Men’s Dress Shirts Basics

Imagine the average Joe in the middle of the men’s dress shirts department at the local mall. Many men at this point rely on what they affectionately call, “hey honey”, in others words, their better half. For those of you who do not have access to this valuable asset perhaps a men’s dress shirts road map of a sort is in order.

The first stop on our tour is size. How on earth do you decide what size? Gone are the tried and true labels of small medium and large. They are displayed nowhere in the entire department. This has to be a trick right? Wrong. Dress shirts are sized by neck size and arm length. The manufacturers have what they call a “standard” thus being they are assuming that if you have a neck size of sixteen inches, measured with a tape measure around your neck just where the top of your collar goes, this indeed means your chest is between forty-eight and fifty inches.

Then the only other measurement you will need is the length of you arm. Measuring from the outer edge of your shoulder seam to the first knuckle on your thumb, subtract one to one and a half inches depending on where you personally like your cuff to lay on your hand and there you have it: instant sizing. A very neat trick to bypass all this twisting and turning is to take your favorite dress shirt out of the closet and measure it instead. Of course this self punishment could be avoided all together should you decide to visit a tailor, who may quite possibly be even a bigger asset then, “hey honey”, as they will take all the needed measurements for a perfect fit and you will not even have to treat them to dinner out. Weigh your options carefully at this extremely important crossroad.

The next stop on our travels would be fabric. Fabric is very important to the comfort and style of the fashion savvy shirt. Colors and details are of course essential considerations, however, the way a man feels in his dress shirt is often much more important, after all who can remain cool and unruffled in the heat of an intense boardroom battle when their dress shirt is itchy? Many times you will hear industry talk of thread count. While a high thread count does indeed mean a softer fabric, it is the finish that decides quality of the shirt. Without the benefit of an experienced tailor the touch test is suggested. Run your hand over the material. In fact put the shirt on. There is nothing worse then putting out hard earned money only to find once you are home and dressed that you are going to be miserable all day in the dress shirt you bought without trying it on. You have heard the phrase, time is money, and it certainly applies here.

Cotton is always great choice for dress shirts as it is natural and skin feels great wrapped in it. Another skin friendly fabric is linen. It is best pick for hot summer days. The negative part of these natural fibers is that they wrinkle easily. To reduce wrinkles many are made of combination of cotton and synthetic fibers like polyester or rayon. However, it is important to always choose shirts that are made with bigger percentage of cotton than synthetic fibers.

Having knowledge to pick the right size and fabric of dress shirts, your personal, or “hey honey’s” preference and fashion trends will be your guide in choosing the style and color of your dress shirts. You can choose between different types of collars and cuffs, as well as whether they will be solid or patterned. Whatever you choose, make sure that your dress shirts mix well with the rest of your outfit.