Wearing Tailored Dress Shirts: Men's Guide To Custom Clothing

"Timeless" fashion last forever, and so does the men's dress shirt. Not much has changed to the classic men's dress shirt, other than it has become more fitted over the past few decades. In the United states most people call it the button-down, whereas in the UK it is just called a shirt. All are the same, consisting of a sleeves, cuffs, collar and a buttoned opening on the front. Here you can learn all about the anatomy of the dress shirt.

The inside of the collar is referred to as the Collar Band, and it forms the height of the collar. A different fabric may be used on the collar band to add a contrasting effect to the dress shirt. Top buttons of the placket are attached to the collar band. If the shirt is made without a collar band, and yes this can be done, it will create a long sprawling collar, not typically seen on today's men's dress shirts- think of those shirts that were popular in the disco era.

A shirt collar is the piece of a dress shirt that is attached to the collar band and fits around the frame of the neck. Fine dress shirt collars are stitched around the edges to stiffen and hold the folded material in place; this stitching can be up to 1 centimeter in from the edge. Traditional high quality men's dress shirts will have the top stitching a couple centimeters in from the edge, while low quality collars will often have the stitching directly on the edge. Interfacing material is used to attach the two pieces of fabric and make them stiffer. On low quality dress shirts, the interfacing will often show "bubble" marks after a few washings. The various types of collars you will find on a dress shirt are: Traditional point, curved point, round point, Buttondown and hidden Buttondown. These collars can have different point lengths or spreads to significantly alter the style.

The collar point is the pointed part of the collar at the front of the men's dress shirt. The points should lie flat and be wrinkle- and pucker-free. Traditionally, dress shirts had collar stays on the reverse side of the points, though stays are not common anymore, with dress shirts now being constructed to maintain collar shape without them.

A good tailor will put a lot of consideration into the space between the collar points, know as the collar spread. The reason so much consideration must be made for this is because a men's dress shirt should flatter your natural body shape- so a person with a stout neck should use a collar with a narrow spread, while a person with a skinny neck should use a collar with a larger spread. By doing so, the neck will visually be enhanced by the collar, thus bringing the best out of your body.

The convenience of the men's dress shirt is that it can be completely opened from the front, and this is covered by a part called the front centre placket. There are different styles- most common being the bluff font, and less popular but also very nice is the twin stitching front and the fly front. A typical front center placket has six buttons, and on a tall fitting you will find 7 buttons for the extra length. This can be made by attaching a separate piece of fabric, or by folding the fabric onto itself.

The pocket on a men's dress shirt is typically placed on the left chest — or there may even be two, one on the left and one on the right chest. Traditionally, dress shirts did not have pockets, though in this day and age it is common to see shirts with a single dress shirt pocket in a business setting. Apart from its obvious purpose of holding thin items, a pocket adds character to dress shirts. Possibly, in very formal settings, it would be preferable to wear a pocketless shirt. Pockets are typically divided into three classes: regular, pleated, and flapped.

Dress shirts come in either full sleeve or short sleeve versions. The long sleeve men's dress shirt is considered the norm in a business or formal setting, though in tropical climates, it can be acceptable to wear a short sleeve style at the work place. In a more casual setting, full sleeves can be rolled up to the length of short sleeves, thus providing a style of their own.

The sleeve of a dress shirt will have an opening from the cuff up to about halfway to the elbow called the sleeve placket. This opening allows the sleeve to be put on easily and fit better. It may or may not have a button. By having this feature it allows the sleeve to be rolled up.

Armscye is the armhole of a shirt. In sewing, reference to the armscye length is the total length of the hole from top to bottom. This is the part of a shirt that many find "off the shelf" dress shirts to be difficult to fit.

The One Button Round Cuff is the most common, and is considered the traditional dress shirt cuff. Its simple, low profile design makes it the most popular cuff in use, and is the cuff of choice even in a modern style dress shirt. Also, you may find a two button Round cuff. More than functionality, the two button is more of a fashion statement.

Slightly longer, and used in the most formal events, the french cuff is considered very stylish. One does need cuff links to be able to properly wear french cuffs, as they need to be secured closed. In recent years the french cuff has made a comeback to less formal settings such as the office. Before, it was reserved for use with a lounge suit or formal jacket. The design of these cuffs is that they are folded once onto themselves.

Convertible Cuffs can be worn as round cuffs or French cuffs on a dress shirt. They have buttons to secure the cuff as a button cuff would, though they also have an extra buttonhole sewn in, to allow the cuff to be folded over and used with cuff links. This makes for a versatile dress shirt.

The Yoke is the strip of material sewn across the shoulders to attach the front and back pieces of the shirt. Dress shirts normally have a one-piece yoke, though two-piece yokes can occasionally be found on traditional British dress shirts. The two-piece yoke is divided directly behind the neck, allowing the pattern to be lined up at a 90 degree angle to the pattern on the front of the shirt, while making the pattern of the yoke on the back intersect, producing a "V" shape to the dress shirt.

Pleats allows for flexibility across the shoulders of a men's dress shirt. When the wearer of the dress shirt moves his arms up, the extra fabric folded into the pleats releases and allows flexibility. Pleats are located on the back of the dress shirt, starting at the seam between the back and yoke. Box pleats are located in the centre of the back, and can also be made as inverted box pleats which only show a visible line opening. Another option is the knife pleat, which is created when the fabric is folded over once, on the right and left sides of the back. An alternative to pleats is gathering. Gathering can be applied across the entire back/yoke seam, or just on the right and left back/yoke seam. A dress shirt can also be made without pleats. This is recommended for inward-arched backs that tend to collect a lot of fabric on the lower back of the dress shirt.

The bottom cut comes in two popular variants. Most common is the tail cut, also referred to as the round bottom. In this cut, the front and back of the shirt are longer than the sides of the shirt. This gives a front and back "tail" and curved sides, a design intended to give the shirt more style when untucked — though the tail cut bottom can also be worn tucked in. The other variant is the square cut, and it is designed for a shirt that will be tucked in most of the time. The square cut, as its name suggests, is square/straight along the bottom.

If you have the problem of extra fabric bunching up on the back of your men's dress shirt you may want to consider darts. The feature of darts is to cut a small slice of fabric off of the back and sewing it it. Dart are usually fairly visible, but those body types that find the feature compliments there body will find they are well worth it. On the other hand, most body types do not require darts, it's more suitable for those with inward arching backs and slim bodies.

Usually offered from custom tailors is a monogram on your dress shirt. A monogram is a lettering on your shirt, usually the initials of your name. A monogram is a nice personal touch that will often emphasize that your shirt has been custom made for you- really a sign of quality and workmanship. If you decide to get a monogram on your shirt you may want to consider getting it somewhere discreet if it is for office wear.

The men's dress shirt has been around for a long time, and will continue to do so. It's doesn't blow around in the winds of trends, but has lasting power due to it's functionality and class. Now you should have a strong understanding of all the features of a dress shirt, and will be able to make a more educated choice in what shirt to where, when to where it, and what shirt fits your body the best.

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