Identifying Quality Dress Shirts [0:00:00]
So, my first tip here on how to spot a quality shirt, I can tell you less than 1% of people
know about this.
It only applies to pattern shirts and you’re going to want to look at an area where they’re
connecting two pieces of fabric right here at the seam is great on the shoulder.
And you want to see did they actually try to match up the patterns.
All right.
Let me try to show you right here on my shoulder.
Can you see it?
All right.
This one is really easy to see, does a great job matching up.
This is a high quality shirt.
Now, this one you can’t see, it’s a little bit harder though with the smaller check pattern.
All right.
So, we got a little bit of larger check pattern, but you can see it if you know what to look
for.
All right.
So, we’ve got a larger check pattern here, you can see it if you know what to look for.
Notice how the lines match up.
Now, at first glance, you may think they didn’t do a good job here, but look closely.
Look at that red line going across, sometimes very difficult to do this on shirts.
These guys did a great job right here.
So, why is pattern matching a quick way to be able to spot quality?
Because it takes time, effort, and cost to manufacture money.
And you can bet if they spent all the time on this particular detail, they probably paid
attention to other things.
Guys, the subject of today’s video, let’s talk about how to go out there and spot quality
dress shirt.
Gentlemen, in today’s video, I’m walking you through the ultimate checklist of what
to look for when buying a quality dress shirt.
So, this ultimate quality shirt checklist, guys, we’re going to get into fit, I’m
going to get into fabric, I’m going to get into the stylistic function of the shirt.
But, the first thing I want to address is how the shirt makes you feel.
This shirt right here, I know it’s paisley, a little bit too loud for a lot of you guys,
but guess what?
I’m wearing this for myself.
So, when you’re looking at the stylistic options on a shirt, you’re looking at the
fabric.
Make sure that you get something that you’re going to love.
Now, understand we’ve got professional requirements, we got environmental requirements.
But, guys, don’t be afraid to wear something that you just really makes you feel great,
makes you feel like a million bucks because when you’re wearing a shirt that you love,
guys, you’re going to be able to wear a lot of things that you may be didn’t think
you could, you’re going to pull them off you’re going to look great, you’re going
to have your own individual style.
Now, gentlemen, the shirt I was just wearing the shirt I’m wearing right now and every
shirt you’re going to see in today’s video brought to you by Tailor Store, the paid sponsor
of today’s video and for over three years I’ve been talking about this company.
I absolutely love what they’re doing.
They’re making – guys, I love Tailor Store because they made it easy for you to be able
to go online and design your own custom shirt, get exactly the fabric you want, change up
the style details however you want, and then be able to get the perfect fitted shirt delivered
right to your door.
This is why I love Tailor Store.
They made it incredibly simple to be able to go online, design your own shirt, choose
the fabric, choose the styles to be able to take your measurements very quickly, and then
to be able to have it delivered right to your door a perfectly fitted dress shirt.
So, let’s talk about that perfect fit guarantee.
It’s exactly what it sounds like.
They guaranteed that the shirt they send you will fit perfectly or they will remake it.
You don’t even have to send it back, guys.
You simply give them the information, oh, it was a little bit long on the sleeves, I
like my shirt maybe a little bit longer in length, I wanted a little bit more room in
the torso, or I wanted it closer in the chest area.
You simply give them this additional information, they then remake the shirt so that you get
a perfect fit.
Next up, let’s talk about their design tool and the fabrics.
So, the design tool very intuitive, you walk through and you actually, okay, this looks
good.
They kind of point you in the right direction.
And what I really like is they have a number of default shirts that you can start with.
So, you like the look of the shirt, maybe you want to change the placket you want to
change up the color style.
You can do that very easily.
Now, with the fabrics.
They don’t have tens of thousands which I’m very happy with types of fabrics.
What they do is they have the right fabrics that you need to build your wardrobe.
Plus, they’ve got a variety of other fun fabrics.
So, this fabric right here, I think is a classic menswear shirt fabric that should be in every
man’s wardrobe.
If you’re curious about – And, let’s talk fabrics.
What I really appreciate is they didn’t try to overwhelm you with tens of thousands
of fabrics.
No, they focus in on the essential fabrics that every man needs in his wardrobe.
They got plenty of checks, plenty of stripes.
This one right here is called the Luga in blue.
Absolutely love this shirt.
And with the foundation fabrics, they’ve also got fun fabrics.
So, this one right here called the [Drumberg?] which I wore earlier.
And this one right here made by Liberty Fabrics which is a great fabric company.
So, that’s what I really like is they bring good quality fabrics that go a wide variety
of different options out there.
And now, let’s talk measurements.
Tailor Store makes it incredibly easy.
You can enter the measurements of your best-fitting shirt, you can take your own skin measurements
or you can go the easy route which is to download their app, put it up against the wall, guys,
and you simply take a picture of yourself.
And when you take this picture, guys, it gets your exact measurements.
I have never seen a process as easy as going through this to get measured for a shirt.
And, guys, I know this because I used to own an online custom clothier and I can tell you
this app is amazing and it makes it so simple to take your own measurements.
All right, guys, I’m linking to Tailor Store down in the description of this video with
the best discount code you’re going to find out there.
Use it or lose it, guys.
It’s not going to be around forever.
I’ve talked about this company before.
I love what they’re doing.
Good quality product.
You guys know I owned a clothier, I’m very particular about clothing companies.
[0:05:07] I talk about and Tailor Store, guys, they
exceeded my expectations.
I love what these guys are doing.
I have twenty of their shirts.
They nail it with the fit, good quality fabrics, attention to detail.
Everything I’m going to cover in today’s video.
These guys – so, guys, use that link down there.
It’s in the description with that discount code.
So, the first thing I look at with a quality dress shirt is does it fit my body.
If you buy it custom, it should fit you.
If you’re going to buy it off the rack, you want to say can I get this adjusted to
fit me.
So, knowing that, I want to look at eight things and I am going to go probably order
of importance to least important meaning that you can actually at the end probably get some
of these things adjusted.
So, let’s start off first with the collar, incredibly important.
Why?
Because it frames the face.
If you’re wearing a jacket, people are still going to see that shirt collar.
That’s why it has to fit you when you button it up.
And, when you button up, you should be able to get two fingers right in there.
You’ve got to make sure it fits you.
Then you want to look and I’ll get into in awhile, the proportions.
So, up first we’ve got the collar.
The collar is the most important thing that needs to fit you.
Why?
Because it frames the face, it can’t be hidden.
When you put a jacket on, guess what?
They’re going to still see that shirt collar.
You can hide other areas, but you cannot hide that collar.
It is going to frame your face.
You need to make sure when you button it up, you can get two fingers right in there.
It should never be too tight that it’s choking you.
It should never be so loose that you can get your whole hand in there.
Next up, we’ve got sleeve length and I’ve got this one rated so high because if it’s
too short, you do not want to buy that shirt.
If it’s too long you can actually get – take the cuff off and you can shorten the sleeves,
it’s a little bit of an expensive fix, but very doable.
And here is when I’m driving, I like to have both hands out like this, so I’m going
to maybe expose that wrist bone just a bit, but it should not really go too far pass that.
If it’s shorter than that, the sleeves are probably too short.
Next up, we’ve got the fit of the cuff and I’ve got this one high on the list because
it is something that you’re not going to be able to hide.
Similar to the collar when worn under a jacket, about a half an inch of cuff should be shown
assuming that the sleeve length is correct.
But, let’s talk about the cuffs.
So, the cuffs can actually be adjusted.
You can simply move the button to loosen it or to tighten it.
Now, how tight do you want that cuff?
You want it tight enough so you’re not going to be able to take your hand out without unbuttoning
it.
So, the size of the armhole is important for a number of reasons.
First up, a smaller arms hole is going to give you more freedom of movement.
It’s actually going to make it easier for your arms to move.
Why don’t we see smaller armholes?
Because there are just different types of body types and most off the rack manufacturers
built a larger arm size because simply they wanted to fit more body types.
Now, that leads to the other issue is it’s very difficult to adjust.
It can be done, but you’re basically almost rebuilding the shirt.
And it leads me to the third part which is dealing with the next measurement the next
issue with fit we want to talk about and that’s going to be the width of the sleeves.
So, if you have a larger arms hole, the width of your sleeve is going to be wide if –
So, if you’re a thin guy and you buy your shirt with a large arm side, the issue is
is you may nail the other parts of the fit, but the sleeve width is just going to look
overly large and you’re never going to be able to adjust it correctly to really look
good on you.
Next up, we’ve got the chest fit.
You want to be able to breathe easily.
If you cannot breathe or if the buttons are basically opening up here at the front, it
is too tight.
Do not keep do not wear the shirt.
If it’s too large, okay, on the chest we can bring it in about an inch-and-a-half to
two-and-a-half inches.
It really depends on the size of the man.
If you’ve got a 50-inch chest, then you’re going to be able to bring the shirt in more
than if you have a 35-inch chest.
Just different sizes and proportions, but understand the chest you never want it too
tight and you never want it too overly large.
Next up, we’ve got the stomach.
Very similar to the chest, but I think we got a little bit more play.
You can bring it in a bit more, but the key with this is never too tight, but it can be
adjusted.
Now, this next point maybe last, but it’s still important and that is the length of
your shirt.
It’s very important if you buy a shirt that’s too short.
And you know your shirt is too short when if you raise your arms up and it becomes untucked.
How do you tell though if a shirt is too long?
So, really it’s about your height and proportions.
If you’re going to wear the shirt untucked, you want about two inches below the beltline.
If you’re going to wear it tucked, I like to have at least three inches, sometimes even
four inches.
Why so much?
Because for me it’s about making sure that shirt stays tucked and making sure that I’ve
actually got extra material that I could use at a later point if I needed to even rebuild
a collar or a cuff.
Now, we’re going to get into shirt fabrics and materials.
So, let’s talk about fabric types and first up is cotton.
Cotton is king for a number of reasons.
First up, history.
It’s been used successfully for thousands of years because it’s durable, it’s tough.
And when you look at the top mills out there, what are they making their fabrics in?
The vast majority of them are spending their money, their research, and their time building
out cotton fabrics.
[0:10:04] Now, there are great shirts out there made
from linen, wool, silk, even synthetic materials, but when you’re looking at those materials,
you need to really understand why are they using that material versus using cotton.
Some cases, okay, it’s got better wicking properties, it’s going to maybe have a better
insulating property.
I think synthetic materials when use responsibly at the right point can add a bit of stretch,
it makes sense.
All that being said, most high quality shirts are going to be made from a hundred percent
cotton.
Now, let’s talk about the fabric quality specifically cotton.
So, you’re going to hear a lot of things like Pima, Super Pima, Egyptian cotton, Sea
Island.
Here is what it all means.
So, first up, let’s go actually to the original plant.
So, let’s look at a cotton seed.
This is what’s going to be inside.
We’re going to see all these fibers.
The thing you want to understand here is the longer the fiber, in general the higher quality
it’s going to be.
So, next up they take these raw cotton fibers and they developed slivers.
These are going to be the cotton fiber once it’s gone through a process it’s been
cleaned and it’s been strengthened.
Again, we’re looking for longer strands.
Next up, we take those slivers and we start to wrap them around each other.
We dye them.
This is now called the yarn.
And then, after we’ve got the yarns in a wide variety of colors, then we’re going
to spin them into high quality fabrics.
So, throughout that four-step process you’ve got high quality and you’ve got low quality.
And if you consistently choose the high quality, that’s going to really raise up the cost
and the quality of the fabric and that’s why shirt fabrics can be so expensive.
Now, what about fabric weaves?
So, you’ve got a wide variety out there.
The shirt I’m wearing right here, this is a flannel it’s a brushed cotton.
Basically, this is three dimensional weave that gives it a very soft feel.
And something like this it’s also a great – it has insulating properties, hence why
the shirt is great for the winter for the fall even in the spring on cooler days.
This is not a typical dress shirt fabric.
This fabric is – this fabric is made from a twill weave.
A twill weave is a classic dress shirt weave.
It’s very tight weave and what it does it creates a bit of a shine, a sheen and so it
makes the dress shirt look very nice gives it a very nice drape and it works well with
a very lightweight fabric.
A 115 grams per meter square, that’s what this weight is.
Very lightweight when you look at dress shirts compared, you know, with that flannel we were
just looking at which is about double the weight.
So, this one right here, a great classic dress shirt fabric.
Other dress shirt fabric you’re going to see out there, probably the more casual side,
you’re going to see oxford, you’re going to see pinpoint.
And then, over on the dressier side, you’re going to see broadcloth and you’re going
to see poplin.
Now, there isn’t a particular pattern or color that’s associated with high-end dress
shirts.
But, on high-end dress shirts we do see the more classic, we see the patterns, again,
that actually match up at the seams, but also the patterns when you look at them, they just
look right proportionally.
A lot of lower-end very cheap shirts they try to actually imitate this, but they go
a little bit too off on proportions.
So, the proportions just don’t work properly.
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Now, let’s talk about build quality.
The first thing, stitches per inch about sixteen stitches per inch on a quality dress shirt.
It could be down to fourteen, twelve is even okay.
But, once you start to get below ten, we’re looking at eight to six stitches per inch,
be careful.
Stitches per inch are important because that means how fast the sewing machine was going
across and it takes more time, it takes more effort.
But more stitches per inch basically means that this shirt is going to last, it’s going
to be tougher and stronger holding together.
And an easy place to met – and an easy place to measure, guys, right here on the collar
just simply take a tape measure put it right there and you can measure stitches per inch.
Next up, button type.
I prefer mother of pearl.
It used to be really popular until we got certain detergents that started tearing it
apart back in the 1930’s and 40’s, so it disappeared.
But, mother of pearl is so tough that it will break sewing needles.
The issue with mother of pearl, it’s expensive nowadays.
So, there are many manufacturers that are great manufacturers, they’re not going put
it on there, so it doesn’t have to have mother of pearl.
But, what you want to look for with a custom manufacturer, do they have the option.
Next up, let’s talk about the pocket.
On a lot of off the rack shirts, you’re going to see a side pocket.
I know for my shirts, I have most of mine custom made.
I do not like pockets, I like the streamlined look.
In any case, simply look at the way that the pocket is sewed on, make sure that this is
done with a quality stitch.
Again, you’re looking for sixteen, fourteen stitches per inch and also if it’s got patterns,
make sure they match the patterns.
[0:14:59] Next up, let’s talk monograms.
Do you need to have a monogram on your cuff?
Do you need to have it on the front part of your shirt near the bottom for it to be a
high quality shirt?
The answer is no.
They’re nice to have and when I first got into custom shirts, I got monograms in all
of my shirts, but then I learned the history and realized it was just for sorting laundry.
So, I’m like, okay, do I really need this?
Again, if you want it, go for it, but it is not the sign of a high quality shirt.
Now, let’s talk about shirt style, shirt function, and how this pertains to being able
to identify high quality shirts.
What you want to look for here is make sure that things work together.
So, when you’re looking at the cuff, the particular style of the cuff should be casual
if you’ve got a casual collar.
If you contrast that if you go with something that’s opposite, oftentimes that’s the
sign of a low quality shirt designed by designer that really didn’t know what he was doing.
So, this collar here, did you notice this?
This is a bend collar, a casual collar.
Most of the collars I wear, they’re going to be turndown collar, they’re going to
be either a point collar or a spread collar.
This one is unique, this one sets it apart and that goes to show how when you change
u the style on a shit you can really standout from the crowd.
Now, did you notice this other detail right here?
I’m wearing a shirt with a covered placket.
Another casual detail, something I wanted to have fun with, but it basically covers
up the front buttons right here by having this extra flap of material.
The classic placket that exposes the buttons, that’s going to be the dressier type of
placket.
Now, is there a particular collar style, cuff style, placket style you’re going to see
in only higher-end dress shirts?
The answer is no.
But, what you want to look for is harmony.
You want to make sure the cuff, the collar, and the placket all work together.
I went for a little bit more of a casual.
I’ve got a one button cuff right here.
I’ve got a little bit of a spread collar and a simple classic placket.
If wanted to dress this whole outfit up, I could have gone with a white shirt with a
plain front with French cuffs with a point collar.
And let’s talk about collar stays also known as collar bones.
On a higher-end shirts, if it’s got a turndown collar, there should be room to put this in
or it should be already sewn in so you don’t have to worry about it.
And a small, but important detail you want to pay attention to, the gauntlet button.
You want to make sure you got one of these.
It’s going to make sure that the cuff stays button correctly.
All right, gentlemen.
That’s it.
And if you want all these in a checklist, I’ve got that for you down in the description
absolutely free PDF, so that you can go down this checklist and be able to identify a high
quality shirt.
And, guys, don’t forget all the shirts in today’s video found over at Tailor Store.
I’m linking to them down in the description with the best discount code you’re going
to find out there.
Great company I love that perfect fit guarantee and how easy they made it to be able to get
your measurements.
All right, gentlemen.
At this point, if you’re ready to go custom, you want to learn how to design the perfect
shirt, I’ve got you covered right here with this video, how to design the perfect shirt
online.
All right, gentlemen.
At this point, if you’re ready to go custom, go check out this video right here, how to
design the perfect shirt online.
I go through all the details everything you need to know to be able to design the perfect
shirt online.
That’s it, gentlemen.
Take care.
I will see you in the next video.
[0:18:12] End of Audio