Off-the-rack vs. MTM -- Dress Shirts

[drew4392]

If comparing a Brooks Brothers/David Donahue/Boss/John W. Nordstrom dress shirt to a $50-70 MTM (100% cotton... not poly blend) dress shirt, which would you consider "better"?

My predicament is this... I currently buy OTR better-than-average brands and have them tailored. Darts... not expensive tailoring. I'm wondering if I can enjoy equivalent fabric quality and better fit from our usual online, MTM tailors.

Do the $50-70 MTM shirts have the quality of a Van Huesen/Geoffrey Beene shirt.... or are they closer to the aforementioned, nicer brands?


Thanks!

 

[comrade]

Maybe this is above your pay grade, but unless you are a difficult fit , upgrade your RTW choices and then have them altered as before. BB, Boss and Nortstrom- I am not familiar with the other brand, are mediocre, at best. Van Huesen and Beene, are even lower quality. Instead, go online to Virtualclotheshorse, Shopthefinest, ehberdasher, all Style Forum affiliates, and see what they offer and the prices. Contact these vendors with your questions. They are very responsive. Then go online-eBay for example, and see what you can get at what price.

 

[drew4392]

Thanks for the heads up on these various retailers.

My budget, however, is around the price point I stated before. ~$70 after alterations.

Van Heusen...Beene... those are cheap and what I wore when I couldn't afford much else. Ross and Marshalls always had those shirts at about $10 each.

I am able to enjoy slightly nicer shirts, now. John W. Nordstrom, Boss, BB, etc. Definitely a step up. That is why I asked if these $50-60 M2M shirts are of comparable quality, or if the cotton and craftsmanship is of lesser quality like Beene and Heusen.

Sure... it would be great to afford $150+ per shirt like what is listed on those sites, but my budget isn't there quite yet.

 

[Xtra]

Thanks for the heads up on these various retailers.

My budget, however, is around the price point I stated before. ~$70 after alterations.

Van Heusen...Beene... those are cheap and what I wore when I couldn't afford much else. Ross and Marshalls always had those shirts at about $10 each.

I am able to enjoy slightly nicer shirts, now. John W. Nordstrom, Boss, BB, etc. Definitely a step up. That is why I asked if these $50-60 M2M shirts are of comparable quality, or if the cotton and craftsmanship is of lesser quality like Beene and Heusen.

Sure... it would be great to afford $150+ per shirt like what is listed on those sites, but my budget isn't there quite yet.

Check out Luxire.com. MTM shirting starting at about 60$ pr. shirt. USA/Canada/Mexico: free shipping. All others: 20$ pr. shirt. There are of course a bunch of online MTM shirtmakers but I think Luxire has a good product.

If you're thinking about cost you can get a trial shirt for about 35$ to establish the fit before you order more expensive fabrics.

http://luxire.com/products/luxire-fit-test-trial-shirt

 

[AlexE]

Frankly, the quality of the brands you mentioned is not high (actually BB has some nice shirts, but those retail far beyond the price point you mentioned). In case of Boss, most of the price goes into marketing and only to a smaller percentage into fabric and production. Hence, I do not see the risk of getting lower quality fabrics or finishing when moving to MTM.

The risky thing is rather that MTM at $70 or less will require using online MTM, where you provide measurements and need to hope that (a) the measurements have been taken the right way and (b) that they are interpreted correctly by the online tailor. So, this will likely be an iterative process and you might have to accept some disappointments at the beginning. Naturally, the fit, which you can ultimately achieve after these iterations, will be better than what you get off the rack.

 

[drew4392]

Thanks for suggesting Luxire. I'm going to roll the dice with them.

 

[Xtra]

Thanks for suggesting Luxire. I'm going to roll the dice with them.

As long as know of the concerns that AlexE raises in his post and realize you might get a complete miss on your first try that you can work on, it's all good.

Personally, I would base my first shirt on measurements from an existing shirt that fits reasonably well and do some minor adjustments from that. My first shirt made from a 60$ oxford fabric turned out alright. Wearable, but not great.

I'm not familiar with where you get decent shirts in the US, so I just recommended Luxire.

I do think that Polo Ralph Lauren makes decent oxford shirts. In slim fit, which I understand is barely available in the US, they are not boxy at all.