In 2015, Proper Cloth became the first menswear brand to offer custom Washed Indigo shirts. Here you’ll find answers to the most common questions we get about them.

A Washed Indigo shirt from our December 2020 collection.

What is Washed Indigo?

Washed indigo shirts go through a unique garment washing process. Starting with raw, indigo-dyed fabrics, they are cut to your custom size and design, then washed in different solutions to achieve the desired final look and feel. This process is extremely time consuming and intensive, which is why it’s usually done by traditional off-the-rack brands that can produce huge numbers of dyed items at a time. We found a way to do it on a smaller scale that allows us to create your custom fit and design with these one-of-a-kind fabrics.

How do Proper Cloth Washed Indigo ‘limited runs’ work?

We typically offer our Washed Indigo shirts year round, however, around 4 times a year for a period of about a week each time, we add special limited edition fabrics and wash options. We encourage customers to get their orders in during the 1-week window, as the fabrics and particular wash options may not be available ever again.

How do I wear a Washed Indigo shirt? Is it casual or formal?

Washed Indigo shirts are decidedly casual. They’re made from fabrics that are heavier than those of your typical business dress shirts, and are often woven for more texture and intentional irregularities that are not generally appropriate for business or formal attire. That doesn’t mean you can’t style your Washed Indigo shirts with tailored pieces, though. We recommend wearing them however you like to do your casual dressing—and the more creative you get, the better. Wear them untucked with chinos, tucked into wool dress pants, with sneakers, loafers, or Chelsea boots, with a tie, over a t-shirt, under a cashmere sweater, with an unstructured sport coat. We like to, and have done, all of these things, and they’re just a few of your options.

How should I design a Washed Indigo shirt?

Because the unique dyeing and washing process they go through is so intensive, our Washed Indigo shirts are available for custom design with soft, unfused style options only. Frankly, we’d recommend only soft details anyway, as the lack of fusing in them plays to the casual nature of the fabrics and gives you the distinctly relaxed look common to Washed Indigo shirts. Click here for inspiration, and remember, you can always customize your shirt designs!

Can I order a Washed Indigo fabric sample?

Due to the unique production process of these fabrics we are unable to provide fabric samples.

When will my Washed Indigo shirt be delivered?

The time from order to delivery is about 4 weeks. We include the date by which you will receive your Washed Indigo shirt on each Washed Indigo fabric page while the run is available.

Where can I see the latest Washed Indigo collection?

Right here.