Experience w/Custom Shirts at BB, Anyone?

[Biggskip]

I'm looking to see if anybody has any experience getting Custom shirts made at Brooks Brothers (please, I am not referring to their MTM program).

If you do have experience, what did you think? Were you happy with your results? If not, what would you change?

Did you have your measurements taken by Martin Greenfield himself, or the in-store tailor?

Any thoughts on the fabric types/selection?

My overall plan is to get one really good shirt made near where I live (as such, NYC and Despos are out for me) and to use that as a model for future projects with other tailors or outfits (Jantzen, et al.) Since it doesn't seem as though the Cleveland area SFers have had much experience with Cleveland area outfits, I thought I'd cast a wider net of options available to me (i.e. BB).

Thanks!

 

[TheFoo]

Unless I'm mistaken, BB does not offer bespoke shirts. Their highest level of custom service is MTM.

 

[AnGeLiCbOrIs]

MG only makes their GF suits. I don't think his factory makes shirts at all.

 

[forex]

I am confused,what does Martin Greenfield have to do with BB shirts?You are talking about custom shirts that can be ordered in the store or on the website?

 

[Biggskip]

I was speaking with my SA at BB and told him that I enjoy the slim-fit shirts, but that they aren't slim enough in certain areas. I asked him if the Create Your Own (a.k.a. Select) program would address these fit issues. He told me that they would not. He then went on to say that I may want to try their "custom" program and that I would have much more control over the fit of the shirt.

The more I think about it, he used custom, but what he probably meant was MTM. I now see that I had confused the terminology between their Select Program and their MTM Program. Sorry for the confustion and misconception.

Okay, well new topic, anybody have any experience with the MTM Program at BB?

 

[unpainted huffheinz]

I have done the 'custom' MTM program at Brooks Brothers. I had them make changes to the 'slim' fit shirt, but the options for doing so are somewhat limited. For example, there is nothing on the form about the armhole or cuff size. There is only a bicep measurement and that can only go one inch above or below the stock size. This will decrease the armhole a little, but I had to get them to write a cuff measurement in. There is no way to change collar height or point length either.

The fabrics are OK, but overpriced. I had some gift and discount cards to use, and I'm not sure I would pay $200 for what I got.

The construction is just like the basic BB shirts. Entirely machine made, fused cuffs and collars, and the same one cent plastic buttons as the OCBD. It is made in the North Carolina factory, but I think the finishing is actually better in the Malaysia factory, which is kind of sad. It also took at least a week longer than specified.

All in all, the shirts are quite overpriced for what you get, but perhaps easier than dealing with mytailor.com or the like.

 

[Biggskip]

Originally Posted by unpainted huffheinz

I have done the 'custom' MTM program at Brooks Brothers. I had them make changes to the 'slim' fit shirt, but the options for doing so are somewhat limited. For example, there is nothing on the form about the armhole or cuff size. There is only a bicep measurement and that can only go one inch above or below the stock size. This will decrease the armhole a little, but I had to get them to write a cuff measurement in. There is no way to change collar height or point length either.

The fabrics are OK, but overpriced. I had some gift and discount cards to use, and I'm not sure I would pay $200 for what I got.

The construction is just like the basic BB shirts. Entirely machine made, fused cuffs and collars, and the same one cent plastic buttons as the OCBD. It is made in the North Carolina factory, but I think the finishing is actually better in the Malaysia factory, which is kind of sad. It also took at least a week longer than specified.

All in all, the shirts are quite overpriced for what you get, but perhaps easier than dealing with mytailor.com or the like.
UH, thanks for the feedback on your BB experience. Given your experience, I'll probably stay away and opt for a more traditional route of custom shirt. BTW, your user name is awesome. Raising Arizona is probably my second fav Coen Bros. movie (it's pretty hard to beat Fargo).

 

[zalb916]

Unpainted pretty much summed it up. BB has two programs. The "select" special order shirts that you can get on the web site or the "custom" program in the store. The custom program is certainly not bespoke, but you can do more tweaks than the select program. I think it's about $25 more for the custom.

 

[unpainted huffheinz]

Originally Posted by Biggskip

UH, thanks for the feedback on your BB experience. Given your experience, I'll probably stay away and opt for a more traditional route of custom shirt.

If you have a local option for having shirts made that would probably turn out better. I have tried local lower cost options, mytailor and BB so far, and none of them have really merited a second purchase. I don't really have enough funds for further searching, so it's back to heavily discounted and altered RTW for me. Best of luck in the search.

BTW, your user name is awesome. Raising Arizona is probably my second fav Coen Bros. movie (it's pretty hard to beat Fargo).

I saw Raising Arizona twice on the day it came out and dozens of times since. I think you are the first to comment on this in the year I have been here. Perhaps the choice was more obscure than I thought.