I want to have tailored shirts

February 20, 2008 8:21 AM

I want tailored shirts. Where can I find a good tailor?

I currently live in Kansas, but would be willing to make a trip out to one of the coasts if needed. I have a few questions:

1. How much can I expect to pay?
2. How long do the shirts last?
3. Is it worth it to have a local seamstress make them for me?

I saw this thread about tailored clothes, but that one didn't have enough shirt specific info

posted by reenum to clothing, beauty, & fashion (11 comments total)

Raja Fashions tour the US.
posted by fire&wings at 8:29 AM on February 20, 2008

the best shirts in world, entirely sewn by hand, are made by Finollo, in Genova; I'd be surprised if they didn't tour New York, you can call them, they do speak English. a shirt will set you back about 450 euros, the first order should typically be a batch of ten.
posted by matteo at 8:43 AM on February 20, 2008

I use mytailor.com for shirts. They also travel around the US for fittings and they bring a huge selection of sample fabrics for you to choose from.

1. Shirt prices depend on the material you select, $50-$175 is the range listed on their website.

2. I haven't worn any of their shirts out. My oldest are about a year old.

3. Don't know, never had shirts made locally.

The Mytailor guys are great and I highly recommend them. I'm 6' tall and have a 14" neck and was tired of ill-fitting shirts. I won't go back to store-bought shirts.

I'm happy to answer any questions you have about the process.
posted by spindling at 8:49 AM on February 20, 2008

This Forbes article will give you an idea of what to expect when getting measured, and what sort of fabrics are available. As for where to get it, I don't think anyone does it better (so I've heard) than Turnbull & Asser, which has locations in Beverly Hills and New York City.
posted by cerebus19 at 8:49 AM on February 20, 2008

What do you mean by "tailored shirts?" Do you want to take the shirts you already have and have them tailored to better fit you? Or do you want to have custom shirts, where shirts are made to fit your measurements exactly (and you also get to choose every aspect of the shirt to your liking?) Or do you just want dress shirts? The references I find to this term on the internet include all of those things.

Anyway, I think that you are asking about custom dress shirts. As long as you live in a town or city of reasonable size, I am sure that you can find a good local tailor to make you some custom shirts. I would definitely have someone local and not some touring or mail-order company do them. You will probably pay around $80 per shirt minimum (maybe lower if you live in a low cost area). The prices will go up from there depending on quality of material and complexity of what you want done with the shirts. Paying $600/shirt or using some company from NY may be nice, but it's definitely not necessary to get high-quality, custom-fit shirts.

They should last a long time, probably longer than off-the-rack shirts, but that depends on proper care and good workmanship, and even more so on how much you wear them.

FWIW, I had a hard time getting over the initial price, compared to decent-quality regular dress shirts, but now I love them and wear my custom shirts much more than my other shirts. If you have measurements which are all at different from the standard measurements, you will probably think that they are great.
posted by iknowizbirfmark at 8:57 AM on February 20, 2008

the best shirts in world, entirely sewn by hand, are made by Finollo, in Genova.

I think that Anna Matuozzo and Mimmo Siviglia might disagree with you, matteo. And an America-firster would claim that this guy is the best. He's one of the loudest, at least.

Anyway, (ignoring minimum orders) you can get a:

decent made-to-measure shirt from Land's End for $60
decent made-to-measure shirt (and a professional measurement in a neighboring state) from MyTailor (above)
a very good made-to-measure shirt from Carl Goldman (you must go to New York) for $100.

Aside from this look at Paris, Jantzen, Geneva, etc. Go here to learn about those custom or made-to-measure programmes.
posted by Kwantsar at 9:26 AM on February 20, 2008

Mattuozzo is very good but the style is too Neapolitan, not everybody's cup of tea, unless flashy is what you're looking for. Siviglia is solidly second rate, like post-Al Fayed Turnbull & Asser. the world's top shirtmakers when it comes to quality, beauty and understatement are Finollo and Charvet.
posted by matteo at 10:15 AM on February 20, 2008

I suggest you try the Ask Andy forums. There are likely a ton of threads about such things.
posted by dzot at 10:18 AM on February 20, 2008

@iknoizbirfmark,

I originally meant shirts created by the tailor. However, if anyone here has had success in getting off the rack shirts tailored to fit, I'd be interested in that as well.
posted by reenum at 10:39 AM on February 20, 2008

I second Mytailor, as spindling says. My husband has had shirts made by them (gorgeous!) and we are having some made for my son as a graduation gift. The guy travels all over the U.S..
posted by 6:1 at 11:04 AM on February 20, 2008

Matteo: Mimmo Siviglia like Al Fayed Turnbull? My boy, you don't really know what you're talking about, now, do you? Siviglia is the finest shirt maker in the world. I should know, I'm a customer, as well as a past customer of Turnbull and Charvet. Have a look at a little part of his backround and be more careful next time you opine on a topic about which you know nothing--
http://www.filmnoirbuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2668
posted by Lynch at 1:50 PM on March 3, 2008