Everything To Know About A Dress Shirt for Men And Why It Should be Tailored

"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.

The base of the neck is circled by the collar, which is connected to the dress shirt collar band. There are many variations of the collar, from the Buttondown, hidden buttondown, traditional point, curved point, and even the round point collar. Higher quality dress shirt, or more formal dress shirts, are interfaced to make them stiffer, then are sewn along the edge. More than one piece of the interfacing can be used for a more firm collar. Men's dress shirts of lower quality will often have bubbles in the collar interfacing, which are very unsightly. The top stitching should be about 1 cm or so in from the border of the collar. You will notice that collars of lesser quality will have the stitching right on the border.

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.

You will notice that different men's dress shirts have different distances between the collar points, and this is referred to as the collar spread. The different collar spread will significantly alter the style of the manner of the shirt. If you have a fat neck than it would makes sense to minimize the spread between the collar points, where if you have a slim neck than you may want to increase the spread. By doing this you are balancing the weight between the neck and the collar, enhancing the visual appearance of your neck in a positive light. Remember, you're men's dress shirt should compliment you.

The front center placket is the piece of material on the front of the dress shirt where the buttonholes are placed. In the past, it was a separate piece of cloth sewn to the front, but today men's dress shirt makers often fold the edge of the material to form the placket. It gives the shirt a defined center and makes a clean finish where the shirt sides join to be buttoned. Most shirts have six buttons, or for taller fits, 7 buttons. Other variants of plackets are the Bluff front, Fly front and the Twin Stitching front.

It is optional to include include a pocket on a dress shirt. Originally, men's dress shirts did not include one, but nowadays it's just a matter of convenience are personal taste. If you are in a very formal event, you may consider a pocket-less shirt, though in any other setting it's fine to have one. The most popular pocket is regular, though you will often find on industry dress shirts, such as a security or pilot shirt, a pleated flapped pocket. The point of the pleat is to allow the pocket to expand. A pocket adds a touch of character to a dress shirt.

Long sleeve is the norm for dress shirts, though short sleeve dress shirts can be found. Especially in warm climates you will find short sleeve even around the office. Never wear a short sleeve under a jacket, or at a more formal environment. In a relaxed environment you may roll up your sleeves to make them into short sleeves, and it often looks fairly stylist.

There is also a small placket found on the sleeve, from the collar up about one quarter of the sleeve, providing and opening. This is called the sleeve placket, and it can be found with a button or button-less. The purpose is to make for a proper fit on the shirt.

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 cuff forms the end of the sleeve, and usually has button, possible two on it. The mark of a men's dress shirt is a fairly well defined cuff. The cuff does serve the purpose of closing the sleeve, and making it fit properly, although it is also designed to be stylish.

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.

Rather than having one piece along the entire back a typical dress shirt is make of two- a lower piece along the back and the upper piece that extends to the shoulders referred to as the Yoke. The traditional yoke is made of one piece and the fabric pattern aligns at a ninety degree angle to the rest of fabric on the back, or a British yoke that is aligned at a lesser angle to the pattern on the back.

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.

A less common feature on dress shirts is darts. The purpose of darts is to remove excess fabric on the back of the shirt, thus making it follow the curvature of the back. This feature can compliment those with arched backs and slim figures. Some custom shirt makers do not use darts, though people that do wear darts appreciate the fit they provide. Most body shapes do not require darts on their dress shirt, but those that do will find it makes a huge difference to the style.

The feature that will make your dress shirt just that much more personalized is a monogram. The is your initials woven onto your shirt in a visible place. Initially monograms were made so the commercial laundry shop could identify who's shirt was who's, though now it is used a sign of customization and quality. When an shirt is for the office you should have it placed on somewhere not so obvious, such as on the lower placket.

Now that you have read this article you will have a solid understanding of the anatomy of a dress shirt. The men's dress shirt is really a "time-less" piece of men's fashion. It's been around for hundreds of years, and will continue to be around for a long time to come. Unlike a typical shirt, the dress shirt is designed to contour, and compliment the features of the body, and this is why it's design is so much more complex than your typical shirt.

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