Spier & Mackay vs Indochino: 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.
Spier & Mackay delivers more shirt per dollar than Indochino
Spier & Mackay scores 100/100 on specification per dollar against 73/100 for Indochino. The score weighs two things a shirt is actually judged on after a year: the collar interlining and how the size is arrived at. Indochino 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: Spier & Mackay — $58 against $97 a shirt
- Collar construction: Spier & Mackay — Spier & Mackay publishes it (fused or unfused, your choice at order); Indochino does not
- Fit control: Indochino — Made to your measurements against neck + sleeve length
| Specification | Spier & Mackay | Indochino |
|---|---|---|
| List price, one shirtWhat a single shirt costs at full price. | $6812 | $13958 |
| Lowest advertised priceThe per-shirt price the brand itself promotes — its multi-buy ladder or standing sale. | $5812 | $9758 |
| 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 order1 | Not published by the brand5 |
| How the size is decidedAlpha sizing asks you to fit the shirt; a drafted pattern fits the shirt to you. | Neck + sleeve length2 | Made to your measurements6 |
| Cloth | 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.1 | Named cloths across the premium shirt line include an anti-wrinkle weave, oxford, basketweave, cotton stretch, flannel stretch, corduroy, cotton-linen, herringbone, dobby and brushed melange, with the marketing describing fine cotton and premium poplin. Ply and yarn count are not published, and the anti-wrinkle line carries no treatment chemistry or non-iron grading.5 |
| Published construction | 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.1 | Nothing is published. No interlining type, no single-needle claim, no stitch density, no split yoke, no button material, no gusset and no collar-stay statement — the page offers fabrics and linings in place of construction.5 |
| Where it is made | 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.12 | No country of manufacture is disclosed anywhere on the shirt collection page.5 |
| Returns | 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.234 | Indochino’s own alterations article states that refunds are not available under any circumstances and that it does not accept returns or offer refunds on made-to-measure items. Claims must be made within 14 days of receipt, and the alteration reimbursement for a shirt is $25 USD or CAD, or $30 AUD, available only in Canada, the United States and Australia. That article contains no remake or replacement clause at all; third parties describe a free remake after the alteration credit is used, but the brand does not document one.76 |
| Turnaround | Custom orders: allow four to six weeks for production and delivery — the longest made-to-measure lead time in this comparison.2 | No lead time is published on any Indochino page read. A third-party customisation directory says an order takes about three weeks, but it is undated and is not a brand statement.59 |
| Spec per dollarCollar construction and sizing method against the price actually advertised (0–100). | 100/100 · Exceptional | 73/100 · Strong |
Who each one is for
- 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.
- Indochino
- Someone who wants to be measured in person at a showroom and accepts that the shirt cannot be refunded afterwards.
Questions people ask about this pair
- Is Spier & Mackay or Indochino cheaper?
- Spier & Mackay. Its lowest advertised price is $58 a shirt against $97 for Indochino. At full list the two are $68 and $139.
- Which has the better collar?
- Spier & Mackay. 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. Does not publish whether the collar is fused. Nothing about interlining appears on the shirt collection page, which offers style customisation in place of any construction specification.
- How do I get the right size from Spier & Mackay or Indochino?
- 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. Indochino: Two routes, both published: measure yourself at home with the brand’s instructional video, or book a showroom appointment and have a style guide measure you. There is no questionnaire or algorithm route and no way to copy a shirt you already own.
- What are the return policies?
- 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. Indochino: Indochino’s own alterations article states that refunds are not available under any circumstances and that it does not accept returns or offer refunds on made-to-measure items. Claims must be made within 14 days of receipt, and the alteration reimbursement for a shirt is $25 USD or CAD, or $30 AUD, available only in Canada, the United States and Australia. That article contains no remake or replacement clause at all; third parties describe a free remake after the alteration credit is used, but the brand does not document one.
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 Spier & Mackay nor Indochino 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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Other shirt comparisons
Sources
- 1. Spier & Mackay — about our shirtsbrand · read 2026-09-29
- 2. Spier & Mackay — frequently asked questionsbrand · read 2026-09-29
- 3. Spier & Mackay — custom / made-to-order return policybrand · read 2026-09-29
- 4. The Return Guide — Spier & Mackay return policy (states a $15 fee)third-party · read 2026-09-29
- 5. Indochino — premium shirts collectionbrand · read 2026-09-29
- 6. Indochino — how Indochino worksbrand · read 2026-09-29
- 7. Indochino — alterations and returnsbrand · read 2026-09-29
- 8. FindPrices — Indochino pricing structurethird-party · read 2026-09-29
- 9. Mass Customization — Indochino custom shirts (states about three weeks)third-party · read 2026-09-29