TECH REPORT | John Brandon

Ordering Shirts Online

We’ve tested three custom shirt tailoring websites to determine how good they really are.

 

Daniel Horowitz

Custom dress shirt websites appeal to busy professionals by letting them design their own shirts online, then input specific body measurements for a more tailored fit. How good is the final product? We tested three popular services to find out.

Proper Cloth

Proper Cloth offers a selection of 137 fabrics, along with several collar, cuff, and pocket styles, three fit options, and special accents and monograms. The service sends out free fabric samples and a measuring tape, which you can use to take your measurements before entering them online. We liked the fabric and overall look of our test shirt, which was stitched in the U.S. with Egyptian cotton cloth in blue and white gingham. But the traditional fit was less flattering than that of the other shirts we ordered.
COST: $99 and up

Blank Label

A hipper option, Blank Label offers a selection of 40 fabrics and trendy touches such as shoulder epaulets and pockets with flaps. We weren't blown away by our test shirt's lavender 100 percent cotton fabric. But the fit was great, thanks to Blank Label's thorough sizing process, which lets you select your build type -- skinny, chunky, built, or normal -- and enter your measurements. The shirts are stitched in China and ship in three to four weeks.
COST: $45 and up

J. Hilburn

Unlike Blank Label and Proper Cloth, J. Hilburn has more than 500 style advisers across the country who can come to your office, measure you, and help you pick from a selection of 250 fabrics before you place an order online, at no extra charge. As a result, our test shirt fit perfectly around the arms and neck, with a flattering, tapered waist. Made of gray Egyptian cotton fabric with contrasting black interiors on the cuffs and collar, it was the sharpest-looking shirt in our test group. The shirts are stitched in China and ship in two weeks.
COST: $79 and up

John Brandon is a contributing editor at Inc. magazine and writes the Tech Trends column in every issue. He also writes the Tech Report column for Inc.com. @jmbrandonbb