Proper Cloth 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.
Proper Cloth and Spier & Mackay deliver the same specification per dollar
Proper Cloth 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: Spier & Mackay — $58 against $125 a shirt
- Fit control: Proper Cloth — Questionnaire-derived size against neck + sleeve length
| Specification | Proper Cloth | Spier & Mackay |
|---|---|---|
| List price, one shirtWhat a single shirt costs at full price. | $1251 | $6878 |
| Lowest advertised priceThe per-shirt price the brand itself promotes — its multi-buy ladder or standing sale. | $125 (no multi-buy)1 | $5878 |
| 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 order7 |
| How the size is decidedAlpha sizing asks you to fit the shirt; a drafted pattern fits the shirt to you. | Questionnaire-derived size314 | Neck + sleeve length8 |
| 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 | 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.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 | 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.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 | 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.78 |
| 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 | 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.8910 |
| Turnaround | Made to measure in under two weeks, stated on the custom shirt page.1 | Custom orders: allow four to six weeks for production and delivery — the longest made-to-measure lead time in this comparison.8 |
| 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
- Proper Cloth
- Someone who wants to choose a fused or unfused collar knowingly, without measuring themselves, and to have the shirt inside two weeks.
- 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 Proper Cloth or Spier & Mackay cheaper?
- Spier & Mackay. Its lowest advertised price is $58 a shirt against $125 for Proper Cloth. At full list the two are $125 and $68.
- Which has the better collar?
- Neither can be separated on published evidence. 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. 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 Proper Cloth or Spier & Mackay?
- 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. 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?
- 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. 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.
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 Spier & Mackay 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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“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.”
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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. Spier & Mackay — about our shirtsbrand · read 2026-09-29
- 8. Spier & Mackay — frequently asked questionsbrand · read 2026-09-29
- 9. Spier & Mackay — custom / made-to-order return policybrand · read 2026-09-29
- 10. The Return Guide — Spier & Mackay return policy (states a $15 fee)third-party · read 2026-09-29