Shirt sizing
Small shirts are too small for me in the chest and shoulders, and medium shirts are too long in the sleeves and length. What should I do?
30 Replies
What kind of shirts are we talking about here?
dress shirts
proper dress shorts shouldn't be sized as S / M / L
They should at least be sized by neck size and sleeve length.
Thought so. I've ranted on the subject a lot. When you go to the mall, you tend to get sizes like S/M/L and further sizes like "athletic" or "slim," all of which are BULLSHIT because they are not actually sizes
I'm also between small and medium. I wear a medium, but the sleeves are usually too long.
But for dress shirts I wear 16/33
So, dress shirts come in 3 sizes, potentially.
First, you usually get a collar size, unless the brand is truly trash. Like, 14.5 inch circumference. Cheaper shirts only come in this size.
Second, you get collar size + sleeve size (measured from collar to sleeve rather than shoulder seam to sleeve). This is what you need to look for. At this stage, you still get this combo + descriptions like "slim" or "athletic" sometimes, or no description at all of how wide the body is.
Third, you get collar size + sleeve size + chest circumference. These are rarer to find.
So when jfarrell says 16/33 that means 16" collar circumference, 33" from collar to sleeve.
16/33 from, for example, J Press is going to look different than 16/33 from Drake's, absent any other information, because there's just ... more to a shirt's measurement than those two numbers, which is just unfortunately often either not listed or buried in a size guide.
But at the very least what you need to do is try on shirts that have more than one measurement. You need a collar that's pretty much perfect for a dress shirt, if you plan to wear it with a tie: the tie needs to make a good tight fit against the collar, and it needs to not have a particularly noticeable gap from neck to collar, yet it needs to be comfortable for you to breathe. You need a sleeve that fits properly. After that, you can get a shirt that's a bit longer or shorter - if it's tucked in, as dress shirts tend to be, it's not a huge deal to be a little longer than needed but obviously too short is a problem. You can get a shirt that's a little more slim fit or a little more full fit, but again, too slim is a problem and too full is just baggy and ill-fitting. You have room to play in both body dimensions.
Beyond that, there are things like deeply curved hems (tucked in always) vs flat or lightly curved hems (can be tucked or untucked - but you'd only ever untuck a more casual shirt, like oxford cloth, flannel, etc). Things like sleeve width and sleeve taper. Cuff type, of course: not just talking about barrel vs french/double vs convertible (vs gauntlet) but also things like 1 or 2 button, the design of it as it goes up the sleeve, width, etc. Things like the placket width, how many buttons down the placket, etc.
The real annoyance is that if you're anything like me, basically nothing a mall store sells fits properly until you spend >$100. You can get shirts with adequate fabric and construction for a fair bit less, but none of them fit me :(
yeah i just get mediums now because small are too tight
have to tuck them all in and eat the sleeve length
when i go vintage shopping i can find shirts that fit better
but even then theyre usually still slightly too tight on the chest or long on the arm/length
I almost feel like you didn't respond to what we wrote about how to find proper shirt sizing
I wonder if there's a terminology problem here.
@squingo44 maybe you mean "button-up shirt"? To me, "dress shirt" means a button-up shirt that is suitable to wear with a coat and tie, and is higher-quality and better fitting than a more casual shirt.
I need to find my measurements
all I know is im a 39inch chest
im wearing mostly button downs, no ties
Yeah, I'm close to that, and I'm between S and M as well.
If you are buying shirts that are sized S/M/L they aren't really what I would consider "dress shirts".
You can, however, take them to a tailor and have the sleeves shortened. I am considering doing that with some of mine.
i bought a bunch of j crew shirts on sale at an outlet, they were all just sized medium
yeah...I would call those "button-up" shirts.
oh right, sorry for the lack of rigour
didnt occur to me at the time that the difference mattered
but i see what yo umean
im gonna move to wearing proper dress shirts eventually, but I like funky button ups atm
I mean, you basically have several options.
1. Live with the sleeves being a bit too long
2. Pay a tailor to shorten the sleeves.
3. Shop second-hand for nicer shirts (sized by both neck and sleeve)
4. Spend more money on nicer shirts, such as PRL oxfords.
4. Spend a lot more money on custom-made shirts.
I guess also 6. Try some different brands and see if any fit you better. But in my experience, the sleeves are always a bit too long.
oh wait i have one tm lewin with measurements
its a 15/34
the collar is pretty much perfect, if a little on the tight size
the sleeves are too long slightly
i might be a 15/33
or maybe a 15.5/33
1. 3, 4 im fien with
6 also
34" sleeves seem to be pretty typical for size medium, so you might be more like a 33 if they are often too long.
2 I don't have expensive enough shirts to justify
Usually brands will have size charts you can check.
im not gonna pay more for tailoring than I did for the shirt
yeah im thinking that as well
shortening the sleeves shouldn't be too expensive.
it's a slim fit tho so my chest is to otight
every shirt in my wardrobe cost me less than $10
maybe $20 to shorten them at the cuff. It's more expensive to shorten them from the shoulder tho.
what does shortening from the shoulder do
it makes the sleeve shorter.
a tailor can either do that by taking off the cuff, shortening the sleeve, and reattaching, or taking off the whole sleeve at the shoulder.
My understanding is that taking off the whole sleeve is more complicated, and therefore more expensive.
oh i see
I've seen dress shirts sold as S/M/L, they just weren't particularly great dress shirts.
I've had shirts shortened, too. It's not too expensive. About $20-30
I guess ill try some tailing