to his experience and foresight” it was founded in 1911 by Giorgio Monti.

(Note to Proper Cloth’s PR department 100 years from now: You officially have permission to use this exact phrase to describe how Proper Cloth was started.)

Today Tessitura Monti produces 20 million metres of fabric a year, distributes its products in over 90 countries and exports about two thirds of its whole production.

Monti has an excellent reputation as producing some of the worlds finest fabrics. And, we’ve finally gotten our hands on some of their classic gingham patterns. These are all 100s x 100s thread count, two-ply broadcloth.  Woven in Italy.  You will feel like a king wearing these.

Monti 100s 2-ply Blue Classic Gingham Broadcloth

Monti 100s 2-ply Pink Classic Gingham Broadcloth

Monti 100s 2-ply Black Classic Gingham Broadcloth

That’s right.

We bought new fabrics.

15 actually.

And they are awesome.

High thread count, perfect for the office, starting from just $129. Update your wardrobe with classic styles made from these premium fabrics. (10% off orders over $500 this month)

First we have American Psycho. Look at that subtle off-white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my god, it even has a watermark. Kidding – no watermark.

American Psycho is made from our new 100 thread count two-ply Egyptian cotton ivory twill imported from Europe. Comes with thick Borelli Mother of Pearl buttons. Buy American Psycho in your size now>>

Next up is 7.6 Billion. Apparently Citi lost it last quarter. We found it. It’s glorious.

7.6 Billion is made from our new 100 thread count, two-ply Egyptian cotton lavender twill. Super shiny and smooth. Beautiful Mother of Pearl buttons. Buy 7.6 Billion in your size now>>

Finally we have Bonus Season. Approximately 17x softer than the bed cots JP Morgan interns are loaned to spend the night at work when it’s snowing outside. Whatever. It’s worth it when bonus season comes around.

Bonus season is made from our new 80 thread count two-ply royal oxford cloth imported from Europe. Mother of Pearl buttons and white contrast collar and cuffs. Buy Bonus Season in your size now>>

All joking aside – for our friends Wall Street, remember, when no one loves you, Proper Cloth loves you. We’re in Tribeca. Come hang out.

Stay Proper.

PS – checkout our fancy new invite system. Refer a friend to Proper Cloth and everybody wins!

We have new printed accents.  Here’s a few designs that use them.

Easy Daisy is one of my favorites. The gray dobbie is wrinkle resistant and has a bit of texture, gray buttons are clean and mean, and dime sized daisies on the collar and cuff will make the ladies smile.

Get Easy Daisy custom fit to your size now>>

Next up is Cleantech. These 4-leaf clovers are etched in gold! Order now to get it before St. Patty’s day…

Get Cleantech custom fit to your size now>>

Finally, if you liked the movie with giant blue cat people then you’ll love Pandora. Made with light blue royal oxford cloth, mother of pearl buttons, and flying cranes, this design is simply beautiful.

Get Pandora custom fit to your size now>>

Don’t see anything you like? Well, we have plenty more to choose from. Put one of these behind your collar and see what happens.

Here are two great gingham button down fitted dress shirts.  This one is called Mc Guinness.  Its made from a soft black gingham twill.

I really like how the black buttons contrast.

One button barrel cuffs are my new favorite. They just work.

Click here to have Mc Guinness custom made in your size>>

This next one is just a bit different, but similar.  It’s called Bedford.

[[Insert cheesy transformers joke here. ]]

Bedford is the name of the subway stop I get off at when I go to Brooklyn.

These button down collar points are a bit longer than the current trend.  I think they look and wear great.

Click here to have Bedford custom made in your size now>>>

What do you think of these pictures?  Of these designs?  Let us know in the comments.

Stay Proper.

This blog does not assume any fashion sense, so I’m going to state something that may be obvious: Tattersall is in style.  If you haven’t noticed yet, you will soon enough as we move into fall and winter.

Introducing the Proper Cloth Black and Red Tattersall dress shirt.  What you are about to witness is shirt-porn.  If you’re not comfortable seeing a naked shirt twisted into unnatural positions, do not scroll down further.

Black and White Reverse Graph Check accents complement the Red and Black Tattersall.

Copied shamelessly from Wikipedia: Tattersall describes a check pattern woven into cloth. The pattern is composed of regularly spaced thin alternating even vertical warp stripes, repeated horizontally in the weft. The stripes are generally darker than the ground. The cloth pattern takes its name from Tattersall’s horse market, which was started in London in 1766. At that market blankets with this checked pattern were used for horses. Today tattersall is a common pattern, often woven in cotton, particularly in flannel, used for shirts or waistcoats.

Handmade in USA by nice Americans.  Last month.

The pattern is Tattersall, but the fabric weave is Broadcloth.  This one in particular is an 80 thread count broadcloth.  Technically it’s 77 threads per inch vertically (warp) and 144 threads horizontally (weft).  Some might call that 144 threads per inch.

Soft fabric that drapes nicely.

“Londoner Collar” is a pretty wide spread

Reinforced side seam gussets.

This is our new two-button mitered cuff.  Not exactly like the virtual preview anymore, but works really well.

Get this Black and Red Tattersall Dress Shirt made in your exact size.

Stay Proper.

Austria.  A truly amazing country.  Nestled in the Alps, it’s the kind of place you dream of when city life becomes overwhelming.  And it’s a beautiful dream…  you’re surrounded by green fields and blue sky, high in the mountains, gently running your hands over the tops of the long grass (like that scene in Gladiator but happier).  You breathe in the crisp, clean air and pause to hear the sounds of a nearby glacial creek gurgling, birds chirping and distant children laughing.  It’s the most amazing feeling of freedom, and just when you didn’t think it could get any better, you see Austrian supermodel Mavie Hörbiger dressed up like a milk-maid picking flowers.  It’s just you and her in the mountains and as you go to say hello, another famous Austrian supermodel shows up…

Yes, Bruno is also from Austria.

Wow, that dream just got weird…

Anyways, Austria is a great country.  And it’s also the location of Getzner, one of the world’s oldest and most renowned fabric mills.  And because Proper Cloth is so on top of things, we’ve added some of Getzner’s extremely desirable fabrics to our offering.  These are all 100 thread count 2-ply fabrics.  The patterns are (according to us at least) beautiful.

correction – this blue and orange stripe is 120 thread count two-ply fabric

They also feel amazing.  Getzner was founded in 1818.  They’ve been making premium shirting fabrics for a long time.  They know what they’re doing and are famous for it.  You want to get shirted this classy.  Start designing now.

Stay Proper.

From the letter box:

Dear Proper Cloth,

I’ve always bought my dress shirts from Brooks Brothers, size 16-34 Slim Fit.  I believe this means my collar size is 16 and my sleeve size is 34.  I’m now thinking of switching to custom tailored dress shirts, so I went to a tailor to be measured.  According to the tailor, my sleeve length should actually be 35.5.  What gives?

Did he mess up and exaggerate the sleeve length or is this just different in some way?

Thanks,

Long Armed in Los Angeles

Dear Long Armed,

Don’t be alarmed.  The proper way to measure your sleeve length is from the center of the back of the neck, over your shoulder and down to the center of the back of your hand.  It’s common for this sleeve length measurement to be longer than you’re used to.   Truth is, you’ve probably been wearing the wrong sleeve length your entire adult life.

Try this – next time you prop your elbows up on the mahogany conference table while contemplatively rubbing your chin and mentally preparing your response to the analyst questioning the ‘employee morale’ expenses you incurred in Greece last quarter, take a moment and note how far up your forearms the cuffs of your shirt have moved.  If you’re not wearing a custom dress shirt this will probably look mildly ridiculous.

You were probably convinced that your shirts fit fine because when your arms are hanging relaxed at your sides, the cuffs come just to your wrist.  It would seem that if you add another inch, they will be too long.  After all, you don’t want your sleeve coming over your hand.

You’re absolutely right that you don’t want the sleeve coming up over your hand.  With custom fitting shirts this doesn’t have to be the case because can specify the correct cuff size.  Most off-the-rack shirts have over-sized cuffs, made to be loose on even the largest wrists.  However, a proper fitting cuff will have a circumference of just 2-2.5 inches more than your wrist’s measurement (to the skin).  A properly fitting cuff will not slide up your hand when your arms are at your sides.  It will hold the cuff in just the right spot at the base of your hand.

Long story short, custom shirt sleeves are usually made a bit longer because they should be.  And with custom, they can be.

Stay Proper.

It’s been a while since our last post. Sorry we lost touch. We’ve just been spending so much time, relaxing in the Hamptons, living our fabulous lives. Ok, not really. We’ve been hustling on a whole lot of new custom shirt stuff and now it’s ready. Here are some highlights:

100 new fabrics

Yes. We’re serious. 100 new ones. It wasn’t easy. Actually, it was really difficult. How difficult you ask? Imagine taking the GMAT, LSAT and Series 7 back to back. Then multiply that level of difficulty by two. Anyway we did it. Now they’re here. Check them out.

For you trendy folks, keep an eye out for the plaid and gingham grid patterns that are popular this summer.

And, yes, there are still more fabrics coming.

“How to measure” videos

If you found our “how to measure” explanations and pictures even the slightest bit cryptic, you’ll be happy to see that we added video explanations of how to measure your body or shirt. Special thanks goes to French Guy Gaetan, Summer Partner Sheezan, and several bottles of Chardonnay for making these videos an informative, yet mildly entertaining success.

More is coming

We’re not even close to being done improving our custom clothing service and are already working on the next round of updates. Expect a growing selection and a continually improved experience. We love (and need) your feedback and new ideas, so keep them coming.

Stay Proper.