How to buy a nice looking dress shirt for the office

I’m sure you’ve come across this at work. Some man wearing a dress shirt that hangs off his shoulders like a parachute, enlarges at the waist and has this crinkled collar that flaps in the wind. You don’t need to spend a ton of money to buy quality dress shirts.

This is what you should be looking when buying mens dress shirts:

It won’t get worse than a dress shirt that blouses at the waist. If it looks like a tent and has no shape that’s most likely how it will look on you. If you have a smaller waist than chest buy athletic fit dress shirts. I PROMISE, you’ll look great in them.

Know your Sleeve and Neck measurements and stay away from dress shirts that come in S-M-L-XL. They are made for mass market appeal and usually don’t’ fit anyone well. Ask to be measured by a sales person, if you don’t know your measurements. A neck measurement is just what you think. Measure the circumference of your neck at your collar line. A true sleeve measurement is from between your shoulders with your elbow at 90 degrees.

Construction is Key:

Split yokes will give shirts a better fit across the shoulders .
Remember to think of the fit. There are many different types of fits such as slim fit dress shirts, loose fitting dress shirts, modern fit, athletic fit, etc. If you are just going for something standard pick the normal fit.
The Front and Sleeve Plackets should be sewn on and not folded over fabric.
The majority of the seams should be top stitched, especially the side seams and seams that run along sleeves. The top stitching makes for a flatter fit.
The collar should be stiff , not flimsy. Spread collars should have collar staves.
The shirt’s length should be slightly long, so it doesn’t come untucked easily.
The shirts should either be box pleated or have side pleats on the back.

I prefer 100% cotton shirts, but I see nothing wrong with cotton/polyester blends. I would stay away from 100% polyester shirts. I’m also not a fan of spandex in my dress shirts. It makes them crunchy. No wrinkle make it easy to iron and launder at home.

I’ve seen designer dress shirts that have folded over plackets, single fabric yoke or no pleat in the back, and made out of exotic fabrics. They can be perfectly fine, but I wanted to focus this post on everyday men’s dress shirts.