Helping your friend find a great fitting dress shirt

You’re a super stylish guy. Your clothes all fit perfectly and you never get your colors wrong. You know that, and so do we! But your friend… well… let’s just say he’s not the best dresser and his clothes never seem to fit just right. Don’t worry, we’ve got your back. That’s why we put together this guide on how to help your friend find a great fitting dress shirt.

The challenge of finding a great fitting shirt isn’t exactly new. We recently came across a fashion column in the Baltimore Sun written in 1963 where O. E. Schoeffler gives advice to men on how to find a great fitting dress shirt and look fashionable. In a society where most men consider themselves stylish, and yet many men claim that they have fit issues with their clothing, finding the right fit is as important as ever.

How can you help your friends find a great fitting dress shirt? Here are a few tips we put together to help you with that conversation:

Collar: A common rule of thumb is to use the two-finger test. If you can fit two fingers between the shirt collar and your neck, you’ve probably found your size.

Shoulders: When you hold your arm down by your side, the seam on the shoulder should lie right at the corner point where your shoulder starts sloping down.

Sleeve Length: The sleeve should go all the way down to your wrist bone that protrudes a little on the side opposite to your thumb. If you’re wearing a jacket, your dress shirt should show about half an inch beyond the end of the jacket sleeve.

Shirt Length: You want enough fabric so that your shirt stays comfortably tucked in all day, but not so much fabric so that you feel like you’re packing a sleeping bag when tucking in your shirt. Whether you tuck in your shirt or not, the bottom of the shirt shouldn’t fall lower than the bottom of your pants crotch when untucked.

Torso Fit:Your shirt should sit comfortably around your torso. If you’re on the skinnier side and prefer a fit that sits a little snugger around the body, a slimmer fit like the Tuckerman tailored fit shirt is probably right for you. If, on the other hand, you’re on the larger side and prefer a little more room in your shirt, you probably want a more classic fit like the Tuckerman classic fit shirt. At Tuckerman, our classic shirts have 2 extra inches in the chest and in the waist.

Finally, after you’ve finished the conversation with your friend, don’t forget to send them Tuckerman’s fit guide with step-by-step instructions on how to measure their body for shirt size and fit.