The Secret To Great Fitting Shirts
No matter your style, your body shape or what look you’re going after a great fitting shirts is key to looking good. Every man can benefit from shirts that are properly fitted. Even if you can’t find shirts that fit just right, it’s also one of the easiest things to alter if you get the basics right.
Get Rid of Puffy Shirts Once and For All
When a shirt doesn’t fit it can look puffy or oversized if it’s too large (or skin tight if it’s too small). Too much material and improper sizing causes these problems. Different labels have different sizings so a medium for one label is not a medium in another. That’s even the case with shirts that have specific sizing measurements. It also depends on the shirt cut, as some are relaxed while others are slim fit. Regardless, you can’t buy by the label alone, you need to try the shirt on and check out all the key points of where the shirt should fit.
The Keys Everybody Ought to Know About Great Fitting Shirts
Shoulders - Start with the shoulders and make sure the shoulder seam lays exactly atop the natural curve of the shoulder. This point crucial and cannot be fixed no matter what. (Note where the shoulder seam is in the picture above).
Chest and Waist - These are the next import aspects to a shirt that fits great. At these two points the shirt should follow the line of the body without being tight while not too large either. Any extra material here will add extra bulk to your look, no matter if you’re thin or large.
Sleeves, Neck and Cuff/Wrist - These are dependent on the item (i.e. these sizes don’t really matter on a t-shirt). If you have a shirt that buttons at the neck, that you would wear buttoned at the neck, make sure the shirt can close comfortable. Sleeves should come down to at least the knuckle of your thumb which is just below your wrist. Lastly if you have a shirt that buttons at the cuff (or uses french cuffs/cufflinks) make sure it also buttons comfortably.
Shirt Length - If you are tucking in the shirt, then the shirt length ought to be long enough to do so and touch the top of your thighs. If the shirt is not going to be tucked in then it ought to touch just below the belt line. Never mix these two up, as a shirt that’s untucked and is too long looks sloppy, and a shirt that’s too short and tucked in will tend to untuck and also look sloppy.
Here’s a Quick Way To Get Your Shirts To Fit
If you don’t have the budget to purchase an entire new wardrobe then you can start with the easiest way to get your shirts to fit. So long as the shoulders of your shirt are the appropriate size you can alter the rest. You could do this yourself but the truth of the matter is that it’s dirt cheap to do at your local tailor. Go to your phone book, look up tailors in your area and choose one. A tailor can take a larger shirt and quickly remove the extra material from chest, torso and arms (and can also shorten sleeves and shirt length). The great thing about this is that it will perfectly fit YOUR body and not someone else’s. This shouldn’t cost you anymore than 10-30 dollars per shirt (depending on how much you alter it).
Build a Wardrobe You Can Be Proud Of
Proper sizing is the best step you can take towards a better wardrobe and when you have more shirts that fit you have more options. It’s not difficult to see if a shirt fits properly when you purchase it, but it’s also not difficult to alter a shirt either (so long as the shoulders fit).
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2 comments
On shirt length:
Apart from the point that it looks more laid back / less up-tight to not tuck the shirts (and polo’s), I also do it in an effort to mask a little extra padding around the waist. (Making progress to get rid of it but only slow - 85 kgs and trying to get to 75-80).
Many of the ‘untuck shirts’ are already made slim-fit so they are out of my league. So I’ve also realized that I need to modify shirts (and perhaps some polo’s) to get what I need.
But I find it troublesome to work out what length I should go for. I talked to an experienced guy in a clothes shop about modification and he warned me not to cut it too short if I have a little extra because it can look like a ‘tent’ if you have a little extra. In other words, just another way to emphasize it just as if tucking into a pair of tight pants.
Anybody have experience/comments?
You hit the main point on the nail. If you can’t find the right length then get alterations, it really opens up alot of doors. If you want to avoid the tent look, you can use a combo of shortening and taking in the sides. This way it’ll follow the line of your body without creating more bulk. At a tailor’s shop they’ll pin the shirt for you and you can see pretty quickly if the alteration will work or won’t work.
Another option to look into is layering (style-habits.com/blog/mens-fashion/informative/what-every-man-ought-to-know-about-layering-clothes/) as it can really help out with hiding pounds.
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