﻿10 Golden Rules For Dress Shirts
[0:00:00] The first golden
rule to looking amazing in a dress shirt, be able to count to 14. [sound effect]
I know some of you guys are thinking, “Antonio, unless you take your shoes off, there's no way
you're going to be able to count that high.” Seriously, though, the number 14 matters because
that's how many stitches per inch you're looking for on a quality dress shirt.
How do you measure this? One of the easiest places is the collar. Simply
take a tape measure or a quarter and look at how many stitches approximately
you're going to see in that one-inch area. If you count 12, 14, 16, you're good to go.
Count 10, only 8, even worse, 6, guys, that's a shirt that you're not going to want to buy.
The reason stitches per inches matter is it shows how much care and how much time the manufacturer
took in the build of the garment. If he skipped there, if he was making those sewing machines
go too fast, you can bet that that shirt is going to fall apart after just a few times in the wash.
In today's video, gents, I'm sharing with you the golden rules to buying and finding the perfect
dress shirt. [Music]
The next golden rule, you've got to nail the fit. First up, when you're buying an
off-the-rack shirt, does it fit you in the shoulders? Does it fit you in the torso?
Now, it may sound like a no-brainer, but the shoulder point needs to be at your shoulder point.
The shoulder point is where the sleeve connects to the upper part of the torso on the shirt.
But, a lot of guys they buy shirts that are way too large. So, you're going to
find that shoulder point, if it starts to go down your arm, this shirt is too big.
Now, the fit in the torso really depends on your size and how close of a fit you like.
I find that for most men, 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 inches in the chest of excess room, a little bit more
if you are a bigger guy, a little bit less if you're a smaller guy is going to be perfect.
Right here in the stomach area about the same. Sometimes a little bit less. I like it when
a shirt fits a little bit closer especially if you're in shape. If you take care of your body,
you want a shirt to compliment your build. Now, if it's too tight or too restrictive with
the torso, of course, don't buy it. But what if it's just a bit loose? You've got 4 to 5 inches
of extra material in the torso in the chest in the stomach area, I would say consider the shirt
because if you know the name of your tailor if you're willing to take it in to get it adjusted,
that shirt can be made to fit you better. Now, the next area of fit that you want to
pay attention to is the length. I like for a shirt to go 3 to sometimes 5 inches past the
waistline. Why? Because you want to have enough material that you can tuck in.
A lot of shirts they actually make them too short. Why? It saves them money on the
manufacturing of the material, they just have to use less of it and that's something you want to
watch for. You don't want to buy a shirt that is so short, that basically it's going to come
untucked. Yeah, that's just going to be a mess. Next up, let's talk sleeve length and cuffs.
So, with your arms straight down, your cuffs should just cover your wrist bone.
Whenever you raise your arms up, they should just expose your wrist bone.
Now, if the sleeves are too short, of course, don't buy it. But, what
if they're a bit too long? You put your hands down and you unbutton those cuffs and pretty
much your hands are covered by the cuffs. Well, if everything checks out on the shirt,
it may be still worth buying because you can take this to a seamstress
and she can actually shorten the sleeves. She'll have to take the cuffs off, reattach them,
but it is something, again, if you can get a great deal on the shirt may be worth grabbing.
And last, but certainly not least. You need to make sure when you button that top button right
there, the collar fits you comfortably. You should be able to get two fingers in. Three fingers or
only one finger, well, you can actually adjust about half an inch the button right here, so
it'll give you a bit more room or tighten it up. But, if you can fit your whole hand in there or if
this thing's choking you, do not buy. Seriously, adjusting the size of a collar is a difficult fix,
not worth buying the shirt if it doesn't fit you there.
Now, you may be wondering why does shirt fit matter so much. And the reason is when you pair
it with other garments, you want it to look good. Look at this shirt right here. I've got just a bit
of cuff showing here. The collar stands up and looks great. These are key components to making
sure that you've got a great looking outfit, not just a single great looking shirt or jacket.
Now, there are certain looks that you want to avoid. Notice all of a sudden what happened
to the collar? It got tucked under the jacket. And this can happen if you have a weak collar,
if you've got a weak placket on your shirt. Unfortunately, most dress shirts out there
are manufactured with weak collars, weak plackets, and overall lead to a
sagging droopy just weak-looking collar. To fix this problem, today's sponsor,
Slick Collar, came up with an innovative solution. Slick Collar is a size adjustable
shirt collar support device that fits all collared shirts. It prevents the collar from collapsing or
deforming during wear or while under pressure from the weight of a garment worn over it.
Now, when you order your Slick Collar, you get two of them sent to you. One is going to be regular
size, perfect for dress shirts. This is adjustable to fit any neck size. This one is well adjustable,
but it's going to be a bit slimmer. This one is for polo shirts. So, yeah, that weak collared
polo shirt, no more when you use Slick Collar. And getting this to work, gents, is simple. Flip
up the collar, put Slick Collar right here. Flip it over and all of a sudden,
boom, you've got the support you need to look great to have that collar stand up all day.
[0:04:54] In addition, Slick Collar sends you
four collar stays, which is the next golden rule. Whenever you're looking at a quality dress shirt,
make sure to turn the collar up. You should have removable stays, also called bones. This is going
to give the collar structure. It's going to make sure the point, well, stays pointed.
Every Slick Collar comes in a really slick EDC tin in either
black or white. See what they did there? Now, seriously, guys, this is an amazing company.
I've worked with them before because I love what they're doing. They're constantly innovating,
they care about their customers. Oh, and the price is freaking amazing.
So, I'm going to link to them down in the description with the best deal on the web.
Seriously, guys, use that link, go check out the price look at Slick Collar. If you've got
all these really nice shirts and if you're not -- if you don't have a strong collar, it's just
going to look bad whenever you're wearing these shirts out, trying to dress up. That collar that
frames the face just makes you look so good. So, to make sure that you look amazing in your
expensive dress shirts, guys, make sure to grab your Slick Collar down below using
that link to get the best deal on the web. The next golden rule about dress shirts that
you need to understand is that just because a shirt has a collar is long sleeve and has
buttons in the front, does not make it a true dress shirt. By definition, a dress shirt
is actually an undergarment worn with a suit. Predominantly, they're white, light blue in color
and they have classic conservative features. This shirt right here is technically
not a dress shirt. Most men would see it and think it is a dress shirt, but there's
a few things that throw it off. First up, right here, collar points.
You notice this? I've got a button here. This makes the shirt much more casual. In addition,
we've got a heavier denim-like material. So, the material is casual. This button-down collar
is casual and so, all of this together makes this more of a casual button-down. [sound effect]
And if you just heard my stomach, do me a favor. Smash that like button for the algorithm.
Seriously, gents, I'm working late tonight. I skip dinner. I got to get this video done.
Now, what about this one? Is this a dress shirt? The answer is no. Again,
the material makes it casual. Even though the collar is a bit better, we've got a spread collar,
which you will see on some dress shirts. Right here, this material, the heavy duty dark
color of it, in addition to a bit of fading on certain points, the way that it is made the way
it's washed, this right here just screams casual and therefore it's more of a casual button down.
Will some people wear this as a dress shirt? Yes, they will. But are you correct to wear this with a
suit? I would say no. It's just a bit more casual. You could pull this off with a sports jacket, but
probably not with a suit. And that's the key component of what makes a dress shirt a dress
shirt is it can be worn with a formal suit. That being said, the one dress shirt that every
man needs to own is a solid white dress shirt in either poplin or broadcloth, with a point
collar with barrel cuffs. That right there is the perfect dress shirt.
Now, me, I occasionally wear suits and I've got a lot of shirts. So, this one right here
does not actually have barrel cuffs. It has French cuffs and that's the next golden rule is
you need to understand the different cuff types. So, French cuffs are going to be fold over cuffs
and they are considered to be the most formal. They're going to need a particular type of clasp
known as cufflinks to hold them together. After that, we have barrel cuffs. Barrel
cuffs come in a wide variety of different styles. But the most common ones are going
to be the single button barrel cuff and then the double button barrel cuff.
Now, double button barrel cuffs are going to be a little bit more formal
because they're a sign that this was custom shirt, custom cuffs. They're a little bit more
difficult to make. You've got to get the sizing right. They can't -- they got to be pretty much
made-to-order to the size of your wrist, versus single button cuffs can actually be adjusted.
Now, what about colors? So, I'm going to simplify this, but the golden rule is that solids
especially light colored solids are going to be the most formal type of shirts out there. So,
white, light blue, those are your go-to. Now, outside of those two colors,
we start to get a lot more casual. That's where we see pinks, we see lavenders,
we see mints. And if those were to get darker, those very quickly become more casual shirts.
Now, what about patterns? Well, in general the most formal patterns are going to be
stripes. Stripes that are thinner are going to be more formal
than stripes that are thicker. A Bengal stripe is going to be more casual than a pinstripe.
And the color system applies there as well. The lighter colors, the blues and the whites
are going to be more formal. When you start to bring in reds, you start to bring in pinks,
all of a sudden, the formality starts to go down, it becomes more casual.
Next up, we have checks and small repeating patterns. If you look
closely at this shirt right here you'll notice it's not solid. From a distance,
it does look solid, but when you get up close, you're going to see a small repeating pattern.
I could actually pull this off with a suit. Would I? Probably not on most occasions,
I've got so many different options. Point being is that this is a shirt that you can dress up,
but it's going to be one of the more casual types of dress shirts out there.
Now, when it comes to checks that's one of the more casual patterns out there,
smaller check is going to be a little bit dressier than a large check. And a check that's only using
maybe two colors is going to be a bit dressier than a check that brings in three to four.
[0:10:02] Now for this next golden rule,
I know a lot of you guys are going to disagree and that is you need to wear an undershirt underneath
your dress shirt. Agree? Disagree? Let me know down in the comments.
But my point for wearing an undershirt is that it protects your more expensive
dress shirts. Because you're going to sweat, you're going to get dirt. Things,
yeah, just bits of skin. Stuff comes off your body over time. You don't want
to ruin your expensive dress shirts. All of a sudden, start getting stains right in here.
When you wear an undershirt, you can wear your dress shirt more. You're going to get
more mileage from these expensive dress shirts. And you can justify spending a
bit more and getting exactly what you want when you protect it with a good undershirt.
The next golden rule for buying a dress shirt is understand what your options are.
You're going to hear all these words out there; bespoke, custom, made-to-measure,
off-the-rack, what does that mean? So, off-the-rack, this is where a manufacturer
pre-makes a shirt and they sell it and you find it, you try it on you say, “Hey,
does this thing fit me?” When you're buying off-the-rack, you can find some amazing deals.
These are shirts that sometimes they just don't sell, they're discounted. And if you look around,
yes, you can find shirts for 20, 30 bucks that could have cost maybe $200 retail. And you just
got an amazing deal because you looked and you -- you found something that fits you.
But, here's the thing is you're out there looking and you're trying to find something
that fits your body type. The key here is to make sure that if it is off in a certain area that
you could actually take it to get it adjusted. Half of my shirts are off-the-rack. And, I admit,
I find some great options. I go out there and just like you guys, I want to save money and
I found certain brands that work for me. That's another great option is when you find a brand,
who the model that they're using is close to your size, all of a sudden
you put this thing on and the fit is spot on. Now, you're also going to hear made-to-measure,
custom. What does this mean? This is where you have the choice of all these different
fabrics. You can choose all these different styles and they've got existing patterns,
which they take your measurements and then they build the garment.
Now, understand they're not making a pattern for you and I'll talk about that
in a second in bespoke. But, this is you can get really accurate fitting, really amazing options.
When you think about it, they've got a hundred different fabrics and sometimes a lot more.
You've got hundreds of different options in the styles of your collars, the styles of your cuffs,
the change, you know, how you want, you know, the threading, what type of buttons. All these things,
you can oftentimes change up, so, really, tons of options. And if you want something made to
fit you, this is one of the best options out there because there are some great deals.
Now, what is bespoke? Bespoke is when the fabric is spoken for. This is the art of designing
shirts. These -- these are people that these shirts can cost $500. They can be -- you can find
it go over to Thailand, go to Hong Kong, you can find it for $100. But, this is where they actually
measure you multiple areas. They create a pattern for you and then they make the shirt for you.
So, this shirt I'm wearing is a bespoke shirt. I had it made for me. And there's
a couple key things which I'll just add here as bonus. These are details
you want to look for on a bespoke shirt. Sometimes you'll find them on a custom or
made-to-measure shirt, but you want to look at the back first. So, I'm looking for a split yoke.
This is actually where they've measured both of my shoulders and they've made the shirt to fit, you
know, if there's a slight difference in there. And, you notice on the back of this shirt right
here that he matched up the patterns. Why is this a big deal? Because it's very expensive. He had to
actually cut extra fabric. He had to use more of the raw material. And, I'll tell you, most
mass manufacturers do not do anything like this. In addition, let's look down at the front and the
back of the shirt where they're connected. We've got a gusset right here. Small details like this
matter. You can also look and this is you’re going to see on most. If you don't see this on a shirt,
you definitely don't want to buy it and that is going to be the gauntlet button. That's
something that we see on all types of good quality dress shirts, not just bespoke.
But there's this other detail I want to show you here. Look at this button. This is pearl.
You can find mother of pearl on a lot of different shirts out there, but one of the key ways to spot
mother of pearl is to look underneath it. You're going to see oftentimes a slight
discoloring. That's because they punch this button right out of a shell and so,
it's going to be, you know, naturally uneven. You're going to sometimes see some discoloration.
But, mother of pearl, one of the reasons they stopped using it is because detergents back in
1950s, 60s started degrading it. Plastic was cheaper, they thought nobody would notice.
Nowadays, it's a very good indicator that this is a quality shirt. Monograms are a nice touch
as well and you usually only find them on custom, bespoke, or made-to-measure shirts.
Now, what about all the different color styles? You want to make sure to get this right because
there are certain color styles that are more casual, some are going to be more
formal. And you want to make sure to choose the right color style for your face shape.
How to do that? Guys, check out this video right here. I go into a lot more
detail talking about the different styles of colors and how to find the right one for you.
Click on it. Seriously, I’m tired of holding this thing up.
All right, guys, go check out this
video. It’s a good one. [0:14:47] End of audio