The button-down shirt: is there any item in a guy's wardrobe that's more reliable, more versatile, more out-and-out fundamental?

A good button-down shirt is more than just an item of clothing: it's a go-to, must-have wardrobe essential for any and all occasions, from date night to lunch with the folks to the office during the day.

But a good button-down — well, it's hard to find. Or it was. We're here to fix that.

Who are we? We're Pacific Issue, and we're here to tell you that you have options when it comes to what you put in your wardrobe.

What kind of options? We're glad you asked. Let's talk custom tailoring.

Shirts, right? Sure, there are worse problems in the world, but if you've done it, you know: shopping for button-downs sucks.

You might think it would be simple — run out to the department store, or hit the web if you're feeling digital. But you know what you would be if you thought that? WRONG.

Finding the right fit can be next to impossible: the neck might fit, but then the sleeves are too long. The chest might fit, but the stomach is billowy. And don’t even get us started on the Muffin Top Effect, when there’s so much extra fabric around the stomach that you start thinking about using it as extra storage space. (Gum? A nerf gun? A live animal? The options are limitless!)

And the colors, guys: Light blue. Sky blue. Eggshell blue. There are only so many ways to say "blue" and all of them pretty much translate the same way: boring. What does a guy have to do to get a little variety in his wardrobe?

There’s no way around it: custom shirts are the answer when it comes to both fit and flair (the good kind, not the muffin top kind). But while we’re on the subject: what is with custom tailors today and their stuffy, buttoned-up, boring-ass approach to menswear?

At Pacific Issue, we have a bit of a different philosophy about custom shirts.

It’s pretty simple, really: just because a shirt has buttons and a collar doesn’t mean it has to be snoozeworthy; just because that shirt is custom-made doesn’t mean it has to be stuck-up.

Slip one on, see how it feels. How does it feel?

It feels like freedom.

Pacific Issue is a totally new approach to custom shirts, both in-person and online.

Our shirts combine all the fit and polish of formal made-to-measure tailoring with a bit of that classic, laid-back California attitude.

We spent the last year scouring the Pacific for the right quality materials, found expert tailors to craft our hand-picked fabrics, and battle-tested our shirts with over 100 discerning beta testers from all walks of life.

The result: impeccable yet effortless custom dress shirts that will carry you all the way from just-off-the-surf in the morning, to crushing it at the office at work, straight on through to catching up over a few beers at night.

We call our approach “Cali-Formal”, and it goes a little something like this:

Fit Comes First
Each and every Pacific Issue creation is made to measure. Period. Our shirts are made one by one by skilled tailors who live and breathe good fit. These are not your run-of-the-mill neck + sleeve measurements, people: we’ve developed an individualized fit profile based on 9 specific measurements to guarantee that your shirt is YOURS — not yours and about fifty other guys' who are built kind of like you (but not really).

Patterns: Maybe You've Noticed Them.
Stop swimming in the sea of generic blue-and-white at your local department store: it’s time to get personal. At Pacific Issue, we offer curated and rotating runs of 100% cotton fabrics with patterns that give you all the freedom you want to express your personality — without overwhelming you with choice.

A Cut Above The Rest
Yeah, there are other custom shirtmakers out there. So what does Pacific Issue have that the competitors don't? A little bit of attitude, a little bit of point of view. But most importantly of all: unrelenting customer service in the name of the perfect shirt. We're not happy until you're happy. Happy? So are we.

Pacific Issue co-founders and die-hard button-down aficionados Mike and Aaron met early on in their business school careers, over beers at Aaron’s birthday, when each of them caught sight of the other in his well-fitted shirt and thought, "Now there is a man who knows his tailoring." (Though let's be honest: it’s not hard to stand out style-wise in business school, where the anonymous blue-or-white button-down reigns supreme.)

It was a match made in sartorial heaven: Mike, living in size purgatory between medium and large, and Aaron, whose large neck meant he could never find a shirt slim enough for the rest of him, bonding over the joys of custom-tailored clothing, and lamenting the lack of options for the fit-conscious yet unfussy guy on the go.

It wasn’t long, though, before they got to thinking: "Wait a minute: we're smart, capable guys! We don't have to take this lack of options lying down: we can make the options ourselves!"

That was the beginning of a beautiful (and well-dressed) friendship, and of the vision that ultimately became Pacific Issue. The rest, as they say, is history.

Mike Koranda, Co-Founder - mike@pacificissue.com
Mike, a Maryland native and University of Michigan grad, spent the early part of his career traveling the globe in media sales, working across Europe and Southeast Asia before settling in Australia. Mike first discovered custom clothing while working in Thailand and after that, there was no going back to ready-made. While in Australia, Mike worked with a number of apparel retail clients and discovered a passion for the industry. One last stop in San Francisco, where he caught the entrepreneurship bug and decided to marry retail and custom clothing, then it was off to business school at University of Southern California to launch the business.

Aaron May, Co-Founder - aaron@pacificissue.com
Aaron, a San Francisco native and NYU grad, started his career in the financial world as a relationship manager with some of the world’s biggest investment banks. Before his job brought him from New York to London, he knew he needed to up his shirt game. He got his first custom-made shirt, and his sartorial world was never the same. Throughout a career that has spanned the globe, Aaron has focused on providing unrelenting service and building long-term relationships with clients. He started at USC with the goal of finding the right opportunity to put his focus on service to work.

It’s early days yet, but Pacific Issue has already seen some incredible success, and it all points to even bigger and better things to come.

We ran a small Beta test of the Pacific Issue concept, and the response was pretty fantastic: we originally only wanted to run 2 test groups, but we had to expand it out to 3 because so many people were asking about it. In total, we sold over 200 shirts to 100 customers, who provided some awesome feedback that we put to work adjusting our process for fit and reliability, bringing us that much closer to our vision of the ultimate custom-made shirt.

Now it’s time to bring the vision even closer still, and that’s where Fundable—and you—come in!

With this crowdfunding campaign, our goal is to raise at least $10,000 to help us take our website beyond its current landing page-only status to something a bit more functional and awesome.

We’re talking data storage capabilities, so customers only have to enter their measurements once and then can order all the shirts they want whenever they want, making the measuring and ordering process easier and more efficient. Plus a small selection of pre-designed shirts to get our guys on their way to the button-down of their dreams.

As a "thank you" for helping make our dreams come true, we have some great rewards lined up for you:

For the Love of Shirts 
Because you believe in the power of the shirt.
The Pledge: $10+
The Perks: Our unending gratitude, plus 10% off a future order

The Big Thank You Surfboard
Immortality on a surfboard. 
The Pledge: $35+
The Perks: Live in infamy and memorialize your donation. We will put your name on a surfboard that hangs in our office, snap a pic, post it widely on the interweb, and generally appreciate the hell out of your donation. Plus get 15% off a future purchase!

One Awesome Shirt
What’s better than one shirt? One awesome shirt, that’s what.
The Pledge: $85+
The Perks: 1 Pacific Issue shirt, plus 20% off a future shirt.

Double Down
Double the shirts, double the awesomeness. 
The Pledge: $170+ 
The Perks: 2 Pacific Issue Shirts, plus 20% off 2 future shirts and first crack at our latest issues.

Triple Threat
Because more really is more. 
The Pledge: $255+
The Perks: 3 Pacific Issue shirts, plus 20% off 3 future shirts and first crack at our latest issues.

Six Pack
Your Buddy: “Hey! You look great! What’s different?” You: “Oh I don’t know, maybe just my closet full of awesome shirts.”
The Pledge: $500+ 
The Perks: 6 shirts of your choice, plus 25% off 4 future purchases, first crack at our latest issues, AND you get to name a Pacific Issue fabric or shirt anything you want (within reason).  

Dirty Dozen
Because a VIP pledge deserves VIP treatment.
The Pledge: $1,000+
The Perks: 12 shirts of your choice, plus a private fitting (if you are in LA) or phone style consultation with one of the Pacific Issue founders, AND the opportunity to design and name 1 shirt per year for the life of Pacific Issue! Also: 25% off 5 future shirts, and the first crack at our latest issues.

The process is very simple. Once you back us we will send you a confirmation email. When the campaign closes, if you have backed us at the "shirt level," you will receive:

1) Free Measuring Kit with bonus goodies!

2) "How To Measure Yourself (or your favorite shirt)" Guide

3) Login details to choose your shirt fabric and specs - see shirt thumbnails above for examples

*If you are planning to purchase a shirt as a gift: we'll ask for the "giftee's" email address

**If you are a beta customer we already have your measurements: you will receive goodies but can skip to step 3