Shirts: Buying OTR & tailoring VS Buying MTM online?

[demizzle]

Looking to take a step forward in changing my wardrobe but I'm looking for opinions.

What are the pros/cons of buying a dress shirt or casual button up OTR and bringing it to a tailor for alterations vs measuring and buying MTM online? Price-wise I think they end up being similar if I'm buying the cheaper variety of MTMs shirts.

How many of your shirts fall in each category? Why do you choose one over the other?

 

[lostron]

imho, get a good fitting otr shirt with a great fabric and have it tailored to fit better - avoid shirts that need too much taioring

cheaper mtm shirts have cheaper fabrics that will not look well after a few wears

 

[Liquidus]

With MTM, the process will cost more as it will take you multiple iterations to get the fit down. However, once you do, you can buy multiple shirts customized to how you want and they will all fit the same.

 

[emc894]

You can always get the fabric and collar you want no matter what with MTM.

Often you have to wait a while to find a Borrelli/Barba/Finamore blue poplin shirt with barrel cuffs at a reasonable price and then get it tailored. I personally prefer MTM or bespoke, just order the shirt you want, how you want it, with fabric you want and it will fit perfectly. Easy.

For the price finishing is definitely better on B/B/F purchased at discount, though.