Anyone who buys formal shirts in stores is familiar with the challenge of making the right choice. Merchandise display within a shirt store typically focuses primarily on attracting customers to brands, followed by fabric designs and colors. The shirts inside the racks or boxes are stacked according to the designs, styles and sizes of the fabrics. Once you navigate through the screens, it’s time to check if you can find the right shirt to buy. Here begins the real challenge. Size is not an issue because universally the collar size in centimeters and inches represents the shirt size specification and you should already know that. But there are other very important points that you must take into account if you want to make a good choice. This article will help you make the right selection of a shirt that will give you that elegant and exclusive look.

What to look for, when buying the shirt

1. The fabric, the seams and the embellishments

These three components of the basic quality of a shirt. To make sure of this, you should check the following.

A) The Fabric: Hold the shirt up to the light. There should be no fuzz on the surface, unless it’s made of flannels or special fabrics meant to be fuzzy. A smooth, lint-free fabric is a mark of good quality fabric.

B) The collar and cuffs: They must have a smooth finish, without folds or bubbles. The collars must have perfect points at the ends. Both ends of the neck should look symmetrical.

C) The seam should run in a straight line. There should be no looping along the stitches. Where there are parallel stitches, the distance between two lines should be the same along the seams. There should be no sewing thread sticking out anywhere along the seams, buttons, and buttonholes.

A good shirt will have a higher number of stitches per inch (SPI). Normal standard formal shirts have 14 to 18 SPI, while a first class shirt will have 23-25 ​​SPI. A high SPI makes the shirt look more elegant and enhances its life.

D) Trims – Check that the labels, buttons and buttonholes are well sewn. The buttons should be placed in the center of the buttonholes.

2. Size

You need to know what is the correct necklace size that fits you well. Typically, necklace sizes are listed in both inches and centimeters.

3. Adjust

If you have a slim V-shaped body and you like the shirt not to be too loose around the waist, try the slim fit. A fitted shirt allows for a 3 to 4 inch margin around the contour of the body. On the other hand, if you are not very endowed in the waist, you should look for a regular-fit or a comfort-fit (both are the same) that give a little more amplitude in the contour of the body, particularly in the abdomen area. In this case, if you find that the collar and sleeve fit well, but the shirt is too tight around the tummy or other places, it is better to order a tailored shirt, which means a tailored shirt.

The shoulders should fit properly. If the shoulders are too loose and the shoulder seams fall past the shoulder area, sliding towards the upper arm, you should try a different size. Otherwise, you should opt for a tailored shirt.

The armhole area is where the shirt sleeves meet the shoulder portion of a shirt. The fit should be such that, after wearing the shirt, you can lift both hands without feeling much tension around the armhole or shoulder. At the same time, the armhole should not be too large to give a ‘droopy’ look when you stand with your arms normally at your sides.

4. Styling

In a shirt, styles revolve around collars, cuffs, pockets, and button placket areas. There are several options, but they are not limited to the following:

necklaces

4.1. Regular

4.2. semi cropped

3.3. full cut

fists

4.5. Double cuff, square cut

4.6. Single cuff, round cut

4.7. Simple bracelet, diamond cut

banners

4.8. with sign

4.9. No Poster

button

4.10. With Button-Down, which means that the collar points are buttoned up to the body of the shirt.

Choosing the style is a matter of personal choice, in addition to the other clothing and accessories that you will wear with the shirt. For example, if you want to wear the shirt with a tie and a suit, you can select either a square-cut double-cuffed regular collar shirt or a rounded-finish single-cuffed shirt. A shirt worn under a suit may not need a pocket. Similarly, if you are going to wear the shirt with or without a tie, but without a suit, you can select a combination of a semi-open collar with a simple diamond-cut collar. diamond cut cuff and pocket. Button-down shirts can be worn with or without a suit or blazer and look good with classic knotted ties.