How to Get the Best Dress Shirt
In the twenty-first century, the dress shirt is the true backbone of a gentleman’s wardrobe. No longer are sport coats or suits a requirement in most office settings, but the dress shirt is always there, and it can make a strong statement about who you are. Unfortunately, too often, not enough attention is paid to the quality of the dress shirt. The difference between a great dress shirt and a mediocre one is all in the fit and the details of construction. Fabrics may range from high quality, easy-care cotton blends or treated cottons, to fine Sea Isle cottons, silks and linens. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Consider the source. Most men can find dress shirts that will fit, in some sense, at the local discount store, and they will keep you covered. If you want an exceptional shirt, however, you will have to pay a bit more for it. This is not to say that it must be restrictively expensive, but you will not find an exceptional dress shirt at Wal-Mart. The old “good” stores will still be your best sources for good quality: Brooks Brothers in New York, Cable Car Clothiers in San Francisco. For the best quality, fit and personal design, your best bet is still to go to a shirt maker.
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Find your shirt maker. Most cities have at least one good tailor shop or dedicated shirt maker. Another way to get a custom made shirt at a good price is to use one of the many Internet shirt makers. These are great resources for a wide variety of design details, fabric choices and ranges of size, and they often provide great quality at a bargain price.
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Have your measurements taken. Accuracy is of utmost importance in this regard. You should stand erect, looking forward with your arms relaxed by your sides. Do not watch the person who is taking the measurements, as that may throw them off. The best rule is to read the measurement instructions on the web page of the shirt maker, and follow them precisely. They will give pointers for high quality and accurate measurement. If you absolutely cannot get someone to measure you, take your best fitting dress shirt and take the measurements from that. If you do it in that way, however, be sure to tell the shirt maker, and he or she may have additional questions for you afterwards.
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Choose your design details. The shirt makers' sites will offer you a wide variety of styles of collar, cuff, back pleat and closure styles. The great part of designing your own shirt is that you can choose what you like the best and what is the most flattering on you. If you prefer to wear open collars, but have a huge cuff link collection, there is nothing stopping you from getting button-down collars with French cuffs! Some consider monograms to be passe, but some of us do not -- your shirt maker will provide your monogram for you as well, if that is your taste.
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Choose your fabric. Shirt makers will have a wide variety of fabric choices available to you. If you wear an unusual size, off the rack you may be limited to white and blue dress shirts, but, when you are having them made, you can run with the peach Bengal stripes with no problem. Choose wisely – though you may have always wanted a fine silk shirt, it may not be the most practical in the deep south. High quality cotton remains the standard, and for good reason – it is comfortable in most climbs, it looks great and it wears well. When your collection of shirts grows, then you can branch out into more exotic fabrics.
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