Proper Cloth Review: Is Custom Shirting Online Worth the Hassle?

For a significant portion of the male population, buying a dress shirt off the rack is an exercise in profound frustration.

If you have an athletic build with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, a standard shirt that fits your chest will balloon around your waist like a parachute. If you buy a “slim fit” shirt to fix the waist, the chest buttons will pull, and the sleeves will be too tight.

Historically, the only solution was to take your $50 department store shirts to a local tailor and pay another $25 to have darts added to the back.

But over the last decade, the “Made-to-Measure” (MTM) online shirting industry has exploded. Companies promise to build a shirt specifically for your exact measurements, entirely over the internet. The undisputed heavyweight champion of this space is a New York-based company called Proper Cloth.

Proper Cloth claims they have cracked the code of online custom sizing. We put their algorithm to the test, ordered three very different shirts, and wore them for a year. Here is our honest, comprehensive review.

1. The Ordering Process (The Smart Size Algorithm)

The biggest hurdle for online MTM clothing is getting the measurements right. If a customer is asked to use a tape measure on their own body, they will inevitably mess it up.

Proper Cloth circumvents this completely with their “Smart Size” algorithm.

You do not need a tape measure. You answer a few simple questions: your height, your weight, your collar size (from a shirt you already own), and a few qualitative questions about your body shape (e.g., “Do you have a prominent stomach?” or “Do you have sloping shoulders?”).

The Result: The algorithm generates a complete profile of 12 distinct measurements (chest width, waist width, sleeve length, yoke, etc.). It is shockingly accurate. I compared the algorithm’s generated measurements against my actual tailor’s measurements, and it was within a quarter of an inch on almost every single dimension.

2. Fabric Selection and Customization Options

Once you have your size profile locked in, you move to the fun part: designing the shirt.

This is where Proper Cloth absolutely obliterates standard off-the-rack retailers. Their fabric library is massive, featuring hundreds of options sourced from the finest mills in Italy and Japan (including Thomas Mason, Albiate, and Canclini).

• The Options: You can choose a heavy, rugged Japanese Oxford cloth for casual wear, a sleek Italian poplin for a tuxedo shirt, or a highly breathable linen-cotton blend for summer.
• The Customization: You control every single detail. You choose the collar style (they offer over 20 styles, from a massive 1930s-style spearpoint collar to a soft, unlined Ivy League button-down). You choose the cuffs, the buttons (genuine mother of pearl is an option), the placket, and whether you want a pocket.

It is a menswear nerd’s absolute dream. You can build exactly the shirt you have in your head.

3. The Fit and the First Remake Guarantee

When my first shirt arrived, I was incredibly anxious to try it on.

The First Fit: It was 90% perfect. The collar, the shoulders, and the chest were immaculate. However, I felt the sleeves were about a half-inch too long, and I wanted a slightly more aggressive taper through the waist.

The “Perfect Fit Guarantee”: This is the safety net that makes Proper Cloth worth the money. If your first shirt is not absolutely perfect, they will remake it for you completely free of charge. You simply log into your account, adjust the specific measurements that are bothering you (e.g., reduce sleeve length by 0.5 inches), and they manufacture a brand new shirt and send it to you. You can keep (or donate) the original shirt.

My remade shirt arrived two weeks later, and it was flawless. It fit better than any shirt I have ever owned in my life. Once this revised size profile is saved in your account, every subsequent shirt you order will fit exactly the same way.

4. Construction Quality

A perfect fit is useless if the shirt falls apart in the wash. Proper Cloth does not cut corners on construction.

• The Stitching: They use single-needle stitching (a more time-consuming, elegant sewing method that prevents the seams from puckering after washing) and a very high stitch density (stitches per inch).
• The Collars: Their collars are masterfully constructed. If you order a soft, unfused button-down collar, it rolls beautifully. If you order a stiff, fused spread collar for corporate wear, it holds its shape perfectly under a heavy silk tie.
• The Details: Gussets at the side seams add durability, and the shanked buttons make them much easier to button up.

5. The Pricing

Custom clothing is an investment, but it is not as expensive as you might think.

Proper Cloth shirts start at around $95 for basic broadcloths and Oxfords, and can climb up to $200+ for ultra-premium Thomas Mason luxury fabrics.

While $95 is more expensive than a $50 Charles Tyrwhitt shirt on sale, you are paying for the bespoke fit. If you buy a $50 shirt and pay a tailor $30 to fix the waist and the sleeves, you are already at $80—and the shirt still won’t fit perfectly in the shoulders or the yoke.

The Final Verdict

Is custom shirting online worth the hassle?

If you are a guy with completely standard proportions who can walk into a department store and pull a perfectly fitting shirt off the rack, then maybe you don’t need Proper Cloth.

But if you struggle at all with fit, if you have an athletic build, or if you simply want access to premium Italian fabrics and customized collars, Proper Cloth is absolutely worth the money.

The initial setup (dialing in your first size profile) requires a small amount of patience. But once you have utilized their free remake guarantee and locked in your perfect measurements, buying dress shirts becomes incredibly easy. You simply log on, pick a fabric, and wait two weeks for a shirt that feels like it was painted onto your body. Highly recommended.