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Dress Shirt Problem

Aside from having shirt tailored for you (although always nice) I think you just need to look for "athletic" of "slim" fit style shirts. Unfortunately, regardless of you height, most men that are buying neck sizes that large, tend to be shaped more like a bowling ball than you are.

That would be the quickest and easiest way. FYI, I'm only 5'6" on a good day, weigh 140ish, and wear a 16 inch collar (muscular neck). 16 inch neck on a 5'6" frame sounds huge, and most shirts are.... I've had excellent luck with Calvin Klein Athletic fit. Far better fitting than any other shirt I've worn, by far.
 
This may seem off the mark, but try the Stafford dress shirts at JC Penney - I am 6'2" and 225 lbs. and the tapered / athletic fit ones fit me very well. The tails are just long enough not to pull out of the trousers, but they're not too long. Very well made shirts for $20-25 IMO.
 
I've ordered shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt, who seems to have perpetual sales, in size 17/35 and found them to be the correct length and size. I'm about the same height and weight as you. They carry a full range of sizes, so 18/36 should be no problem. The caveat is that some of the non iron shirts require some touch up.
 
By the way, as much as I like the Brooks Brothers dress shirts, with your arm length (which is also mine) their casual long-sleeve shirts will probably not work.
 
I've ordered shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt, who seems to have perpetual sales, in size 17/35 and found them to be the correct length and size. I'm about the same height and weight as you. They carry a full range of sizes, so 18/36 should be no problem. The caveat is that some of the non iron shirts require some touch up.

Love Charles Tyrwhitt dress shirts...I think I've said this already.:wink:
 
I've never shopped at Mens warehouse. Do they produce quality shirts? How is the finish?

It depends upon the fabric you choose for the custom shirts, but the few I have are very nice. The finish is at least as nice as any off-the-rack shirts I've come across. The lady who does the tailoring at my local store does a very nice job, no loose threads and a smooth and consistent seam.
 
I've found shirts from English companies to be a better fit for tall and thin. Seems the English don't have the American body style. I like CT, but I think TM Lewin fits me even better. In fact, I just ordered 4 more shirts from TM Lewin earlier this week. Great sale right now and if you poke around the web you can find a 15% off coupon that stacks. I got 4 shirts and a pair of silver cufflinks for $125 shipped.
 
Sometimes custom is the way to go. Back in the day when I used to dress up for work, I had all custom shirts because I was in between sizes. If I bought a shirt based on the neck size, it was way too big for me everywhere else. Some people are lucky enough to be able to buy standard sized shirts and have them fit very well. For the rest of us it is custom.

With a custom shirt, it will not only fit you properly, but you will have the collar that best suits your face, the colors and materials you want, the cuffs you want, buttons you want, pocket/no pocket, etc.

You will look absolutely stunning!

A decent men's clothing store or a tailor should be able to make these. Also, I believe I read in Esquire that J.C. Penny's make custom shirts, but I have never looked into it, so I could be wrong.

One last note: I was single at the time I was buying these shirts.


One thing I forgot to mention. In the past, I have bought dress shirts from Men's stores and taken them to an excellent tailor to make them fit better.
In my case, this doesn't work very well as there is only so much a tailor can do with an existing shirt. The sleeves still hang because my shoulders aren't as wide as the shirt and the bottom of the arm hole is still farther down than I'd like. By the time I paid for the shirt and the tailor, a custom would have been close to the same amount and would have fit perfectly.
 
Believe it or not there is not that much difference in price between buying the High end (Brooks Bros., Jos Banks) and taking it one step up and having your dress shirts made to measure.

Absolutely agree, though it begins to freak me out when I spend that much for a shirt. Still, they fit exceedingly well, they look sharp, I can choose fabrics and finishes - all in all, if you wear suits, I'd recommend it.
 
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Absolutely agree, though it begins to freak me out when I spend that mcuh for a shirt. Still, they fit exceedingly well, they look sharp, I can choose fabrics and finishes - all in all, if you wear suits, I'd recommend it.

You can get made to measure for around $40 a shirt if you go overseas.
 
True, but does the wrinkle free fabric from the Tailor perform like the wrinkle free from Brooks Brothers? I hate taking shirts to the cleaners because they come back with buttons missing, stains or rips. If I do them at home, I know they'll last longer and I save the $1.40 for each shirt.
 
You can get made to measure for around $40 a shirt if you go overseas.

It is possible that all the shirts are actually made overseas.

I was at the tailor shop where I used to get my custom shirts and someone came in who used to get custom shirts from an extremely high end men's store. The tailor told him that there are only a few places that make the shirts and everyone uses the same places.
 
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Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
I've found shirts from English companies to be a better fit for tall and thin. Seems the English don't have the American body style. I like CT, but I think TM Lewin fits me even better. In fact, I just ordered 4 more shirts from TM Lewin earlier this week. Great sale right now and if you poke around the web you can find a 15% off coupon that stacks. I got 4 shirts and a pair of silver cufflinks for $125 shipped.

There are a number of English shirt companies out there, and some offer some pretty good shirts. Some offer slim-fit shirts, and some stick to just the fatboy models. Turnbull & Asser is probably at the top of the heap, but don't make a slim-fit (at least they don't have one on their website ... but they DO do custom shirts.) But that's big-time bucks, and you pay a premium for the T&A name.

(giggle giggle ... he said 'T&A')

Charles Tyrwhitt is a long way down the list, quality-wise, but when they are almost always offering 4 shirts for 100 quid (if I have that British Pound symbol, I can't find it) you can get some decent shirting on the cheap. The 'sea island quality' shirts are much nicer fabric, and priced accordingly. Stay away from Thomas Pink shirts, though. They are at the bottom, quality-wise for English shirts, but a slick website and marketing means they charge much more than they ought to.

I've never been a big fan of non-iron ... it's a chemical that's applied to the material, basically, and it wears off with repeated cleanings, so you end up eventually with a non-non-iron shirt. :001_huh:
 
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