Proper Cloth vs Hockerty: 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.
Proper Cloth delivers more shirt per dollar than Hockerty
Proper Cloth scores 100/100 on specification per dollar against 77/100 for Hockerty. The score weighs two things a shirt is actually judged on after a year: the collar interlining and how the size is arrived at. Hockerty does not publish its collar interlining, so there is nothing there to check. 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: Hockerty — $69 against $125 a shirt
- Collar construction: Proper Cloth — Proper Cloth publishes it (fused or unfused, your choice at order); Hockerty does not
| Specification | Proper Cloth | Hockerty |
|---|---|---|
| List price, one shirtWhat a single shirt costs at full price. | $1251 | $697 |
| Lowest advertised priceThe per-shirt price the brand itself promotes — its multi-buy ladder or standing sale. | $125 (no multi-buy)1 | $69 (no multi-buy)7 |
| 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 | Not published by the brand7 |
| How the size is decidedAlpha sizing asks you to fit the shirt; a drafted pattern fits the shirt to you. | Questionnaire-derived size314 | Questionnaire-derived size87 |
| Cloth | Broadcloth, twill, pinpoint oxford, chambray, denim, dobby, end-on-end, flannel, melange, oxford, poplin, royal oxford, herringbone and seersucker, in Egyptian, Sea Island, American Pima and Giza 45 cottons. Both two-ply and single-ply are offered, with counts referenced from 50s up to 330s and the rule of thumb that anything above 100 implies two-ply. No non-iron or wrinkle-free treatment is mentioned anywhere in the fabric reference; wrinkling is discussed only as a property of the weave.5 | Over 100 shirt fabrics, with cotton poplin, twill and linen blends named. Ply, yarn count, cotton origin and any non-iron treatment are not published.7 |
| Published construction | Collar construction is the one spec published in full, per collar model. Single-needle side seams, stitch density, split yoke and removable collar stays are not stated on the reference pages, and the button material could not be confirmed from the linked button article.21 | Customisation covers collar style, cuff style, button thread colour, sleeve length, monogram, pocket styles and lining colours. Interlining type, single-needle stitching, stitch density, split yoke, button material and gussets are not published.7 |
| Where it is made | Does not name a country of manufacture on any page read — not on the custom shirt page, the fabric reference or the guarantee.156 | Publishes production locations by product: suits, shirts and jackets are produced in Shanghai, shoes in Spain and jeans in Shandong, with orders returning to operation centres for a quality review before shipping.8 |
| Returns | Free 60-day returns and remakes, with free remakes if the first custom shirt is not right. No numeric cap on remakes is stated on the guarantee page; a third-party write-up claims two complimentary remakes per product category, which the brand page does not confirm. Altered clothing is not accepted back at all, and who pays return shipping is not stated.6 | If a garment does not fit, local partners make the adjustments, or any local tailor may do it with costs covered according to unpublished after-sales conditions, and if a garment cannot be altered to fit the brand will remake it until it fits. No window in days, no reimbursement cap, no return-shipping payer and no refund position is published on the guarantee page — a strong promise attached to terms the brand does not publish.9 |
| Turnaround | Made to measure in under two weeks, stated on the custom shirt page.1 | Hockerty’s two pages disagree: the how-it-works page says approximately 18 days end to end, while the shirt page shows a delivery promise of about 15 days. Both are the brand’s own figures and neither reconciles the other.87 |
| Spec per dollarCollar construction and sizing method against the price actually advertised (0–100). | 100/100 · Exceptional | 77/100 · Exceptional |
Who each one is for
- Proper Cloth
- Someone who wants to choose a fused or unfused collar knowingly, without measuring themselves, and to have the shirt inside two weeks.
- Hockerty
- A first-time made-to-measure buyer who wants the cheapest entry and will let an algorithm guess their measurements.
Questions people ask about this pair
- Is Proper Cloth or Hockerty cheaper?
- Hockerty. Its lowest advertised price is $69 a shirt against $125 for Proper Cloth. At full list the two are $125 and $69.
- Which has the better collar?
- Proper Cloth. Publishes interlining by collar model and defines the terms: a heat-bonded interlining is fused, a sewn-in one is unfused. Dress collars are stiff fused, casual collars are soft non-fused with the interlining sewn to the collar fabric, and hybrid collars are soft fused with a lighter, more pliable interlining. Because the choice is made by picking a collar, the buyer decides fused or unfused at order time. Does not publish whether the collar is fused. Hockerty is a configurator-led brand: it publishes style options in depth and construction specifications not at all.
- How do I get the right size from Proper Cloth or Hockerty?
- Proper Cloth: Three routes: a ten-question Smart Sizes questionnaire that adjusts sixteen independent fit points, nine body measurements entered directly, or measurements taken off a shirt you already own. Standard fits are Super Slim, Slim and Classic. Read the size charts carefully — chest, midsection, bottom and sleeve widths are half, flat garment measurements taken across the front of a shirt lying flat, and the brand says to double them to get the garment circumference, so a listed 21.5 inch chest width is a 43 inch chest. Hockerty: An algorithm predicts your body measurements from a few inputs, which the brand says is trained on over thirteen years of data. Customers may optionally verify the predictions or measure at home, but no tape measure is required and there is no route for copying a shirt you already own.
- What are the return policies?
- Proper Cloth: Free 60-day returns and remakes, with free remakes if the first custom shirt is not right. No numeric cap on remakes is stated on the guarantee page; a third-party write-up claims two complimentary remakes per product category, which the brand page does not confirm. Altered clothing is not accepted back at all, and who pays return shipping is not stated. Hockerty: If a garment does not fit, local partners make the adjustments, or any local tailor may do it with costs covered according to unpublished after-sales conditions, and if a garment cannot be altered to fit the brand will remake it until it fits. No window in days, no reimbursement cap, no return-shipping payer and no refund position is published on the guarantee page — a strong promise attached to terms the brand does not publish.
What a made-to-measure shirt costs from the workshop
We are not on this page to sell you a third option you did not ask for, so here are the numbers to compare against the table above. A shirt cut to your own measurements in our Hoi An workshop is $39–$59 garment-only, depending on the cloth, with shipping quoted separately. There is no size to pick and no fit name to guess between: the pattern is drafted from your measurements.
Neither Proper Cloth nor Hockerty is a bad shirt at its price. The question this page exists to answer is what each one publishes about how it is built — and that is in the table, with the sources. See how the measurements are taken.
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“Being a short and stocky person, I could never truly get clothing that fitted properly. "Off the rack" was never an option... As I opened the small box, I got nervous and wondered if I made a big mistake and basically gambled away a fair amount of money. I ordered a 3 piece suit, 2 shirts and had a pair of leather dress shoes. Everything fitted nicely... the shirts were absolutely PERFECT.”
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“Exceptional experience from start to finish. I ordered a fully custom two-piece double-breasted suit remotely from France, Linda and Jennifer guided me through every step with patience and professionalism. The suit arrived in under 3 weeks and the result is flawless: fabric, cut, lining, silhouette, everything is perfect. Nathan Tailors delivered exactly the vision I had in mind. I will absolutely be ordering again. Highly recommended.”
“This was my first time buying suits online so I was a bit apprehensive. However, the online order form was both easy to use and very thorough, and they did a video call with me to make sure of a couple of measurements that were out of the normal range. Two suits and a shirt arrived here in New Zealand in less than two weeks, are well-made, and fit perfectly. I'm thrilled with the service.”
Other shirt comparisons
Sources
- 1. Proper Cloth — custom dress shirtsbrand · read 2026-09-29
- 2. Proper Cloth — shirt collar constructionsbrand · read 2026-09-29
- 3. Proper Cloth — standard sizes, types of fit and size chartsbrand · read 2026-09-29
- 4. Proper Cloth — dress shirt body measurementsbrand · read 2026-09-29
- 5. Proper Cloth — dress shirt fabrics referencebrand · read 2026-09-29
- 6. Proper Cloth — Perfect Fit Guaranteebrand · read 2026-09-29
- 7. Hockerty — custom dress shirtsbrand · read 2026-09-29
- 8. Hockerty — how it worksbrand · read 2026-09-29
- 9. Hockerty — perfect fit guaranteebrand · read 2026-09-29