How Should a Dress Shirt Fit to Look Sharp and Polished?

There are few more essential garments for a professional wardrobe than a clean, fitted dress shirt. 

A fitted dress shirt completes a uniform; an unfitted shirt can detract from its branding, style, and credibility. Dress shirts should be all of the above for comfort, mobility, and looking good.

At Suits Unlimited, we know the details of a properly fitted dress shirt and what they need in terms of tailoring. After years of offering dress shirts in Albuquerque, we have mastered the art of dressing staff for success. 

We are going to show you what makes a great dress shirt and how to get it.

Dress Shirts - What to Consider

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Dress shirt fit is a combination of: width and ease through the shoulders, chest, and torso, as well as proper sleeve, collar, and cuff length. What to home in on is this:

Torso

A well-fitted dress shirt should glide over the torso without bulging, pulling, or gaping at the buttons. The fabric should fall without being too loose or too tight. The goal is just easy enough to allow you to move without restriction, but too much fabric looks messy.

Additional tips:

Choose a non-iron or wrinkle-resistant fabric that has a crisp look (ex, poplin, broadcloth)

When wearing dress pants, the proper length dress shirt will reach approximately the middle of the fly.

Chest

With his or her arms at his or her side, the fit through the chest should be snug but not pull or billow with excess fabric. Quick test: button shirt, raise arms to the sides, and let them fall. If this causes the shirt to pull open and gap, then the chest is likely too tight.

Other Suggestions:

Seek some natural stretching for the motion of range (2-3% of spandex or blended elastane)

The presence of a pucker at the center-front button is another indication that the chest size is too small.

Collar

Fit the dress shirt collar so that it gently touches the neck when the top button is done up. In general, you should be able to slide one finger between the collar and the neck. If more than two fingers fit, the collar is likely too loose.

More hints:

• For proper face framing, the collar band should be approximately 1 inch wide.

• Discourage the use of extreme point lengths that go far past the lapels

Cuffs

Because dress shirt cuffs wrap around the bony parts of the wrist, they need enough room to button comfortably without pinching. When the arms are hanging down relaxed, the shirt cuff should naturally end about halfway down the back of the hand.

Other tips include:

• One button is more formal, and two buttons are more stylish for double cuffs.

• French cuffs that accommodate cufflinks should leave approximately one inch of bare skin on the arm.

Shoulders

The fabric should stop at the shoulder anatomy, and the seam should align with the bony edge of the shoulder. 

Shoulder seams that extend beyond that point are oversized. If it is too small, the seams will be placed too high, and the garment will feel restrictive in movement. 

If it is too large, it will billow and slope off the shoulders. Properly aligned shoulders lead to proper sleeve roll, and the shirt hangs properly, allowing full motion.

Other suggestions:

Padding can square and broaden the shoulder line on thin frames

A shoulder size that is too small is indicated by seam puckering.

Sleeves

Dress shirt sleeves should be finished so that, when properly set, they meet the jacket sleeves cleanly at the wrist. 

In relation to the suit jacket, the dress shirt sleeves should reach to the base of the wrist where it meets the hand, allowing for coverage of the arms during gesturing, although enough shirt cuff should show at the jacket’s sleeves for about ¼ – ½ inch.

A few more tips:

If you desire the most mobility in your arms, lean to a high armhole.

Diagonal creases on the sleeve indicate problems with the pitch of the sleeve in the shoulder or armhole area