Getting shirts that fit has always been a problem for me. I tend to put on weight on my neck before elsewhere on my body. This is always going to cause problems if you consider off-the-shelf shirts are typically measured by the neck size.

As a result, most of the shirts I own balloon around my chest and midriff. The pocket on the chest is always too low and the shoulders tend to be too wide. The most annoying thing, however, is that the sleeves are always, always, always too long. This is not a huge issue if I am wearing buttoned cuffs, which I can use at the tightest setting. But I have tiny wrists. So if the shirt has a wider French cuff, it can slip over the top of my hand (see picture).

In an ideal world, I would love to order some bespoke shirts. But in an ideal world, I would love to be able to afford some bespoke shirts. As a result, I followed a recommendation and turned to MTM Shirt – a made-to-measure service based in Russia.

I was impressed with the fabric, buttons, cuffs and pockets available on the website and had good fun playing around with what I wanted. I am fully aware that it is a bit brash to have your initials on the cuff, but you can take the boy out of Essex etcetera… I opted for a pale-blue striped fabric with no pocket, a single cuff and spread collar.

The website offers a handy guide to making the 11 measurements required to order your shirt. (For those interested, the measurements are: neck, chest, waist, hip, bicep, wrist, sleeve, chest width, back width, shirt length and height.) There was also a tape measure that you could download and print out. I wasn’t convinced of the accuracy of a paper tape measure and, being the son of a dress maker, turned to the proper one I have at home.

Then the fun began. Have you ever tried to measure yourself? (Not like that…) It is impossible. Luckily, my girlfriend was in town the following weekend, so she helped follow the instructions and measure all 11 requirements. Ironically, this ended up with us getting shirty with each other…

The instructions said that the shirt length should be from the base of my neck “down to wherever [I] wanted the shirt to end” and that should be seven to 10 centimetres less than half of my height. According to my girlfriend’s measurement and our combined mathematics skills, there was a 20cm difference. We also fell out over the sleeve length. For some reason, the sleeve had to be measured against a bent arm. How bent? Where does the shoulder stop and the arm start? Is that the wrist bone?

After an age, I finally entered all the details into the website, which immediately told me my shirt length and sleeves were much shorter than expected. What to do? I wimped out and added some centimetres here and there. I guess this somewhat undermines the process a bit, but we will see when the shirt arrives.

The heritage boom has led several brands down a difficult path. Do they reproduce things they made previously or remake them with the modern customer in mind? Companies who chose the latter have fared better. Most consumers like the idea of heritage (hard wearing, durable clothing) over the reality (hard wearing, ill fitting clothing). One of the best companies at understanding this subtle difference is Gitman Vintage.

Based in Ashland, Pennsylvania since 1948, Gitman Brothers was originally named the Ashland Shirt Corporation. It wasn’t until 1978, when Max Gitman’s sons took over, that it became Gitman Brothers. This is also the reason why you’ll see mags and blogs refer to Gitman as having started in the 70’s, despite having actually been originated in the 40’s.

The companies had been making shirts for designers quietly for a number of years, but their popularity underwent a massive spike when word slipped out that Thom Browne made his shirts there. Their entire operation is still made in the US - no mean feat at a time when even APC’s Jean Touitou denounced US manufacture as ‘only theoretical’. Aside from their manufacturing methods, what makes Gitman vintage stand out is their focus on updating, rather than replicating, their heritage.

Gitman Vintage is headed by Chris Olberding, their one man machine who’s solely responsible for all aspects of the spin off brand. Each season Olberding chooses an archive year and chooses a set amount of fabrics from that particular year. For example, spring/summer 2010 uses fabrics from 1984. The cuts are changed for a contemporary feel, which means that the body is slimmed and the armholes raised to keep in line with today’s trimmed fit.

Evoking the feel of the old has been Gitman Vintage’s greatest success and, unsurprisingly, it’s what Olberding loves most about his role. “[I like] seeing how the old fits in with the new. After all, what is the new but the good forgotten old.”

I was recently invited to try to the made-to-measure shirts of Ign. Joseph, a shirt brand founded by the eponymous Ignatius Joseph in 1997. Mr Joseph lives in Dusseldorf, Germany and the brand is better known in central Europe – where he is rather renowned for his eclectic dress sense and red socks.

But the brand is now stocked in several London establishments (see list at the bottom of this article). Made-to-measure costs between €220 and €240, depending on fabric, and ready-to-wear between €189 and €210.

I sent the factory (in Castellamontre, Italy) a sample shirt that fitted pretty well – one made by Edward Tam in Hong Kong – and they copied the fit. You can also be measured in one of the UK outlets.

A few weeks later I received the shirt, an Egyptian cotton in pale pink. And I have to say the feel of the material was impressive. I am a beginner when it comes to shirt cottons, but it felt smoother and softer than, say, Ralph Lauren Purple Label and on a par with Turnbull & Asser’s Sea Island-quality cotton.

The collar is a hallmark of Ign. Joseph, all handmade and unfused. It was impressively soft and comfortable, yet retained its stiffness along the front edge. The fit was perhaps a little bigger than I had anticipated, but it has yet to be washed so that may change.

The tails were longer than those of most brands, though still a little shorter than what I prefer. And the waist could have done with taking in an inch or so. But then this is made-to-measure rather than bespoke. The fit was still better than any ready-to-wear shirt I have.

The buttons were nice, chunky mother-of-pearl. Once you have shirts with real mother-of-pear it’s pretty easy to spot imitations. There is far more depth and brightness to the colour.

Quality manufacturing, or rather the industry’s lack of it, is rather a bugbear of Ignatius’s. Indeed his press release begins: “After years in which the luxury conglomerates have bought and consolidated traditional names, everything from watches to cashmere stockings would appear to be made in the same factory but, in the manner of the old vertically integrated US carmakers, just stamped with a different label to capture naive clientele.”

The shirts are expensive but the quality is impressive. The designs also venture into the outlandish, which will suit some tastes. A strong impression, overall.

www.ign-joseph.com

Stockists:
VINCCI LTD, 60 Jermyn Street
RICHARD GELDING, 27 North Audley Street
IVOR SATORIA, Allitsen Road
CATER CLOTHING COMPANY, 43 Howard street, Belfast
UK representation: George Remmler, Fashion Innovations Ltd