Is Nathan Tailors or Spier & Mackay cheaper?

Nathan Tailors. Its lowest advertised price is $39 a shirt against $58 for Spier & Mackay. At full list the two are $39 and $68.

Which has the better collar?

Neither can be separated on published evidence. Fused or unfused is a decision on the order form at no extra charge, along with collar shape, spread angle and band height, because these are pattern decisions rather than materials. Publishes it outright: shirts are offered in fused and unfused constructions with German interlinings. No other brand in this comparison names both the choice and where the interlining material comes from.

How do I get the right size from Nathan Tailors or Spier & Mackay?

Nathan Tailors: There is no size chart to read and no fit name to choose between. The pattern is drafted from your own measurements, taken through a guided measurement flow, and a tailor reviews them before anything is cut. Spier & Mackay: Ready-to-wear is sold by neck and sleeve; the collection pages that would confirm the fit names were unreachable. For custom, the brand takes body measurements from a tailor or measurements from a shirt that already fits you — there is no questionnaire or algorithm route.

What are the return policies?

Nathan Tailors: No cash refunds on made-to-measure garments. Every shirt ships with seam allowance and spare cloth so a local tailor can fine-tune the fit, at your cost, and the team works with you over WhatsApp until it is right. We do not offer a free remake. Spier & Mackay: Stock shirts: 30 days from delivery at full price, 14 days if discounted, with a prepaid return label for Canadian and US customers and self-arranged returns internationally. A third-party return guide mentions a $15 return shipping fee, which contradicts the prepaid-label statement on the brand’s own FAQ. Custom is different and harsher: all custom clothing is final sale with no refunds, one complimentary remake or store credit on a first custom order, a second remake at 50% of the original price, requests inside 30 days, and a $30 shirt alteration credit in store credit only. Unclaimed items are treated as abandoned and non-refundable after 45 days.

Nathan Tailors vs Spier & Mackay: which dress shirt is actually worth it?

Side by side on the specifications that decide how a shirt looks after a year: the collar interlining, how the size is arrived at, the cloth, and the price each brand actually advertises rather than the one on the ticket.

Nathan · Bespoke shirtmakerSpier & Mackay · Premium ready-to-wearChecked 2026-09-29 / 2026-09-29

Nathan Tailors and Spier & Mackay deliver the same specification per dollar

Nathan Tailors scores 100/100 on specification per dollar against 100/100 for Spier & Mackay. The score weighs two things a shirt is actually judged on after a year: the collar interlining and how the size is arrived at. Spier & Mackay publishes fused or unfused, your choice at order. Price is the lowest per-shirt figure each brand advertises itself, not a list price neither of them expects you to pay.

Lower advertised price: Nathan Tailors — $39 against $58 a shirt
Fit control: Nathan Tailors — Individual pattern drafted for you against neck + sleeve length

Specification	Nathan Tailors	Spier & Mackay
List price, one shirtWhat a single shirt costs at full price.	$39¹	$68⁴⁵
Lowest advertised priceThe per-shirt price the brand itself promotes — its multi-buy ladder or standing sale.	$39 (no multi-buy)¹	$58⁴⁵
Collar interliningA glued collar is what bubbles and curls after a year of washing. Most brands decline to say which theirs is.	Fused or unfused, your choice at order²	Fused or unfused, your choice at order⁴
How the size is decidedAlpha sizing asks you to fit the shirt; a drafted pattern fits the shirt to you.	Individual pattern drafted for you³	Neck + sleeve length⁵
Cloth	Cotton blend, premium cotton, linen-cotton, premium linen and a bamboo-blend stretch cloth. Fibre content is stated for each cloth before it is cut and is never claimed as a pure fibre unless it is one.¹	Fine 100% Egyptian cotton yarns, used exclusively. Ply and yarn count are not published on the about-our-shirts page, and there is no non-iron or wrinkle-free claim.⁴
Published construction	Collar shape, spread angle, band height and fused-or-unfused are specified per shirt. Garments ship with seam allowance and spare matching cloth so a local tailor can adjust them.²¹	Eighteen to twenty-one stitches per inch in single-needle construction — note the unit, per inch, which is not the same measure as a per-centimetre count. A four-piece split yoke cut on the bias, removable collar stays, reinforced triangular gussets at the side seams, pattern matching across seams and sleeves, hand-turned collars and more than twenty-five collar styles.⁴
Where it is made	Cut and sewn in our own workshop in Hoi An, Vietnam. There is no third-party factory and no retail middleman.¹	No country of manufacture is published. The brand publishes a deep construction spec and no origin at all, which are two different kinds of transparency.⁴⁵
Returns	No cash refunds on made-to-measure garments. Every shirt ships with seam allowance and spare cloth so a local tailor can fine-tune the fit, at your cost, and the team works with you over WhatsApp until it is right. We do not offer a free remake.¹	Stock shirts: 30 days from delivery at full price, 14 days if discounted, with a prepaid return label for Canadian and US customers and self-arranged returns internationally. A third-party return guide mentions a $15 return shipping fee, which contradicts the prepaid-label statement on the brand’s own FAQ. Custom is different and harsher: all custom clothing is final sale with no refunds, one complimentary remake or store credit on a first custom order, a second remake at 50% of the original price, requests inside 30 days, and a $30 shirt alteration credit in store credit only. Unclaimed items are treated as abandoned and non-refundable after 45 days.⁵⁶⁷
Turnaround	Two to three weeks to most destinations, made in three to four working days and shipped by express courier. Two days in person in Hoi An.¹	Custom orders: allow four to six weeks for production and delivery — the longest made-to-measure lead time in this comparison.⁵
Spec per dollarCollar construction and sizing method against the price actually advertised (0–100).	100/100 · Exceptional	100/100 · Exceptional

Who each one is for

Nathan Tailors: Anyone who has decided the collar and the fit matter more than the label, and is willing to wait two to three weeks to have both specified rather than guessed.
Spier & Mackay: A spec-driven buyer who wants the collar construction, stitch density and yoke published before ordering, and can wait six weeks for a custom shirt.

Questions people ask about this pair

Is Nathan Tailors or Spier & Mackay cheaper?: Nathan Tailors. Its lowest advertised price is $39 a shirt against $58 for Spier & Mackay. At full list the two are $39 and $68.
Which has the better collar?: Neither can be separated on published evidence. Fused or unfused is a decision on the order form at no extra charge, along with collar shape, spread angle and band height, because these are pattern decisions rather than materials. Publishes it outright: shirts are offered in fused and unfused constructions with German interlinings. No other brand in this comparison names both the choice and where the interlining material comes from.
How do I get the right size from Nathan Tailors or Spier & Mackay?: Nathan Tailors: There is no size chart to read and no fit name to choose between. The pattern is drafted from your own measurements, taken through a guided measurement flow, and a tailor reviews them before anything is cut. Spier & Mackay: Ready-to-wear is sold by neck and sleeve; the collection pages that would confirm the fit names were unreachable. For custom, the brand takes body measurements from a tailor or measurements from a shirt that already fits you — there is no questionnaire or algorithm route.
What are the return policies?: Nathan Tailors: No cash refunds on made-to-measure garments. Every shirt ships with seam allowance and spare cloth so a local tailor can fine-tune the fit, at your cost, and the team works with you over WhatsApp until it is right. We do not offer a free remake. Spier & Mackay: Stock shirts: 30 days from delivery at full price, 14 days if discounted, with a prepaid return label for Canadian and US customers and self-arranged returns internationally. A third-party return guide mentions a $15 return shipping fee, which contradicts the prepaid-label statement on the brand’s own FAQ. Custom is different and harsher: all custom clothing is final sale with no refunds, one complimentary remake or store credit on a first custom order, a second remake at 50% of the original price, requests inside 30 days, and a $30 shirt alteration credit in store credit only. Unclaimed items are treated as abandoned and non-refundable after 45 days.

Other shirt comparisons

Sources

1. Nathan Tailors — custom shirt cloths and pricesbrand · read 2026-09-29
2. Nathan Tailors — spread, point and button-down collars explainedbrand · read 2026-09-29
3. Nathan Tailors — guided measurement studiobrand · read 2026-09-29
4. Spier & Mackay — about our shirtsbrand · read 2026-09-29
5. Spier & Mackay — frequently asked questionsbrand · read 2026-09-29
6. Spier & Mackay — custom / made-to-order return policybrand · read 2026-09-29
7. The Return Guide — Spier & Mackay return policy (states a $15 fee)third-party · read 2026-09-29