The Proper Blog

At Proper Cloth, we get asked a lot of questions about dress shirts.  We keep reminding ourselves that there’s no such thing as a stupid question – just stupid answers – or stupid people – or something like that.  Anyways – here’s the latest from our virtual mail-room.

What is the Correct Men’s Dress Shirt Sleeve Length?

Sorry this is not a simple answer – but life is not simple either – get used to it. If the cuff of the shirt is unbuttoned, when your arms are hanging straight at your sides, the sleeve should just reach the pinch of your thumb and hand.  If the cuff is buttoned, the sleeve should hang just to the base of your hand.  The purpose of the cuff is to prevent the sleeve from going up over your hand.  The purpose of the extra couple inches is so you can put your hands on the conference table without your sleeves sliding up your forearms.

Can a Tailor Make Dress Shirts Shorter?  Slimmer?

Yes.  Tailors can shorten a dress shirt you’ve already purchased.  This is simple and easy.  They can also taper the midsection/waist area of your shirt.  This can be done by sewing darts in the back, or by unstitching the seams on the side of the shirt and then sewing the seams back together so that the shirt is slightly narrower.  There’s a small chance he totally screws your shirt up and it should cost you $10-$20.  You could also buy a dress shirt that fits right the first time.

Should  You Leave the Plastic Tabs in Collared Shirts?

First of all, some vocabulary.  You blokes in the UK, might call them tabs, but in NY we call them collar stays.  They are there to keep your collar straight and you do not dispose of them.  However, you will want to remove your collar stays prior to washing, dry-cleaning, or ironing your dress shirt.  Just be sure to put them back in.  If your shirt does not have removable collar stays, or does not have collar stays, then it is either a cheap piece of crap, or it is a casual shirt not suitable for formal or business occasions.

Should Dress Shirts Be Hung Buttoned All the Way Up?

Yes of course.  While you’re at it, get rid of those cheap metal hangers you got from your grandma and get some nice wider, cedar hangers that curve to the shape of the shirts yoke.

How Much Cloth Do You Need to Tailor a Shirt?

Unless you’re Shaquille O’Neil, it shouldn’t take more than 2.5 yards of fabric to make a shirt.  If the fabric you’re using is 58″-59″ wide, you can probably get away with 2 yards.  If you’re buying fabric retail and taking it to a tailor to make the shirt- you will end up spending a lot.  Proper Cloth let’s you effectively do the same thing without having to go to a fabric store or have a strange tailor feel you up.

Should Men’s Dress Shirts Be Tucked In?

It depends.  If you are in high school, dress shirts should not be tucked in.  You are both awkward and a rebel.  You defy convention and don’t care how you look.  On the other hand, if you graduated high school, then abso-f@*king-lutely your dress shirt should be tucked in.  Unless you like being single – and unemployed.  Some people think tucking their dress shirt in looks dorky.  This could very well be true.  We recommend you consider how well your dress shirt fits.  A properly fitting dress shirt will always look better tucked in then un-tucked.

So that’s all the Q&A we have time for now.  Have a question – leave it it the comments below, or contact us.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 13th, 2008 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Dress Shirts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.