Copyright (c) 2008 Wes Fernley

Color and Style

The first step in choosing your custom fit tailored dress shirt is to select a color and style of shirt. If you are a more conservative dresser or work in a strict office environment, traditional colors such as light blue and white will be your best bet. Typically conservative dress shirts are solid in color as well: no stripes or patterns. A standard collar will also be preferred.

If you are looking to be a bit more stylish with your shirt, you might consider a brighter color. Spread collars, which are wider at the bottom than standard collars, are also in fashion, especially for younger workers.

Ensuring Quality

When seeking a high quality dress shirt, there are a few things you want to check. First is the ply count. A high quality shirt will have a two ply count, and will have this information on the label. Lesser quality shirts will have only a one ply count, and this information will usually not be made available on the label. Two-ply fabric shirts are stronger, last longer, are softer and more comfortable and will wrinkle less than one-ply shirts.

Seams should also be checked. If the shirt is high quality, only a single line of stitching will be visible on the seam running down the side of the shirt. Most shirts have two lines of stitching on the side seam.

To ensure your custom fit tailored shirt is of high quality, check the stitching on the buttons. In a high quality shirt buttons will be sewn on with a cross-locked stitch to make it more difficult for them to fall off.

Checking the Fit

Once you have chosen the color and style of shirt that you want, it is time to check the fit. The primary areas which you need to examine when selecting a custom fit tailored dress shirt are the collar, arms and wrists.

When the shirt is on, you should be able to put two fingers between your neck and the collar. For a new shirt, the collar should actually be about half a size bigger than you need. It takes about 9 washings for a dress shirt to shrink to its smaller size. If you have selected to small a collar, it will choke you when you try to put it on after it has finished shrinking.

Shirt sleeves should be long enough so that when your arms are fully extended, the sleeves do not ride up your wrists. The cuffs should also be tight around your wrist so they do not slide down your hands when arms are not extended. If you are able to get your hands through the cuffs even if they are buttoned, then the cuffs are not tight enough.

While wearing your shirt it should feel comfortable across your entire body. Make sure that it doesn't get tight around shoulders, chest or waist. Check the buttons to make sure they are not too far apart leaving gaps and exposing your chest or waist.