Custom Shirts in Los Angeles

Mr James makes custom shirts from $295, cut to your own pattern and made by our own atelier in Southern Brittany, France. Day shirts, dress shirts and tuxedo shirts. Two to four weeks. Appointment only in Playa del Rey.

A shirt is the garment a man wears most often and thinks about least. It sits directly against you, it is the only thing left when the jacket comes off, and it is the first thing to look wrong. A collar that stands away from the neck. A cuff that slides over the back of the hand. A body cut for someone two sizes wider through the waist, gathered into a balloon behind you when you sit down.

None of that is a fault in the shirt. Ready-made shirts are built to a set of averages — a neck measurement and a sleeve length, and everything else assumed from those two. Almost nobody is average in more than one dimension at a time.

What it costs

• Custom shirt — $295
• Dress or tuxedo shirt — from $295, depending on the cloth and the front
• Alterations — $80 per hour, and free for the first year

Fifty per cent is taken at cloth selection and the balance on delivery. A rush order carries a twenty-five per cent surcharge. A group — a wedding party, or several men from one company — is discounted twenty per cent.

There is no charge for the consultation, no pattern fee, and no limit on fittings.

The collar, which is most of the shirt

If one thing is worth your attention it is the collar, because it sits four inches from your face and is in every photograph ever taken of you.

• Height. A taller collar suits a long neck and looks considered; a short one is kinder to a shorter neck. Ready-made shirts settle on a middling height that flatters neither.
• Spread. A wider spread balances a narrow face; a straight point narrows a broad one. The spread also has to agree with the knot you actually tie, which is a conversation worth having once rather than regretting for years.
• Roll. A collar with enough length in the leaf stands up against the jacket and rolls rather than creasing flat. It is the difference between a shirt that looks alive and one that looks pressed into submission.
• Button-down. Correct with tweed and flannel, wrong under a dinner jacket, and a matter of taste everywhere in between.

Cuffs, plackets and the rest

A single cuff with one or two buttons is the everyday choice. A double cuff wants links and belongs with a suit or black tie. Either way the cuff should be close enough that the shirt does not travel down your hand when you reach for something, and open enough to pass over the wrist without a fight — a gap ready-made shirts almost never manage, because the two measurements are related and they only ever take one.

Beyond that: a front placket or a plain front, a pocket or none, the button colour and material, and a monogram if you want one and nowhere near the cuff if you have any sense. Split yokes, a gusset at the side seam, a deeper tail so the shirt stays down. These are small decisions and we will walk you through them; none of them is a test.

Cloth

Shirting is mostly cotton, and the differences are worth knowing before you choose.

• Poplin is smooth, fine and slightly cool. The default for a business shirt, and the crispest under a jacket.
• Twill has a diagonal weave, a faint sheen, and drapes more softly. It creases less, which matters in a car in this city.
• Oxford is heavier and more textured, and belongs with odd jackets and without a tie. A good oxford improves for years.
• End-on-end reads as a solid from across the room and as a fine texture up close, which is a useful trick.
• Marcella — a piqué weave with a raised honeycomb — is the traditional front for black tie.

Higher yarn counts are finer and feel better against the skin; they are also more delicate. For a first shirt worn every week we would point you at something a little sturdier and save the very fine cloth for the ones you wear less.

Tuxedo and dress shirts

Formal shirts are made to order here in the same way as day shirts, and there are more decisions than men expect.

• The front. Marcella, a fine pleated bib, or a plain front. Marcella is the traditional choice for black tie and holds a stud well.
• Studs or buttons. A stud front for black tie proper. A covered placket with sewn buttons is the quieter alternative and perfectly correct.
• The collar. A turndown collar is right for almost every black-tie evening in Los Angeles. A wing collar belongs with white tie, and looks borrowed with a dinner jacket.
• The cuff. Double, with links. This is not the place for a barrel cuff.

Pricing starts at $295, and formal cloth occasionally sits a step above that depending on what you choose. You would see the exact figure at the consultation, before anything is ordered. More on the rest of the outfit is on the tuxedo page.

How long it takes

Two to four weeks for shirts. Alterations are about a week. A suit is four to six weeks in domestic cloth and six to eight in imported Italian and English cloth, so if you are having both made, the shirts will be ready first.

Common questions

How much does a custom shirt cost in Los Angeles?

Ours are $295. That is the shirt cut to your own pattern and made in our atelier in France, with fittings included and alterations free for the first year.

Is there a minimum order?

No. Men often order one, wear it for a month, and come back for three more once they know what they want changed. That is a sensible way to do it.

Do you make tuxedo shirts?

Yes — marcella or pleated front, wing collar or turndown, single or double cuff, studs or sewn buttons. From $295.

How long does a custom shirt take?

Two to four weeks. Alterations take about a week.

Do I need to come in, or can you work from a shirt I own?

Come in. A shirt you own records the shirt, not you, including everything about it you dislike. The consultation takes an hour and there is no charge for it.

How should a shirt fit?

A finger between collar and neck with the top button done. The shoulder seam ending where your shoulder ends. Enough room to sit and reach without the front pulling at the buttons, and no more than that. The cuff staying put when you extend your arm, and half an inch of it showing past the jacket sleeve.

Do you offer made-to-measure shirts?

No. Everything we make is cut to an individual pattern, shirts included. We do not offer a made-to-measure line at any price.

How do you wash them?

Machine, cool, and hang them straight away. Dry cleaning a cotton shirt is money spent shortening its life. Iron it damp, collar and cuffs first.

Book a consultation

The first consultation takes an hour and costs nothing. You meet Robb or Ben — never a salesperson — and we measure you, take photographs so posture is recorded rather than guessed at, and go through cloth with the prices in front of you. Wear a well-fitted shirt rather than something loose, so we can see your figure.

We are appointment-only, seven days a week, roughly nine until six, and we ask for forty-eight hours' notice. The showroom is at 221 Culver Blvd, Playa del Rey, CA 90293, with free parking in front and behind.

More on how the house works is on the bespoke page, and what a full suit costs is set out on the cost page.

Book a private consultation — or, if nothing on the calendar suits, telephone 310-503-3592 and we will find a time. You can also write to mrjames@bespokemrjames.com.