Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette!
In today's video, we discuss the differences between a $30 shirt and a $300 shirt and how
you can distinguish a high-end from a low-end shirt so you don't buy crap.
Basically, this is not just about a particular number.
I'd say that anything under $50 for a dress shirt is low-end, Between $50 and $200 is
medium range, and then $200-$600 is a luxury range.
In this video, we'll discuss the construction and the details that help you to identify
a shirt so you know what you're getting without overpaying.
So first of all, whenever you buy a shirt, it's important to understand the difference
between a bespoke shirt, a made to measure shirt, and a ready to wear shirt.
Bespoke means the shirt is made for you based on a pattern by one person for you.
Made to measure means an existing pattern is modified, and ready to wear just means
off-the-rack.
To learn more about the differences in terminology, please check out this in-depth video here.
The first thing to look at when you want to distinguish a good shirt from a bad one is
how the patterns were matched.
Now if you have a solid shirt, you cannot do that but if you have a checked shirt like
the one I'm wearing here, you can do that perfectly.
First of all, if the pattern is matched on the sleeve and the shoulder on both sides,
you know it's a quality shirt because someone paid attention to it and they went to the
lengths to match the pattern, therefore you can assume that the rest of the shirt is also
of a higher standard.
Other areas you want your shirts to match is the front placket especially if you have
an American or classic placket.
Another area could be the yoke in the back; if all these areas are matched, you know it's
likely a high-quality shirt.
Now on the other hand, you cannot see pattern matching and still get a quite decent shirt
but it's just easier to identify a shirt as being a high-end shirt if it pattern matches.
The next hallmark to look at is stitching.
A lower end shirt has about 3-4 stitches per cm whereas a higher end shirt will have about
8 stitches per cm.
So the higher the stitch density, the higher the quality of the shirt overall.
The only time a high stitch density is not desirable is in a very airy, lightweight,
open weave summer fabric because then the high stitch density can actually destroy the
fabric.
Also, you want to look for consistency of the stitching.
The best way to look at the stitching is at the bottom hem where it's round.
If you see a consistent distance from the edge and it's all very neat, chances are,
the rest of the shirt is enatly stitched and have good quality.
If you see wavy lines or varying stitch densities, you know that the sewer is maybe not an expert.
A quality shirt will always have a single needle stitching which takes a little more
time but creates a cleaner look.
On the other hand, a low-end shirt will double needle stitching which means you can see two
rows of visible stitching and because of the different material of the fabric and the yarn,
you will end up with puckering after a few times of wash; that looks not quite as nice
and it's a hallmark of a low-end shirt.
Next up, you should look at the collar and the cuffs.
It goes without saying that you want to choose a collar that flatters your face.
if you have an oval face, go with something spread; if you have a wide face, go with something
less spread, more classic.
To learn more about this stuff, check out our shirt style video here.
A lower end shirt will typically have a stiff interlining in the collar and it just comes
in one level of stiffness.
On the other hand, a higher end shirt will either give you an option to go with a softer
interlining or something stiffer.
The interlining will also be of higher quality so even if it's stiffer, it just feels more
comfortable on your skin.
On top of that, you can find shirts that are completely unlined, there's no interlining
in there, nothing's glued and it takes more time and is more expensive to produce therefore,
it's not done on lower end shirts.
So if you have a soft collar and you can easily move the inside fabric and the outside fabric
freely, it means it's an unfused collar and it's of a higher quality.
Now, you can also have high quality fused collars but you just won't find unfused collar
in a $30 low-end shirt.
Personally for most dress shirts, I prefer a higher end interlining because it just provides
a crisper look without compromising comfort.
For a more casual shirt, I go with an unlined construction.
The unlined ones are a little more tricky to iron.
If you're not quite comfortable with ironing, skip the unfused collars and cuffs because
they're going to be a pain in the ass.
Next up, you should look at the yoke of the shirt which is the back part here over the
shoulders.
Traditionally, they were split in half because people usually have one shoulder that is usually
more sloped than the other and they use that part to correct that.
Today, most factory made shirts and even made to measure shirts don't even take that into
consideration anymore so all you can look at is the yoke split in the back.
if so, it's another step, it's more expensive, it helps to match the pattern on the sleeve
and it's basically all it is.
If you have it, it's a sign that somebody at least put some thought into it and it's
more likely to be a higer quality shirt.
Next up, look at the buttons.
A $30 shirt will likely have plastic buttons and they're sometimes made to look like mother
of pearl.
So how can you determine whether something is plastic or real mother of pearl?
There are actually a couple of ways.
First, you can touch the button with something metal such as an iron or a key and it will
make a special sound.
On a plastic button, it will sound like this.
Now, if that's indiscernible to you, ideally you touch it with your teeth.
It will make a much more metallic sound with the mother of pearl button.
An even better way to determine it is to simply use your tongue and touch the button, if it's
cold, you know it's a mother of pearl button.
If it's not cold, you know it's a plastic button.
You may be the weird guy licking buttons at the store but at least you know it's a quality
shirt.
Mother of pearl buttons are the standard for medium and higher-end shirts and if you see
that, chances are it's of good quality.
For casual shirts, you can sometimes also find corozo buttons or horn buttons, that's
okay too.
But for dress shirts, mother of pearl is a standard.
The next detail to look at is how the button is actually sewn onto the shirt.
A quality shirt has a little shank around the base which creates a little more space
so when you button your shirt expecially the front, there is no puckering or pleating around
the buttonhole and it just looks neat.
On the other hand, a cheaper way to sew a button is fully by machine without the so-called
ascolite thread and you will not see a shank and the button is more likely to come off
and you will see some puckering.
A swiss company called Ascolite came up with the idea to create a button that creates a
shank but you can sew it on by machine and the butto will mever come off under normal
wear.
Personally, I've seen how it works, it's wonderful, and it really works.
You don't get the puckering, the button stays on, and it's simply marvelous.
If you've got a bespoke shirt, oftentimes, they sew on the button by hand which is fine
too but if you can find ascolite threads, that's great.
Usually, that's advertised on a shirt but not always.
You can also look at the sleeves of shirts because most of the time, relatively inexpensive
shirts or low-end shirts have huge armholes and that makes them uncomfortable to wear
because as soon as you lift your arms, everything moves up and becomes uncomfortable.
On the other hand, a higher end shirt usually has a small armhole because somebody thought
about the cut and the design when they made the shirts.
With lower end shirts, the only goal is to create a size that fits as many people as
possible.
Another quality hallmark is the buttonholes.
If you have a machine buttonhole that was first sewn and then cut, you have fraying
edges on the inside and it just looks bad.
On the other hand, a high-quality machine sewn buttonhole has a very high stitch density
and you will not find fraying threads.
Now, the creme dela creme of shirts is a hand-stitched buttonhole.
You can tell it's hand-stitched by its slight irregularity and it's simply a beautiful work
of art.
Because it takes a lot of time and it's very expensive, you only find those at very high-end
shirts.
If you find a shirt with handmade buttonholes, you know the rest is going to be good and
high-quality.
Sometimes people say that the little gussets which are the little triangles or parts in
between your side seams are a hallmark of quality, I found they're not really because
you can find very expensive shirts for $600 that don't have them as well as very low-end
shirts that don't have them.
Usually, you'll find them in the mid-range of around $150-$200.
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