By now, many of you have seen a few reviews of the famous $20 made-to-measure shirt from Modern Tailor. The Silentist did a great in-depth review of his shirts, and CB has modeled his on Dapper Demeanor. If you haven’t heard of this deal, Modern Tailor is offering a promotion for new customers to get a customized MTM shirt for about $20 (additional design features costing extra). The fabric options are “Black” or “Blue Oxford,” both single ply 70-80 thread count. By the way, unless you are a server at a restaurant and it’s part of the uniform, don’t order the black shirt. Just felt like it needed to be said… Anyways, I thought I’d give my two cents. Below, you’ll see I opted for the wide spread collar, cut-corner 1 button cuffs, and thick Mother of Pearl buttons (the only “extra add-on” I went for). The company suggests measuring a well-fitting shirt that you already own, so this shirt’s fit is based on a Billy Reid Tuscumbia shirt I already own. After trying it on, I will say that the fits very well (which shouldn’t be a surprise, but I am glad all the measurements worked out). The fabric is a little thin (which also shouldn’t be a surprise). The only thing I was disappointed in is the stiffness of the collar. When picking a collar, you are given three options: soft, common, or stiff. I went with “common” and I really should have gone with “soft.” I would have preferred the softer option. Other than that, I’ve gotta say: the $25 spent on this shirt is well worth it. I would definitely recommend this as an option for anyone looking for a great fitting shirt on a budget.
Is this shirt perfect? No, but you can’t beat the price.
dreamsofperfection.wordpress.com 
I got the exact same shirt (minus MOP buttons) and couldn’t be happier with it. The fabric is quite thin but like you said, for $20 I wasn’t expecting Brooks quality. I’ve already gotten several complements at work with it, but I would say due to the thinner nature of the fabric, it has a more “formal” feel than typical oxfords.
Great review. I’m tempted to give this shirt a try. My only question is was the chosen collar too stiff or not stiff enough.
Marco- I thought the “common” option I chose for the collar turned out to be too stiff… sorry if that was unclear. I definitely recommend you try them out!
Any reason you went for the cut-corner cuff instead of the usual round cuff? Does this make it less or more formal?
Adam– No real reason, just like the look of it…
Which pocket style did you choose? Thanks for the help!
Adam– Went for the angle cut pocket…
Thanks for the link, this is the first I’ve heard of this. Can’t beat that price, I’ll probably get a spread collar too, that’s the only thing missing from my shirt collection right now.
Thanks again.
which collar style is that? is that the widest one they offer? Can be hard to find a soft spread collar like that off the rack.
Matt– That collar is the “wide spread collar.”
good review. Ive yet ot order from MT, kinda hard to pass up at that price though.
What is the difference in getting the bottom of the shirt cut, and the back pleats/darts/box.. Does it have any affect on the over all look? Is there something I should prefer? I’m a fit guy with broad shoulders and smaller waist and am buying this as a nicer(er) shirt to wear casually.
Jared– Everything you’re asking about basically boils down to your own personal preference. Just to let you know, I went with a rounded bottom and a plain back.
Traditionally, box pleats or side pleats on a shirt are there to provide more mobility. Darts are used to make the shirt slimmer fitting. Because this shirt will be made to your measurements, mobility from the pleats or the slimming effect from darts really won’t make a difference. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t choose one or the other… go for what you like.
Since you are wanting to wear this shirt more casually, I would advise getting a straight bottom. Rounded bottoms are better for tucking, and they look pretty stupid when left untucked. But once again, it’s all about personal preference.
All in all, just make sure you have your measurements right. Like I said, measure a great fitting shirt that you already have to ensure a great fit on your new shirt. MT provides a pretty easy to follow step-by-step process to get the measurements right… Good luck!
Paul, thanks for all the info. I’ll also be wearing the shirt casually… which bottom would you suggest, straight or cut?
Here’s the reference pictures from their website: http://d.pr/pZ6s
Adam– I would choose “straight” of the two choices…
Nice review, I might have to go and order one of these.
Paul,
Good to see a unbiased, firsthand post.
My question, is the thinness of the shirt the only reason you didn’t deem it ‘perfect?’
Jeff
Jeffrey– Yeah, the thinness is it’s biggest downside. But I wasn’t expecting much for the price. At the end of the day, I still recommend this shirt.
Whats up, Paul.
Hope all is well, man.
Finally got around to taking a swing at this offer. I went with measuring a shirt of mine that was tailored. Modern Tailors end result was very acceptable. I went with your tip on getting the soft collar option. Pretty content with this.
Harold
For $20 this is of course a huge bang for the buck. At that price, you can of course not expect a great fabric. I wrote a modern tailor shirt review for a regular shirt, and while I think it can be good value, it was certainly not the best out there. There, the workmanship on a $20 shirt is no different than on a $200 shirt.