How to buy a good dress shirt?

[dfi]

I am sick of dress shirts that bunch up when tucked in, only to bellow out when it starts to become untucked. Frankly, it feels like most department store dress shirts are made for men with a beer belly. I have broad shoulders and a tapered waist - where are they hiding shirts for men like me? I cannot be the only guy with this problem.

I typically buy shirts with a fold in the center on the back, but recently noticed that shirts with 2 folds on each side seem to fit a bit better. It's an improvement, but I still feel like I have way too much shirt bunching up. If I get a shirt without any folds at all in the back, then at times I feel my back stretching the shirt.

Now, I am not rich enough to buy all custom tailored shirts. So I figure there is either some super secret brand, sold only in dank alleys nationwide that I have yet to become aware of, or I have to buy shirts off the rack and get it tailored. If I were to get an off the rack shirt tailored, what's a reasonable price range?

 

[Coquito]

Get measured
Drink some beer

I have a thick neck, but the bigger that goes, the longer the sleeves & the shirt itself get. I just tuck it all in. Aside from what you said about getting customized, I doubt there is an answer.

 

[nocash]

look for trim fit shirts

 

[bleeb]

trim shirts are your friend.

 

[hjo3]

Go to Men's Wearhouse in Seattle. Ask for Randy. He'll hook you up.

 

[Czar]

get fat

 

[allisolm]

If your shirts bellow, you've got bigger problems than a loose fit.

 

[imported_Pablo]

I have the same problem... Try stores like banana republic, or see if you can find tall sizes

 

[edro]

Fitted.

When buying shirts, ask, or look for the term "Fitted". This just means that the waist and back are tapered for the normal male figure. Most places sell "normal" shirts, because 95% of the people buying dress shirts are fat old men.

Almost all of my shirts are "fitted".

 

[loup garou]

Go get measured and stop buying cheap shirts.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I'm 6'4" tall and have a medium build....I'm not skinny, not fat....My shoulders are broad and my arms are long, but my neck isn't huge like the shirts that fit my sleeves are. I have to go to big and tall stores to get fitted to find ones that fit my arms and have enough extra material to tuck in.

What you probably should do is go to a dress shirt store like S&K or even J.C. Penny and ask to be fitted...they do it for free and you can figure out what you need for the majority of your measurements. Write those down and then go around everywhere and ask to try on shirts with those measurements.....that'll at least allow you to try on a bunch of different brands and check their fit. When you find the one that fits best buy like 10 of them and you'll be set until you gain weight.

 

[allisolm]

Lands' End trim shirt $19.99

"Trim dress shirts, available in some styles and sizes, are tapered, with a 5" drop from chest to waist."

 

[Ilmater]

I'm 6'9", with 39" sleeves and an 18 1/2" neck. My shirts are ALWAYS too big, but the local big & tall store trims them down for me. I don't know how tall you are, but if you can find some shirts there, they should be able to fit you up.

 

[dfi]

Fitted shirts? That's news to me! I guess I forgot to mention that I am clueless when it comes to fashion. But I'm trying. So trim/fitted shirts just means that they are tapered?

 

[dfi]

Originally posted by: allisolm
If your shirts bellow, you've got bigger problems than a loose fit.

Oh I'm sorry. My shirts billow. I bellow.

 

[Biggerhammer]

Originally posted by: dfi
I am sick of dress shirts that bunch up when tucked in, only to bellow out when it starts to become untucked.

I'm getting this grammatically correct picture of his shirt yelling whenever it comes untucked...

Hit the yellow pages and find a tailor.

 

[FeuerFrei]

I'm with the OP on this. Need to find a supplier of non-billowing shirts. I get more discriminating the older I get.

 

[imthebadguy]

where do you shop, try express or bachrach, marshall fields, etc...

 

[mugs]

Slim fit++

I like the Structure slim fit shirts they sell at Sears (they're not very "traditional" though)

 

[edprush]

Originally posted by: edro13
Fitted.

When buying shirts, ask, or look for the term "Fitted". This just means that the waist and back are tapered for the normal male figure. Most places sell "normal" shirts, because 95% of the people buying dress shirts are fat old men.

Almost all of my shirts are "fitted".

I have been looking everywhere for "fitted shirts". I finally found a JC Penney catalog had a few Stafford Fitted Shirts. I'm gonna buy.

Hey edro13, where do you buy yours?

 

[edprush]

Originally posted by: dfi
Fitted shirts? That's news to me! I guess I forgot to mention that I am clueless when it comes to fashion. But I'm trying. So trim/fitted shirts just means that they are tapered?

I thought "athletic" shirts were the same as fitted...so I bought a bunch of them. They didn't fit any better because they don't taper to the waist. They're for guys with big guns--not me.

 

[Lifted]

Brooks Bothers has what you need. You can find shirts on sale every once in a while, just load up then. $40 - $50 marked down from $100 - $120.

They also look much better, feel much better, and will last you much longer than some JC Penny crap. Well worth it in my opinion.

 

[bigrash]

i normaly dont like alfani shirts, but they usualy fit me nice because they're tighter around the waist

 

[LS20]

theyre also called slim fit... euro cut or euro drop... theres a larger "drop"--size diff between shoulders and waist... avoid places like eddie bauer which caters to american guys with huge guts

 

[edro]

Originally posted by: edprush

Originally posted by: edro13
Fitted.

When buying shirts, ask, or look for the term "Fitted". This just means that the waist and back are tapered for the normal male figure. Most places sell "normal" shirts, because 95% of the people buying dress shirts are fat old men.

Almost all of my shirts are "fitted".

I have been looking everywhere for "fitted shirts". I finally found a JC Penney catalog had a few Stafford Fitted Shirts. I'm gonna buy.

Hey edro13, where do you buy yours?

I get mine at the cheap places, but still name brand (Kohl's, T.J. MAX), and regular stores like Macy's, JC Penny, Lazurus. They are tough to find, because a lot of times, they don't show it on the sign. You have to look at the tag and see if it says "Fitted", "Custom Fit", or "Slim Fit".

It takes some looking around, but there is nothing better than a good fitting shirt that doesn't have 40" of fabric hanging off your back.

Originally posted by: Lifted
Brooks Bothers has what you need. You can find shirts on sale every once in a while, just load up then. $40 - $50 marked down from $100 - $120.

They also look much better, feel much better, and will last you much longer than some JC Penny crap. Well worth it in my opinion.

Shieeet.... $50? I rarely go over $30. I got 2 new GAP shirts the other day for $7.99 each.