The promise of a custom dress shirt sounds straightforward: you provide your measurements, they make the shirt to those measurements, and it fits you correctly. The reality of actually buying custom clothing online — the measurement anxiety, the uncertainty about whether what arrives will match what you ordered, the concern about whether the price premium is justified — is considerably more complicated.
Proper Cloth has been doing this since 2008, which in the direct-to-consumer clothing space is genuinely a long time. Here’s what the experience is actually like.
How the Sizing Process Works
Proper Cloth offers two approaches to getting your measurements right.
The first is their Smart Sizes system, which asks you a series of questions about your body type, how you like shirts to fit, and your experience with specific brands or sizes you’ve worn before. Based on your answers, they recommend a starting size from their range of 300+ options. It’s genuinely good — for most men with reasonably standard proportions, the Smart Size recommendation gets them very close on the first attempt.
The second is custom measurements — entering your actual body measurements directly if you’ve had a shirt made before and know your numbers. This gives the most precise result but requires knowing what you’re doing.
First-time buyers almost always start with Smart Sizes, and the brand recommends this. If the first shirt doesn’t fit quite right, they offer free remakes for first orders if you need adjustments. This policy significantly reduces the risk of the first purchase.
Fabric Selection
This is where Proper Cloth genuinely shines. The fabric library is extensive — hundreds of options spanning end-on-end, poplin, Oxford, twill, chambray, and more, from mills in Italy, England, and elsewhere.
The range covers everything from lightweight summer linen blends to heavier brushed flannels for winter. Within each fabric category the quality range is wide — entry-level fabrics are priced accordingly, and the premium options (Thomas Mason, Albini, Alumo) are noticeably better to the touch and in how they drape.
For a first order, the mid-tier fabrics are the sensible starting point. They’re good quality, they’ll show you what the construction standard looks like, and they don’t require you to commit to top-tier fabric pricing before you know how the brand works.
The fabric swatches page is worth using. Ordering swatches before buying adds a few days to the process but removes the uncertainty about how a specific fabric looks and feels in person.
Construction Quality
The shirts are made in New York City — a fact Proper Cloth is transparent about and which matters for the manufacturing consistency. The stitching is clean, the collar construction is precise, and the details (button quality, button spacing, placket finish) are at a level you’d expect from a custom product rather than a mass-produced one.
The collar interlining is worth mentioning. Proper Cloth uses a fused interlining that keeps its structure through washing better than some higher-end shirts that use a sewn (floating) interlining. Purists prefer floating canvas; most people who wear shirts to work or for regular use find the fused collar holds up better over time.
Buttons are mother of pearl on most fabrics, which is correct for the product tier. They’re sewn on securely and haven’t presented issues in regular wear and washing.
Turnaround Time
From order to delivery, Proper Cloth typically takes three to four weeks. This is not fast fashion timing and requires planning ahead if you need a shirt for a specific event. It’s also not unusually slow for genuine custom manufacturing — three weeks to make a shirt to your measurements is reasonable.
They ship internationally, including to the UK, though buyers outside the US should account for customs considerations on delivery.
Price
Proper Cloth shirts start around $80 for entry-level fabrics and go well above $200 for premium mill options. The mid-range, which is where most buyers land, sits between $110 and $150.
This is more than a high-street shirt and considerably less than bespoke tailoring. The value comparison depends on what you’re currently buying. If you’re spending £80-£100 on off-the-peg shirts that never quite fit right in the shoulders or sleeves, Proper Cloth at $120-$140 is a meaningful improvement for comparable or lower total cost. If you’re buying £40 shirts from M&S that you’re happy with, the premium is harder to justify unless fit is a genuine priority.
The Honest Assessment
Proper Cloth does what it promises. The sizing process is thoughtful, the first-order remake policy removes the financial risk of the initial purchase, and the construction quality is consistent. The fabric selection is genuinely excellent and worth the time spent exploring before ordering.
The people who love Proper Cloth tend to be men for whom shirt fit is a persistent frustration with off-the-peg options — unusual proportions, specific preference for how a shirt should drape, or simply the repeated disappointment of buying a shirt that fits the chest but not the shoulders, or the neck but not the body.
For those people, Proper Cloth is not just good — it’s the solution to a problem that high-street retail has never adequately addressed.
