By Davida Monte
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.
A shirt collar is the piece of a dress shirt that is attached to the collar band and fits around the frame of the neck. Fine dress shirt collars are stitched around the edges to stiffen and hold the folded material in place; this stitching can be up to 1 centimeter in from the edge. Traditional high quality men's dress shirts will have the top stitching a couple centimeters in from the edge, while low quality collars will often have the stitching directly on the edge. Interfacing material is used to attach the two pieces of fabric and make them stiffer. On low quality dress shirts, the interfacing will often show "bubble" marks after a few washings. The various types of collars you will find on a dress shirt are: Traditional point, curved point, round point, Buttondown and hidden Buttondown. These collars can have different point lengths or spreads to significantly alter the style.
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.
You will notice that different men's dress shirts have different distances between the collar points, and this is referred to as the collar spread. The different collar spread will significantly alter the style of the manner of the shirt. If you have a fat neck than it would makes sense to minimize the spread between the collar points, where if you have a slim neck than you may want to increase the spread. By doing this you are balancing the weight between the neck and the collar, enhancing the visual appearance of your neck in a positive light. Remember, you're men's dress shirt should compliment you.
The front center placket is the piece of material on the front of the dress shirt where the buttonholes are placed. In the past, it was a separate piece of cloth sewn to the front, but today men's dress shirt makers often fold the edge of the material to form the placket. It gives the shirt a defined center and makes a clean finish where the shirt sides join to be buttoned. Most shirts have six buttons, or for taller fits, 7 buttons. Other variants of plackets are the Bluff front, Fly front and the Twin Stitching front.
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.
Most dress shirts are long sleeve, though in tropical climates it is acceptable to wear a short sleeve dress shirt even at the office. In a casual setting you may even consider rolling up your sleeves if you find it is too warm, keeping in mind they will be wrinkled if you unroll them after. In a more formal even you should play it safe and wear a long sleeve shirt.
The sleeve of a dress shirt will have an opening from the cuff up to about halfway to the elbow called the sleeve placket. This opening allows the sleeve to be put on easily and fit better. It may or may not have a button. By having this feature it allows the sleeve to be rolled up.
Armscye is the armhole of a shirt. In sewing, reference to the armscye length is the total length of the hole from top to bottom. This is the part of a shirt that many find "off the shelf" dress shirts to be difficult to fit.
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.
Slightly longer, and used in the most formal events, the french cuff is considered very stylish. One does need cuff links to be able to properly wear french cuffs, as they need to be secured closed. In recent years the french cuff has made a comeback to less formal settings such as the office. Before, it was reserved for use with a lounge suit or formal jacket. The design of these cuffs is that they are folded once onto themselves.
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.
Rather than having one piece along the entire back a typical dress shirt is make of two- a lower piece along the back and the upper piece that extends to the shoulders referred to as the Yoke. The traditional yoke is made of one piece and the fabric pattern aligns at a ninety degree angle to the rest of fabric on the back, or a British yoke that is aligned at a lesser angle to the pattern on the back.
Apart from looking good a dress shirt needs to be comfortable, and this is where pleats come in. There are 3 main types- box pleats, knife pleats, and gatherings. Box pleats are two folds on the center back of the shirt, whereas knife pleats are individual folds on the right and left sides of the backs, near the armscye. Gatherings are when the fabric has many little folds, that are barely noticeable. The purpose of these features is the add extra fabric to the back of the shirts, so when the arms are lifted then the additional fabric allows for movement. Some people may choose to have a shirt lacking pleats, often when they have a very inwardly rounded lower back. This is because they want to reduce the amount of extra fabric on the shirt, even at the cost of flexibility.
Traditionally dress shirts are tucked in, though it's becoming a common trend to wear them untucked. The traditional men's dress shirts had a tail cut. This type of cut was very rounded, though there is a more modern version that is less rounded. Another modern adaption is the square cut- and this is popular for business wear, where the wearer is almost always using the shirt tucked it- so it's a mater of functionality.
A less common feature on dress shirts is darts. The purpose of darts is to remove excess fabric on the back of the shirt, thus making it follow the curvature of the back. This feature can compliment those with arched backs and slim figures. Some custom shirt makers do not use darts, though people that do wear darts appreciate the fit they provide. Most body shapes do not require darts on their dress shirt, but those that do will find it makes a huge difference to the style.
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.
There is probably more details to the average dress shirt than you though at first. This guide to the men's dress shirt should make you appreciate all the features and complexity of the dress shirt, even though it may appear so simple. The dress shirt is a piece of timeless fashion that does not seem to lose it's appeal. Hopefully, you now have a better understanding that will allow you to choose a dress shirt based on your knowledge, to find a shirt that fits the perfect situation, and that properly fits the style you are looking for. - 29959
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