The 23 Decisions Inside a Bespoke Shirt: What Separates Good From Great
Between choosing the cotton and wearing the shirt there are twenty-three decisions. Almost none of them show from across a room, and together they are the difference between a shirt and your shirt.
A shirt looks simple. A rectangle of cloth, a collar, two sleeves, some buttons. But every shirt — whether it costs €30 or €300 — is the result of dozens of decisions made before a single seam is sewn. In a ready-to-wear shirt, those decisions are made by a product team optimising for cost and production speed. In a made to measure or bespoke shirt, they are made by you, in consultation with your shirtmaker, for your specific body and wardrobe.
Here are twenty-three of them.
The Collar
1. Collar style. Spread, semi-spread, point, button-down, tab, pin, club. Each creates a different relationship between the collar and the tie (or the lack of one), and between the collar and the jacket lapel. The right choice depends on the width of your tie knot, the structure of your jacket, and whether you ever wear the shirt without a tie.
2. Collar band height. A taller collar band (4.5cm or above) shows more above the jacket lapel and reads as more formal. A lower band (3.5cm) is more relaxed. Most ready-to-wear shirts use a 3.5–4cm band, which sits almost invisibly under a suit collar. Custom shirts can be specified precisely.
3. Collar point length. Longer points require a wider spread to lie flat. Short points on a wide spread will lift. The relationship between spread and point length must be calibrated together.
4. Collar interlining. A fused interlining gives the collar body and snap; a stitched (non-fused) interlining is softer and more traditional. The collar will behave differently after washing depending on which is used.
5. Collar stays. Whether the collar points have pockets for collar stays, and whether metal stays are provided. A collar that lifts destroys an outfit — stays prevent this.
The Cuffs
6. Cuff style. Single button, double button, barrel (with multiple button options for circumference adjustment), or French (double) cuff for cufflinks. Each reads differently and suits different occasions.
7. Cuff circumference. Two fingers should slip inside a fastened cuff. Tighter than this restricts movement; looser than this looks sloppy at the wrist.
8. Cuff height. The standard is 7cm; custom shirts can adjust up or down. A taller cuff shows more below a jacket sleeve.
9. Cuff shape. Rounded, straight, or angled at the corners. This is largely aesthetic but affects the formality of the shirt's overall impression.
The Front
10. Placket style. Open placket (buttons visible) or fly-front placket (buttons concealed beneath a fold). Fly-front is cleaner and dressier; open placket is casual and easier to iron.
11. Button type. Mother of pearl (the standard for dress shirts), horn, corozo, or plastic. Mother of pearl has a subtle iridescence and a weight that plastic never achieves.
12. Buttonhole direction. Horizontal buttonholes on the collar and waist buttons resist the stress of movement better than vertical. A detail found in quality shirts that is invisible when correct and obvious when absent.
The Body
13. Yoke style. A split yoke (two panels, seamed at the centre back) allows each side to follow the slope of the shoulder independently. A single yoke is simpler and more common in ready-to-wear.
14. Back pleat. Box pleat (centre back), side pleats (two pleats flanking the centre), or no pleat (fitted shirts). The pleat allows movement; fitted shirts without pleats require precise measurements to avoid restriction.
15. Shirt length. A shirt worn tucked must be long enough to stay tucked through a full range of movement — typically 10–12cm below the trouser waistband at the front and slightly longer at the back. Most ready-to-wear shirts are too short.
16. Side seam shaping. A straight side seam produces a boxy shirt. A curved seam creates suppression at the waist. The degree of suppression is a personal preference measured against the wearer's actual proportions.
The Sleeves
17. Sleeve pitch. The angle at which the sleeve is set into the armhole. An incorrectly pitched sleeve will pull at the shoulder when the arm moves forward — common in ready-to-wear and barely noticed until it is corrected.
18. Sleeve length. Should show 1.5cm below the jacket sleeve when the arm is at rest. This is a function of sleeve length, cuff height, and jacket sleeve length — all three must be calibrated together.
Details
19. Chest pocket. Present or absent. A chest pocket on a dress shirt is traditional but increasingly rare. On a casual shirt, it is practical. On a formal shirt, it is unnecessary.
20. Monogram placement. Chest, cuff, or collar. Chest is visible; cuff is intimate; collar is almost invisible. Personal preference entirely.
21. Fabric weight and weave. The fabric determines the shirt's character more than almost any other decision. Poplin (smooth, crisp), twill (diagonal weave, softer drape), Oxford (textured, casual), end-on-end (fine, slightly textured). Weight in grams per square metre determines warmth and opacity.
22. Fabric mill. Albini, Thomas Mason, Alumo, Monti, Canclini. Each mill has house characteristics — handle, lustre, consistency. At ATELIER 23, we work primarily with Albini and Thomas Mason.
23. Spare buttons. A small detail that distinguishes a well-made shirt from a careless one. Spare buttons, sewn to the inside of the shirt tail, are provided as standard.
Questions before ordering
Which decisions change a shirt the most?
The collar, the cuff and the armhole. Those three decide how a shirt reads when worn and how it behaves under a jacket.
Which collar should be chosen?
A spread collar to wear with a tie and a jacket, a closer one to wear without a tie. The width follows the face.
Is a monogram worth it?
It is the one purely personal decision on the list. Discreet, at the waist or on the cuff, and in the colour of the cloth.
How many shirts make sense in a first order?
Two or three. The pattern is the same, and from the second shirt onwards the cost per shirt falls.
Where is the ATELIER 23 atelier?
Avenida da Liberdade 110, office 209, Lisbon. By appointment, seven days a week.
Shirts in the catalogue: White Shirt · Light Blue Shirt · Denim Shirt
Book a visit to ATELIER 23
We show the cloths in the length, take measurements and give you a date. Finished garments are in the catalogue and the process is described on made to measure. The visit takes about an hour and commits you to nothing.