How to Get the Perfect Men’s Shirt
Buying new shirts on a regular basis for many men always seemed to be a pretty simple. Go to your favorite branded retail store, look for something you like in your size, buy it, take it home and wear it. Men typically visit one store to buy dress shirts and another store or two to buy casual shirts. The collar size and the sleeve length pretty much dictate what size to get. Sometimes they buy button down shirts; sometimes plain-collar shirts. For between $30 and $200+, you can get whatever shirt you want and make it work with a specific suit, pair of pants or trouser/sports coat combination.
Things have changed as custom-made shirts have become very popular and shirt styles have undergone significant change. Today shirt collars alone are available in multiple spread angles and sizes for a wide variety of formal, business and informal dress occasions. A wide array of fabrics provides shirt finishes that add an elegant complement to a suit or a fashionable addition to a casual shirt and trouser combination. Shaping shirts to fit body physiques is common as is creating extra room to accommodate excess girth around the waist.
Men’s suits are increasingly being custom-made, and the same trend is evolving with shirts. Suits and shirts are increasingly being designed and assembled as integrated outfits. Hand-made silk ties are sometimes and essential component. Shirts designed to be worn with ties are designed differently than shirts intended to be worn without a tie. There is great flexibility in how the collar is attached and spaced on a shirt that isn’t intended to be worn with a tie.
The best way to take advantage of all the shirt options available today is to seek the services of a Master Tailor and buy custom made shirts. Master Tailors, or Custom Tailors as they are sometimes called, design and assemble shirts to correspond with the specific client requirements. A Master Tailor will ask his/her client what they are buying a specific shirt or shirt collection for based on whether the occasion is formal or semi-formal, business-oriented, informal, or casual. Each of these shirt variations requires a different approach in terms of fabric choice, collar design, accessorizing, and fit optimization.
Finding a Master Tailor that will approach shirt making as a custom design can be challenging. Retail clothing stores or even high-end specialty clothing shops frequently provide a series of shirt styles and offer to make alterations that will give you a perfect sleeve length or a tapered look, but you won’t end up with a custom-made shirt. You’ll pay big money to get some of the popular, high end shirt brands that offer to make custom alterations, but you won’t get the overall quality or custom fit you get from a custom-made shirt.
My Custom Tailor is a unique, third generation manufacturer of custom-made suits and shirts that serves men and women all over the world. My Custom Tailor Master Tailors are experienced artisans that have evolved from the clothing design firms and manufacturing factories centered in and around Singapore and Bangkok. My Custom Tailor maintain the lost art of making custom-made, handmade clothes. Our Master Tailors are true Bespoke Tailors and are among the most experienced and talented in the world. They adhere to proven design and assembly standards that differentiate them from anything available from any other source. Their greatest distinction lies in their commitment to travel to major cities all over the world to serve their clientele. This allows new clients in particular to experience the unique process of having a Master Tailor relationship.
What differentiates a My Custom Tailor Master Tailor from other custom oriented tailors you can engage, assuming you can even find a tailor resource with true Master Tailor capabilities? When designing a custom-made shirt, My Custom Tailor Tailors serve as consultants, designers, and assemblers in meeting the unique requirements of every client. These requirements encompass fashion preferences, fabric options, and fit specifications. These discussion points evolve from an open and honest dialog with each new client. Each client describes the type of shirt(s) he wants and how he will wear them.
Clients provide a price range they are comfortable with for each type of shirt they want made. This is always important because the Master Tailor will help the client understand that he won’t pay a premium price over which he has become accustomed to. He will also be led to understand what additional quality he will get if he wishes to upgrade in any of his standard wear categories. Here are some of the benefits of working with a My Custom Tailor Master Tailor:
Defining the type of shirt, you want enables the tailor to make initial recommendations on styling and fabric. If you need a formal shirt to be worn with a tuxedo or semi-formal suit, you will want high grade cotton with a high thread count. The upper end of this scale is Egyptian Cotton. This type of shirt will have a conservative collar design, premium buttons, and classic stitching. You may choose handmade buttonholes that accommodate shirt studs and matching cufflinks. This material provides a soft, elegant sheen that complements the overall formal or semi-formal ensemble. The most popular color for this shirt style is white but there are definitely different shades of white to choose from.
Business shirts also require high thread count cotton also and there are a number of options other than Egyptian Cotton that will wear very well and be a better value for a shirt intended to be worn frequently. Business shirts come into basic types, button–down and plain-collar. Plain-collar shirts are available in a wide variety of collar shapes and widths. The type of plain-collar shirt desired is greatly dependent on the type of tie the client favors. Each client will have a preference and a My Custom Tailor will help you understand the best options consistent with your preference for suits and related clothing pieces.
Business shirt fabric colors and patterns are also important choices. Colors have gradually evolved beyond the most popular white and blue shades to include whatever color works well with the type and color suit that is chosen. Patterns and shapes are increasingly popular, but clients must be careful to make choices that don’t accentuate physical attributes they want to keep neutralized. Wide stripes and bold patterns can make the wearer look shorter than they really are.
Informal and casual shirts can be designed using a much more divergent fabric and style selection. Again, button-down or plain-collar options abound. Fabric texture, colors and patterns play a more important defining role in the type of shirt a client choose to wear away from his business or professional environment.
Individual measurements are an important determinant of how a Master Tailor approaches the design of a custom-made shirt. A Master Tailor will take a series of measurements in creating a measurements profile from which he will design and assemble your custom-made shirt. This design template is the foundation for him understanding your physical shape and pinpointing certain areas where you require special accommodation. There are plenty of different opinions on how a man should wear his shirt. A Master Tailor will work with you in confirming a design and fabric choice that is best for you.
Some clients with athletic physiques or well-built arms, chests, and necks require accommodations to create a shirt that is well proportioned and synchronized from the neck down around the torso and through to the waist. For tall or short men, the overall length of the shirt is another important design factor.
A custom-made shirt will feature basting, hemming, stitching, and related finishing details that add quality and wearability. The choice of buttons and the spacing of buttonholes can differentiate a shirt. Reinforced buttons add quality, and they wear better over time. You may want to include a pocket or two or you may choose to have no pocket. You may traditionally have chosen between a 16 inch and a 16 inch and a half collar size. What if the perfect neck size for you is 16 and a quarter? You can only get that kind of specification when the shirt is custom-made. Every little detail gets special attention in confirming the final design.
Now that you understand how a Master Tailor approaches the design and assembly of a custom-made shirt, you likely have a new perspective for what you typically find in a men’s retail clothing store. Based on the type of shirt you want you likely need to go to two or three different stores to get exactly what you think you need. Why not choose a single source that will give you anything you want and deliver it consistent with your preference for quality, wear, and value? When you compare custom-made shirts to in-store retail shirts that are made of the same material and incorporate the same or similar finishing, you will be pleasantly surprised at how close the costs are.
My Custom Tailor Travelling Roadshows in major cities all over the world on an annual basis. Review the schedule to see when one will come to your city. This is the best way to observe and process the differentiated quality and value you get from a relationship with a Master Tailor. These roadshows educate consumers on the value and quality of custom-made shirts as an alternative to clothing items purchased from popular retail outlets and specialty clothing stores.
Travelling Master Tailors bring fabric samples, finished pieces, and styling examples that educate prospective clients on the value of buying custom-made clothes. You can bring samples of existing shirts you own that you like or want improvement on. The tailor will work with you to understand how to make new shirts in the form you have become accustomed to or with new fabric and feature benefits you haven't considered before. Click this icon to review the standards and workmanship these artisans adhere to.
If you don’t see a roadshow location coming to your city, you can still engage My Custom Tailor resources over the internet and then ask any questions you have by calling our customer service group. Here’s how you get started:
Visit the My Custom Tailor Website and review one of the online collection catalogs and review shirt style you like.
Click on the form or the ‘order’ button to select the style, color, and fabric as shown in the image
Select the measurements profile for this item. If this is your first order, you can add a measurements profile on this page and submit your measurements any time after you have submitted the order. Or, complete the information listed in the My Custom Tailor Measurements Kit that we will send you.
Next, you will see a series of tabs for further customizing your item. Here, various finishing accessories can be specified such as buttons, sleeve cuffs, collars, monograms, etc.
After completing your selections, proceed to the check-out page. Your order total will be visible at all times at the top right-hand side of every page next to the shopping cart.
My Custom Tailor customer support personnel are available to answers any questions you have or help you make final decisions. Their contact information is provided as part of the order entry details.
Provide billing and shipping information at checkout
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