I Ordered a Custom Shirt From Proper Cloth and Here’s What Happened

Dress shirts have always been problematic for me. I'm a six-foot-four guy with long arms and a long torso. I also like my shirts to fit slim, making it nearly impossible to find shirts that not only fit my body type, but look good, too.

After another frustrating shopping trip with my girlfriend, she mentioned I should try to get my dress shirts custom-made since nothing in stores ever seems to fit. My first thought was that it would be way too expensive to get all my dress shirts made to order, but then I remembered seeing something recently on Facebook about Proper Cloth and how their custom shirts start at only $85. I also have a few friends who love going into the Proper Cloth showroom in SoHo to order shirts for work, so I thought, why not? I'll give it a try.

Finding My Smart Size

I was worried about having to take my own measurements (I don't even own a soft tape measure) and assumed figuring them out would take a really long time. So when I saw that Proper Cloth uses their own technology called Smart Sizes to customize sizing, I was super relieved.

Figuring out my Smart Size was fast and easy. It took less than five minutes total. All I had to do was answer a few questions about my size, body type, and and the way I like my clothes to fit. When I didn't know the answer to certain questions, like my sleeve length, I could just skip it and move on, no problem.

Figuring out my Smart Size was fast and easy. It took less than five minutes total.

At the end of the Smart Size questions, I created a Proper Cloth account and my calculated smart size dimensions were revealed. Then came the fun part — picking out a shirt.

Ordering My Shirt

After finishing Smart Size, Proper Cloth immediately takes you to a page where you can browse some of their favorite shirts. I liked those styles, but I was determined to find a solid lavender shirt to go with a new blazer I just bought, so I clicked through to browse more shirts at the bottom of the page.

I was blown away by Proper Cloth's wide selection. You can filter down shirt selections by everything from color and pattern to fabric style and price. I'm a big fan of wrinkle resistant shirts, so I ended up choosing the Bowery Lavender Wrinkle-Resistant Pinpoint Shirt. For only $95, it seemed like a great deal, especially if it fit perfectly, the way Proper Cloth promised it would.

It seemed like a great deal, especially if it fit perfectly, the way Proper Cloth promised it would.

Proper Cloth also gives you the option to customize the design of your shirt. I didn't alter my selection, but thought it was really cool that you could choose different collar styles, cuffs, buttons, and even yokes, depending on what you like. While some selections like adding a white contrast collar are an upcharge, most of the customizations don't cost anything extra.

Placing my order for the shirt was also a smooth, easy process. They gave me an estimated delivery date — roughly two weeks from the time of purchase — and sent me two confirmation emails. The first email outlined my order details and provided a link where I could make changes to the shirt if necessary. The second email notified me that my order would be finalized in two hours, so if I needed to make any additional changes I should do so now.

First Impressions

My shirt arrived via DHL a little less than two weeks after I ordered it. I opened the package and was immediately impressed by how the shirt was nicely pinned and folded in tissue paper with my order form tucked neatly in a thank-you envelope.

The color of the shirt was exactly what I expected — a solid light lavender. While the fabric was a little bit thicker than I expected (probably due to the wrinkle resistance), it still felt much more high-quality than my other dress shirts and I was excited to try it on.

The Fit

Proper Cloth nailed it on both sleeve length and shirt length — the two areas in which I typically have a hard time finding the right fit. The shirt was long enough to tuck into pants comfortably without feeling like it was going to get pulled out after a few hours of moving around. The sleeves were also long enough that I could comfortably wear a jacket over the shirt and not have to settle for rolling up sleeves like I usually do.

Proper Cloth nailed it on both sleeve length and shirt length — the two areas in which I typically have a hard time finding the right fit.

The only thing I wasn't 100% sure about was the fit through my midsection and arms. The shirt felt a little baggy in those areas and because I like my clothing to fit slim, I knew I would want to get the shirt altered to fit closer to my body and look a little more sleek.

Incredible Customer Service

I received a response from a stylist named Jonah within 24 hours. He offered a number of suggestions and advice for how we could alter the shirt for a better fit. After noticing the watch in my photos, Jonah even asked if I normally wear one on my left wrist so that we could adjust for a watch allowance on the cuffs. I was impressed by his attention to detail and trusted that they would be able to accurately alter or remake my shirt.

Typically, making online returns is a total pain, not to mention returns involving custom-made clothing. But because of Proper Cloth's Perfect Fit Guarantee, exchanging your shirt for a better-fitting option is super easy and straightforward. As I was going through the return process, I never had to contact customer service because everything was spelled out so simply on their website. That said, Proper Cloth made sure to reiterate that if I ever needed to chat with someone, they were always available to help out and talk through the process over the phone.

Conclusion

I received my new shirt in the mail two weeks later and was excited to try it on. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was shocked when I put the new shirt on and it truly fit me like a glove. It was sleek, tailored, and honestly, looked better on me than any other shirt I have in my closet, if I do say so myself.

Overall, I would highly recommend Proper Cloth to anyone who is sick of shopping the racks for ill-fitting, overpriced shirts and is ready to level up their wardrobe. My new Proper Cloth shirt is not only high quality and stylish, but it fits me perfectly, too. Plus, I got it for a reasonable price that didn't induce immediate buyer's remorse.

I'll definitely be ordering from Proper Cloth again and am looking forward to slowly revamp my closet with better fitting shirts.