The men's dress shirt is the icon of "timeless" fashion. Other than becoming more fitted over time, the classic dress shirt has not changed a lot. It is a shirt with a collar, full-length button opening at that front, long sleeves and cuffs. Also referred as a button-down in America, or simple just a shirt in the United Kingdom. In this section we dissect the various parts of the dress shirt in more detail.
A collar band, sometimes referred to as a collar stand, is a strip of fabric that forms the inner part of the collar and attaches the collar to the shirt. The top button is part of the collar band. The band's width determines the rise, or height, of the collar. A collared shirt can be made without a collar band. This creates a collar that must always be open, -- typically, a shirt with a large collar such as the style that was popular in the "Disco" era.. Men's dress shirts may have a different fabric on the inside of the collar band for a contrasting effect.
The base of the neck is circled by the collar, which is connected to the dress shirt collar band. There are many variations of the collar, from the Buttondown, hidden buttondown, traditional point, curved point, and even the round point collar. Higher quality dress shirt, or more formal dress shirts, are interfaced to make them stiffer, then are sewn along the edge. More than one piece of the interfacing can be used for a more firm collar. Men's dress shirts of lower quality will often have bubbles in the collar interfacing, which are very unsightly. The top stitching should be about 1 cm or so in from the border of the collar. You will notice that collars of lesser quality will have the stitching right on the border.
The tip of the collar is referred to as the collar point. Often a tailor will refer to the collar point length to define the characteristic of it. On some collar points you will find collar stays on the reverse side, that maintain it's rigidness. With interfacing it is not necessarily required to have the stays, though different shirt makers prefer different ways.
A good tailor will put a lot of consideration into the space between the collar points, know as the collar spread. The reason so much consideration must be made for this is because a men's dress shirt should flatter your natural body shape- so a person with a stout neck should use a collar with a narrow spread, while a person with a skinny neck should use a collar with a larger spread. By doing so, the neck will visually be enhanced by the collar, thus bringing the best out of your body.
The convenience of the men's dress shirt is that it can be completely opened from the front, and this is covered by a part called the front centre placket. There are different styles- most common being the bluff font, and less popular but also very nice is the twin stitching front and the fly front. A typical front center placket has six buttons, and on a tall fitting you will find 7 buttons for the extra length. This can be made by attaching a separate piece of fabric, or by folding the fabric onto itself.
It is optional to include include a pocket on a dress shirt. Originally, men's dress shirts did not include one, but nowadays it's just a matter of convenience are personal taste. If you are in a very formal event, you may consider a pocket-less shirt, though in any other setting it's fine to have one. The most popular pocket is regular, though you will often find on industry dress shirts, such as a security or pilot shirt, a pleated flapped pocket. The point of the pleat is to allow the pocket to expand. A pocket adds a touch of character to a dress shirt.
Long sleeve is the norm for dress shirts, though short sleeve dress shirts can be found. Especially in warm climates you will find short sleeve even around the office. Never wear a short sleeve under a jacket, or at a more formal environment. In a relaxed environment you may roll up your sleeves to make them into short sleeves, and it often looks fairly stylist.
The sleeve placket extends from the break in the cuff approximately 1/4 up the sleeve length. It is also known as a "gauntlet." The main purpose of the sleeve placket is to allow the sleeves to be rolled up, and it also provides a better fit around the forearm for the dress shirt. Some men's dress shirts have a button on the sleeve placket, allowing the opening to be held closed.
The attachment between the main part of the shirt and the sleeve is referred to as the armscye. The armscye is basically the sleeve hole, and depending on the brand it can vary drastically in size, and because of this many people find generic, un-tailored shirts are very difficult to have the armscye fit properly.
The cuff forms the end of the sleeve, and usually has button, possible two on it. The mark of a men's dress shirt is a fairly well defined cuff. The cuff does serve the purpose of closing the sleeve, and making it fit properly, although it is also designed to be stylish.
The Straight French Cuff, and the straight double cuff, are longer than traditional cuffs and are worn folded back on themselves with a 90 degree angle on the corners. Traditionally, men's dress shirts with these cuffs were only used with a lounge suit or formal jacket, which are worn in very formal settings. Nowadays, it is common to see French cuffs on a dress shirt in a business setting, especially in Europe, or even rolled up on the arms for a night out on the town. French cuffs on a dress shirt require cuff links.
Convertible Cuffs can be worn as round cuffs or French cuffs on a dress shirt. They have buttons to secure the cuff as a button cuff would, though they also have an extra buttonhole sewn in, to allow the cuff to be folded over and used with cuff links. This makes for a versatile dress shirt.
The Yoke is the strip of material sewn across the shoulders to attach the front and back pieces of the shirt. Dress shirts normally have a one-piece yoke, though two-piece yokes can occasionally be found on traditional British dress shirts. The two-piece yoke is divided directly behind the neck, allowing the pattern to be lined up at a 90 degree angle to the pattern on the front of the shirt, while making the pattern of the yoke on the back intersect, producing a "V" shape to the dress shirt.
Pleats allows for flexibility across the shoulders of a men's dress shirt. When the wearer of the dress shirt moves his arms up, the extra fabric folded into the pleats releases and allows flexibility. Pleats are located on the back of the dress shirt, starting at the seam between the back and yoke. Box pleats are located in the centre of the back, and can also be made as inverted box pleats which only show a visible line opening. Another option is the knife pleat, which is created when the fabric is folded over once, on the right and left sides of the back. An alternative to pleats is gathering. Gathering can be applied across the entire back/yoke seam, or just on the right and left back/yoke seam. A dress shirt can also be made without pleats. This is recommended for inward-arched backs that tend to collect a lot of fabric on the lower back of the dress shirt.
The modern dress shirt is found in either a round bottom or square cut. The round bottom is and adaption of the more traditional tail-cut. The tail-cut was a very rounded bottom, though this was adapted to a less rounded version for better convenience- many find the tail-cut comes untucked around the edges of the pants because it's cut higher on it's side. The square bottom is cut flat, and is becoming common in business wear as it's perfect for a shirt that will always be tucked it. In this day in age it is acceptable to wear a dress shirt untucked in a casual setting.
Darts are a feature of a dress shirt where two vertical strips of the fabric on the back are sown in. Many tailors believe darts do not belong on dress shirts. It's true that most body shapes do not require, or even fit well, with darts -- but men who happen to have the particular body shape that does fit well with darts often swear by them. Darts are ideal for people with very inward-arched lower backs, that tend to gather a lot of fabric in the lower back area. Darts remove this fabric and make the back of the dress shirt conform closer to the arched lower back.
Usually offered from custom tailors is a monogram on your dress shirt. A monogram is a lettering on your shirt, usually the initials of your name. A monogram is a nice personal touch that will often emphasize that your shirt has been custom made for you- really a sign of quality and workmanship. If you decide to get a monogram on your shirt you may want to consider getting it somewhere discreet if it is for office wear.
Now that you have read this article you will have a solid understanding of the anatomy of a dress shirt. The men's dress shirt is really a "time-less" piece of men's fashion. It's been around for hundreds of years, and will continue to be around for a long time to come. Unlike a typical shirt, the dress shirt is designed to contour, and compliment the features of the body, and this is why it's design is so much more complex than your typical shirt. - 29871
A collar band, sometimes referred to as a collar stand, is a strip of fabric that forms the inner part of the collar and attaches the collar to the shirt. The top button is part of the collar band. The band's width determines the rise, or height, of the collar. A collared shirt can be made without a collar band. This creates a collar that must always be open, -- typically, a shirt with a large collar such as the style that was popular in the "Disco" era.. Men's dress shirts may have a different fabric on the inside of the collar band for a contrasting effect.
The base of the neck is circled by the collar, which is connected to the dress shirt collar band. There are many variations of the collar, from the Buttondown, hidden buttondown, traditional point, curved point, and even the round point collar. Higher quality dress shirt, or more formal dress shirts, are interfaced to make them stiffer, then are sewn along the edge. More than one piece of the interfacing can be used for a more firm collar. Men's dress shirts of lower quality will often have bubbles in the collar interfacing, which are very unsightly. The top stitching should be about 1 cm or so in from the border of the collar. You will notice that collars of lesser quality will have the stitching right on the border.
The tip of the collar is referred to as the collar point. Often a tailor will refer to the collar point length to define the characteristic of it. On some collar points you will find collar stays on the reverse side, that maintain it's rigidness. With interfacing it is not necessarily required to have the stays, though different shirt makers prefer different ways.
A good tailor will put a lot of consideration into the space between the collar points, know as the collar spread. The reason so much consideration must be made for this is because a men's dress shirt should flatter your natural body shape- so a person with a stout neck should use a collar with a narrow spread, while a person with a skinny neck should use a collar with a larger spread. By doing so, the neck will visually be enhanced by the collar, thus bringing the best out of your body.
The convenience of the men's dress shirt is that it can be completely opened from the front, and this is covered by a part called the front centre placket. There are different styles- most common being the bluff font, and less popular but also very nice is the twin stitching front and the fly front. A typical front center placket has six buttons, and on a tall fitting you will find 7 buttons for the extra length. This can be made by attaching a separate piece of fabric, or by folding the fabric onto itself.
It is optional to include include a pocket on a dress shirt. Originally, men's dress shirts did not include one, but nowadays it's just a matter of convenience are personal taste. If you are in a very formal event, you may consider a pocket-less shirt, though in any other setting it's fine to have one. The most popular pocket is regular, though you will often find on industry dress shirts, such as a security or pilot shirt, a pleated flapped pocket. The point of the pleat is to allow the pocket to expand. A pocket adds a touch of character to a dress shirt.
Long sleeve is the norm for dress shirts, though short sleeve dress shirts can be found. Especially in warm climates you will find short sleeve even around the office. Never wear a short sleeve under a jacket, or at a more formal environment. In a relaxed environment you may roll up your sleeves to make them into short sleeves, and it often looks fairly stylist.
The sleeve placket extends from the break in the cuff approximately 1/4 up the sleeve length. It is also known as a "gauntlet." The main purpose of the sleeve placket is to allow the sleeves to be rolled up, and it also provides a better fit around the forearm for the dress shirt. Some men's dress shirts have a button on the sleeve placket, allowing the opening to be held closed.
The attachment between the main part of the shirt and the sleeve is referred to as the armscye. The armscye is basically the sleeve hole, and depending on the brand it can vary drastically in size, and because of this many people find generic, un-tailored shirts are very difficult to have the armscye fit properly.
The cuff forms the end of the sleeve, and usually has button, possible two on it. The mark of a men's dress shirt is a fairly well defined cuff. The cuff does serve the purpose of closing the sleeve, and making it fit properly, although it is also designed to be stylish.
The Straight French Cuff, and the straight double cuff, are longer than traditional cuffs and are worn folded back on themselves with a 90 degree angle on the corners. Traditionally, men's dress shirts with these cuffs were only used with a lounge suit or formal jacket, which are worn in very formal settings. Nowadays, it is common to see French cuffs on a dress shirt in a business setting, especially in Europe, or even rolled up on the arms for a night out on the town. French cuffs on a dress shirt require cuff links.
Convertible Cuffs can be worn as round cuffs or French cuffs on a dress shirt. They have buttons to secure the cuff as a button cuff would, though they also have an extra buttonhole sewn in, to allow the cuff to be folded over and used with cuff links. This makes for a versatile dress shirt.
The Yoke is the strip of material sewn across the shoulders to attach the front and back pieces of the shirt. Dress shirts normally have a one-piece yoke, though two-piece yokes can occasionally be found on traditional British dress shirts. The two-piece yoke is divided directly behind the neck, allowing the pattern to be lined up at a 90 degree angle to the pattern on the front of the shirt, while making the pattern of the yoke on the back intersect, producing a "V" shape to the dress shirt.
Pleats allows for flexibility across the shoulders of a men's dress shirt. When the wearer of the dress shirt moves his arms up, the extra fabric folded into the pleats releases and allows flexibility. Pleats are located on the back of the dress shirt, starting at the seam between the back and yoke. Box pleats are located in the centre of the back, and can also be made as inverted box pleats which only show a visible line opening. Another option is the knife pleat, which is created when the fabric is folded over once, on the right and left sides of the back. An alternative to pleats is gathering. Gathering can be applied across the entire back/yoke seam, or just on the right and left back/yoke seam. A dress shirt can also be made without pleats. This is recommended for inward-arched backs that tend to collect a lot of fabric on the lower back of the dress shirt.
The modern dress shirt is found in either a round bottom or square cut. The round bottom is and adaption of the more traditional tail-cut. The tail-cut was a very rounded bottom, though this was adapted to a less rounded version for better convenience- many find the tail-cut comes untucked around the edges of the pants because it's cut higher on it's side. The square bottom is cut flat, and is becoming common in business wear as it's perfect for a shirt that will always be tucked it. In this day in age it is acceptable to wear a dress shirt untucked in a casual setting.
Darts are a feature of a dress shirt where two vertical strips of the fabric on the back are sown in. Many tailors believe darts do not belong on dress shirts. It's true that most body shapes do not require, or even fit well, with darts -- but men who happen to have the particular body shape that does fit well with darts often swear by them. Darts are ideal for people with very inward-arched lower backs, that tend to gather a lot of fabric in the lower back area. Darts remove this fabric and make the back of the dress shirt conform closer to the arched lower back.
Usually offered from custom tailors is a monogram on your dress shirt. A monogram is a lettering on your shirt, usually the initials of your name. A monogram is a nice personal touch that will often emphasize that your shirt has been custom made for you- really a sign of quality and workmanship. If you decide to get a monogram on your shirt you may want to consider getting it somewhere discreet if it is for office wear.
Now that you have read this article you will have a solid understanding of the anatomy of a dress shirt. The men's dress shirt is really a "time-less" piece of men's fashion. It's been around for hundreds of years, and will continue to be around for a long time to come. Unlike a typical shirt, the dress shirt is designed to contour, and compliment the features of the body, and this is why it's design is so much more complex than your typical shirt. - 29871
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