Vibrant colours, fetching patterns, and not to mention big discounts are enough to work you into shopping frenzy but once you get home there is much to regret than to relish.
Buying apparel is much like feasting on a delicious meal but it should not upset your stomach afterwards. Same way once you are planning to purchase a dress shirt keeping in mind few vital points could potentially save effort, time and money.
Dress shirt has the power to anchor your outfit. A perfect fit will lend you confidence and elegance, whereas, an ill-fitting shirt might make a joke of you. That’s not it gentlemen, a bad fitting dress shirt might also suggest lack of organizational qualities, and that you are incompetent.
Why is your impression crashing time and again even when you are wearing your favourite shirt on?
Maybe your shirt is oversized or too tight for your body shape. If not for this probably you are making mistakes in collar style, sleeves and cuff length.
A Perfect Fit Of Shirt
Any shirt that is not fit either cast aside or if it is worth staying in the closet, then get it tailored for you. Shirts may require alteration in sleeves, body or length. Length is the simplest feature to adjust, in fact you can shorten the shirt at home with little tailoring skills and a sewing machine. Although other modifications may take you to a master-tailor.
If you are sticking to a ready-made shirt then browse all popular brands that make good shirts and check complete fit in the mirror; front and back; sides, length, collar type.
A good shirt will give you proper outlines around the shoulders, neck, chest and arms. It should be long enough to reach your crotch [5-7] inches below the waist] to tuck in properly- length can be altered easily if the overall fit is decent. A very nagging problem with the short length shirt- it comes untucked within few minutes and you stay busy pushing it back.
Tip: Wash a new shirt once before putting it on since the fabric undergoes a long process under machines and chemicals to treat and give it a glossy finish.
Parts Of A Shirt
Collar
Collar style and size shape your face plus enhance your appearance. You should have breathable margin and no visible gap between collar and neck. If there is much room or the collar is choking then the collar is loose or too tight respectively.
Collar is an important part of a shirt. While looking for other more visible features, such as colour and pattern men often pay no attention to the collar type of the shirt. Collar basically creates a shape of your face or improves your appearance by adding some attractive visual dimensions.
Whether or not you wear tie on daily basis you should still choose a right size and spread of collar for you. If you are a corporate employee, businessman or a banker you will need bigger and wider collars. Spread, pointed, tab-collar and cutaway are good examples for you. These collar types can easily accommodate any knot.
It is vital to consider the spread between collar points. too narrow or too wide gap is not a versatile feature of collar, you should always choose average to medium for most of shirts.
It is recommended not to wear a narrow tie knot between wide collars for it will leave empty space. Vice versa don’t match a wider knot with narrow collar width. Hopefully with this information you will be at ease to select a perfect collar shirt for yourself.
Band or Chinese collar is ultra casual collar type, better suits in relaxed fashion. It is inappropriate at work and interviews. Wingtip collar is extremely formal and fits tuxedo or dinner suit. Cut away collar is less formal than standard collar. Generally cutaway collar look fetching with a proper tie-knot.
Long sleeve vs short sleeve shirt
Shoulders & Back
A shirt will sit correct on the shoulder line for a perfect fit. Shoulder points drooping or riding high will mean a wrong fit and might require adjustments.
Shoulder and back are more proportional to each other but due to largely varying body shapes amongst men some other features are added if the shirt does not fit well.
Pleat is a wise addition to the rear part of a shirt that makes it wearable on more than average body size. It is fundamentally neat fold/s sewn at the back at the seam between yoke and back of shirt. Goal of the pleat is to permit more rear room while keeping the chest size unchanged, else you may guess what will happen.
Types of pleats
A box pleat is created in the middle at the seam. It allows more room in the back, particularly when free arm movement is needed. However a boxed pleat causes bulging of shirt below the chest due to no control on either side.
Two Side pleats help you rid of the bulging of shirt while maintaining the fit uniformly. As the name, side pleats come on either sides of the shirt back running down the length. This feature is appropriate for formal shirts due to its clear design.
Double pleats also create an appealing silhouette of a man. Although, for an average built guy no-pleat shirt would work well.
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Trunk
Most readymade shirts come in regular fit which will surely suit a larger guy but an average man may not be so lucky. For a better fit it should taper down the length gently to create a natural silhouette and clear cut shape. A fine shirt will fit around the waist with no extra fabric pooling; Extra fabric needs complete removal.
A sharp cut around the waist will leave no material to adjust later and also appear awkward therefore darts are used to modify the shirt.
Darts are fabric folds sewn in the back of a shirt. Darts give a curve for a slimmer fit around the waist. Slim men and athletes may require darts more often since a shirt would fit them in the shoulders but due to their narrow waist area fabric will bunch and swell around it.
Sleeves
Too long sleeves may suggest you have borrowed the shirt from a large guy or dont know what you are wearing, meanwhile too tight sleeves will fix your arms in a place give the impression that you have overgrown your shirt. It also allows poor ventilation and cause more perspiration.
Sleeve length is important while buying any shirt.
- Always wear a right fitting shirt when shopping for shirts. This way you will never go wrong in measurements.
- Check sleeves, cuffs. Longer sleeves must be cut to your arms length. loose sleeves should be fitted well.
Placket
A placket is the long opening at the end of a shirt sleeve that runs through under the cuff as well. It’s a piece of same or contrasting fabric stitched meticulously at the slit.
Thanks to placket that you are able to put your arm easily through the sleeves. A quality shirt will have a gauntlet button too on the placket. The main function of a gauntlet button is to keep the sleeve in place when fastened. Gauntlet is smaller than cuff buttons.
Cuffs
Cuff is the end part of a sleeve; has a buttonhole and button on either side of the opening for closure. Standard shirts have two cuff buttons on them to your comfort. A cuff is as vital as the shirt collar. It fastens sleeves and creates perfect finish at the wrist. Wear a cuff just about wrist joint, any offset needs correction. Besides, a cuff too tight will grip your wrist and if too loose, it will be difficult to handle.
Cuffs are always in proportion to the sleeves fit. Often loose sleeves will offer loose cuffs and you cant adjust only the cuffs. cuff width ranges between 1.5-3 inches. narrow cuffs are found in casual shirts with 1.5-2” width. A formal shirt should have a cuff between 2.5-3”. It also provides effective folding of sleeves with minimal bulk.
Pocket is not compulsory. I recommend no pocket in shirt for an iconic look. You should at least have two, white and blue, shirts with no pocket on them. Do you keep your wallet or keys in them? Probably not and you should not. Most men carry the breast pocket with no purpose but always have it sewn on their shirts. I think a pocket on formal is not a required feature.
Q&A
Q 1. Which colour formal shirts should I get initially to build my wardrobe?
Ans. Both formal or casual men should at least have two white and blue shirts tailored for himself. Next a formal man would like to add ( light hues of grey, pink, purple ) or off-white
Q 2. Which collar types should I always have in my shirt collection?
Ans. Formal collars are bigger, pointed and have moderate gap between collar points viz. Standard or spread collar. For casual shirts you may like mandarin, slim collars.
