bespokeLast Friday when I was in New York I had some custom shirts made.  Based on several recommendations and some internet research I went to Carl Goldberg where he runs a shop called Cego.  The place was buried at the top of a building on 5th ave with rolls upon rolls of fabric strewn everywhere.  I had somewhat of an idea on what I wanted but after seeing the selection I was a little overwhelmed.  The main reason I was doing custom shirts was for the perfect fit not fabric selection but I killed nearly an hour just going through all the choices.  That day I had worn a Banana Republic shirt I’ve liked for two seasons and it had been tailored to fit reasonably well.  So I was shocked when he immediately identified the year and location of my shirt without looking at the tag or asking me.  He also pointed out everything that was wrong with the shirt and said I could gain 20 lbs to make it fit right.  I love no bullshit New Yorkers (hard to find) but I didn’t need selling, I was coming to him since I haven’t been able to find the perfect shirt.  Carl himself was disheveled with coffee stains on his shirt and a suit that had never touched an iron.  Somehow I had expected he would look much more put together but I took comfort in the fact that he didn’t give a rats ass about how he looked.  Like all of his passion was wrapped up in what he was creating for others.  His assistant was done up in a custom shirt and pants so you could at least see some of his work in action walking around.

I tried on a few shirts and he took a bunch of measurements: neck, chest, waist, hips, length, shoulder slope, both wrists (no watch so I assume they are the same..)  And when done I picked a really basic light blue Oxford cloth that was 150 thread.  Simple.  I was also able to pick collar type, buttons, cuffs, pockets and other things but I kept it really basic since it was to be my first shirt.  It takes a few weeks before it’s made at which time he’ll ship it to me, I wear it a few times and then he inspects for adjustments.  I put a deposit down for a few other shirts so once the sizes are figured out on this first one I can order a few more.  Since I’m replacing my basic shirt selection I’ll probably do a white oxford next and then start playing around with patterns and prints.  I guess I should check out other shirt makers but almost all of them are in New York or Europe and they can be pricey.  Carl seemed reasonable for price and selection so I’m hopeful this will be the start of a long term shirt relationship.  I really enjoy the idea of ordering new shirts once or twice a year and just getting to pick from thousands of fabrics.  I don’t know how or why I got so obsessed with the perfect fitting dress shirt but we’ll see if this extends to pants, suits and shoes.