Custom made shirts?

Hey guys, I remember reading about a few places in vietnam and similar that offer made to order shirts and wanted to inquire about if they are worth while? The issue is I have quite wide shoulders compared to my waist and I have yet to find a shirt that fits my shoulders but is not extremely loose around my waist. The only shirts I have found to fit my waist reasonably well are far too narrow for my shoulders and I can't even button the chest up, I am of slim athletic build with low body fat % with reasonable muscle mass. I hate shirts being baggy/ruffled around my waist so am looking for a way to fix it. Most shirts that fit my shoulders and chest well I can easily take off 4" or more from the waist before it fits well. I am relatively new to dressing well/going for a good fit etc but am trying to really pick up my game. I've considered seeing if an alteration place would be able to undo the side seems and take out a wedge each side front and back to pull the waist in but I am unsure how that will end up looking. Sorry if this has already been covered, if so could you please direct me to the thread. Also any tips on measuring for custom made shirts would be great, I will have to purchase one of those vinal/cloth measuring tapes. Thanks, David

radicaldog I was under the impression darts only bring in the mid section, the few shirts I do have that fit to an ok level have darts but I was under the impression they had little to do with the waist fit. Richdog I actually was thinking about getting measured by a good tailor but wasn't sure if they offer just measuring for a fee to get items made else where, it does seem like the best option to get a good fit off the bat rather than going through a number of trial shirts, cost isn't an issue here as much as time. Thanks for the modern tailor link, seems to be a pretty well put together website and at least in Australia the prices are lower than even very average ORT shirts. Do you know how many swatches you get in the swatch book? I will probably order the 'starter kit' as it will give me an idea of some of the fabrics as well as 3x$10 cupons which I assume can only be used singularly but still pays for itself. I will call some tailors this week and see if any will measure me up and go from there. How do you tell good fabric? I'm guessing higher thread count is usually a good thing - seems to be with bed linen at least. The single button cut away seems to be a decent looking collar. Is there a thread on here showing peoples results from modern tailor and the different collars etc? Thanks a lot for the info guys, as I become more versed in this I will most likely become a active member on here.

Hey again guys,

Well I went and got myself a tailors measuring tape, are there any guides around on ideal fit and how to measure shirts, I am going to base the measurements off two shirts one that fits my shoulders and chest perfect and one that fits my waist great and then see how it turns out and modify from there. Looking to place my order in the next day or two as I want a fair few shirts for summer that actually fit well.

Thanks. I am looking to get it all done in the next two days and an order placed for a trial shirt. Will let you know how it goes.