Do you have an abnormally thick neck and one arm that's shorter than the other? Don't worry: At least your shirts can look great.

Philadelphia designer Sarah Van Aken, of Van Aken Custom Shirts (www.vanakencustom.com), a former sculpture and ceramics major at the University of Delaware, turned to tailoring fine dress shirts for men and women who appreciate an eye for detail that comes from her training in the fine arts. The best thing about Van Aken? She travels, so you don't have to leave your home or office.

She got the idea to create a line of shirts from a friend who used to get measured for cheap custom shirts in airport hotel rooms by tailors out of Hong Kong. "I wanted to offer the quality of fabric and construction that you could get in Italy but offer it at a price point [comparable to what my friend paid]," Van Aken says.

In her Washington Square studio the designer has a template of custom patterns that she takes to clients for their fittings. The completed patterns get sent to 30 Tennessee-based artisan seamstresses, who hand-sew the shirts in three to four weeks.

The dress shirts, which start at $110, are comparable in price to what you'd buy at Thomas Pink or Burberry. Van Aken is especially picky about fabric quality. "I love cotton," she says. "When it is of high quality, it can feel just like silk." The fabrics are purchased at trade shows and directly through agents who represent mills in Italy; the thread count is usually 200 or higher.

Van Aken says her average customer order calls for three to seven shirts at $155 a pop. "Clients know they're getting measured, so they're buying a bunch." The price varies based on the quality and origin of the fabric.

On one job, she fits lawyer Ruben Honik of Golomb and Honik, PC, for four dress shirts. She comes to his office toting a suitcase filled with fabric swatches, sample collars and cuffs. He decides on three white shirts (at $174 each) in finely woven cotton with a slight sheen. He chooses classic collars and square, one-button French cuffs. He also opts for one blue shirt (at $153), with a mitered, two-button French cuff.

Honik is then fit for his shirts. The whole process takes about 20 minutes. Van Aken measures his neck, chest, waist, hips, forearm, upper arm and the distance between his shoulders. His height and weight are taken into account (he is fairly well proportioned, but one arm is a fraction of an inch longer).

He asks, "Do you measure the dominant arm? Because most people call this my Popeye arm and [this] my Olive Oil arm," gesturing to each. Van Aken asks if he wants his left cuff to be larger to fit his watch. He declines. "This may affect my feng shui."

"The best part of my job," says Van Aken, "is meeting with clients [because] I'm a very social person. I enjoy seeing well-made garments, because you can see the difference between something that is very well made and the disposable clothing you find out there."