A collar band, sometimes referred to as a collar stand, is a strip of fabric that forms the inner part of the collar and attaches the collar to the shirt. The top button is part of the collar band. The band’s width determines the rise, or height, of the collar. A collared shirt can be made without a collar band. This creates a collar that must always be open, — typically, a shirt with a large collar such as the style that was popular in the “Disco” era.. Men’s dress shirts may have a different fabric on the inside of the collar band for a contrasting effect.

Probably the most defining characteristic of the dress shirt is the collar. Look for signs of bubbling on the collar to pick out inferior quality shirts- this is from the interfacing not properly being sealed. The interfacing is a piece of material added to the fabric to increase its rigidness. Also, the collar will be sewn in on from the brim to form it’s structure. Again, the inferior shirts will be sewn right on the brim of the collar, while the better dress shirt’s are sewn a centimeter in. Most common style is the Traditional point collar, which you will find in most business settings. Less common, but also very nice, are the curved point, buttondown, round point. Choose a collar that compliments your neck, you just need to try on a few different collars to see which one does.

The collar point is the pointed part of the collar at the front of the men’s dress shirt. The points should lie flat and be wrinkle- and pucker-free. Traditionally, dress shirts had collar stays on the reverse side of the points, though stays are not common anymore, with dress shirts now being constructed to maintain collar shape without them.

A good tailor will put a lot of consideration into the space between the collar points, know as the collar spread. The reason so much consideration must be made for this is because a men’s dress shirt should flatter your natural body shape- so a person with a stout neck should use a collar with a narrow spread, while a person with a skinny neck should use a collar with a larger spread. By doing so, the neck will visually be enhanced by the collar, thus bringing the best out of your body.

A men’s dress shirt has a complete opening on the front, and this is called the front center placket. It can be made of a separate strip of fabric attached to the shirt, or it can be made by folding over. The buttons are attached to the front center placket, and the buttonholes on the bottom underlying part. The most common is the bluff front placket for a dress shirt. Becoming more popular is the fly front and twin stitching front, especially for casual evening wear. You will normally find 6 buttons on the placket, though a tailor may include up to 7 for a taller person.

It is optional to include include a pocket on a dress shirt. Originally, men’s dress shirts did not include one, but nowadays it’s just a matter of convenience are personal taste. If you are in a very formal event, you may consider a pocket-less shirt, though in any other setting it’s fine to have one. The most popular pocket is regular, though you will often find on industry dress shirts, such as a security or pilot shirt, a pleated flapped pocket. The point of the pleat is to allow the pocket to expand. A pocket adds a touch of character to a dress shirt.

Dress shirts come in either full sleeve or short sleeve versions. The long sleeve men’s dress shirt is considered the norm in a business or formal setting, though in tropical climates, it can be acceptable to wear a short sleeve style at the work place. In a more casual setting, full sleeves can be rolled up to the length of short sleeves, thus providing a style of their own.

There is also a small placket found on the sleeve, from the collar up about one quarter of the sleeve, providing and opening. This is called the sleeve placket, and it can be found with a button or button-less. The purpose is to make for a proper fit on the shirt.

Armscye is the armhole of a shirt. In sewing, reference to the armscye length is the total length of the hole from top to bottom. This is the part of a shirt that many find “off the shelf” dress shirts to be difficult to fit.

The most popular for of cuff is the one button round cuff, and this is what you will see most often in a business setting. The low profile style makes it the most popular cuff on traditional and modern dress shirt’s. A slight variation that is also common is the two button version. This cuff may be slightly longer than the one button.

Slightly longer, and used in the most formal events, the french cuff is considered very stylish. One does need cuff links to be able to properly wear french cuffs, as they need to be secured closed. In recent years the french cuff has made a comeback to less formal settings such as the office. Before, it was reserved for use with a lounge suit or formal jacket. The design of these cuffs is that they are folded once onto themselves.

Convertible Cuffs can be worn as round cuffs or French cuffs on a dress shirt. They have buttons to secure the cuff as a button cuff would, though they also have an extra buttonhole sewn in, to allow the cuff to be folded over and used with cuff links. This makes for a versatile dress shirt.

The Yoke is the strip of material sewn across the shoulders to attach the front and back pieces of the shirt. Dress shirts normally have a one-piece yoke, though two-piece yokes can occasionally be found on traditional British dress shirts. The two-piece yoke is divided directly behind the neck, allowing the pattern to be lined up at a 90 degree angle to the pattern on the front of the shirt, while making the pattern of the yoke on the back intersect, producing a “V” shape to the dress shirt.

Dress shirts need flexibility for movement, and this is partly done by including pleats along the back. By having pleats it allows extra fabric to be on the back, so when the arms are moved around the extra fabric extends to provide freedom of movement. It is also an option to make the dress shirt without any pleats. Those that find there is too much excess fabric on the back of the shirt may prefer pleat-less. Most common pleat is a box pleat, then a knife pleat, and finally something called gatherings. Gatherings are basically many small pleats, where the fabric is slightly scrunched up between the back and yoke.

The bottom cut comes in two popular variants. Most common is the tail cut, also referred to as the round bottom. In this cut, the front and back of the shirt are longer than the sides of the shirt. This gives a front and back “tail” and curved sides, a design intended to give the shirt more style when untucked — though the tail cut bottom can also be worn tucked in. The other variant is the square cut, and it is designed for a shirt that will be tucked in most of the time. The square cut, as its name suggests, is square/straight along the bottom.

Darts are a feature of a dress shirt where two vertical strips of the fabric on the back are sown in. Many tailors believe darts do not belong on dress shirts. It’s true that most body shapes do not require, or even fit well, with darts — but men who happen to have the particular body shape that does fit well with darts often swear by them. Darts are ideal for people with very inward-arched lower backs, that tend to gather a lot of fabric in the lower back area. Darts remove this fabric and make the back of the dress shirt conform closer to the arched lower back.

Usually offered from custom tailors is a monogram on your dress shirt. A monogram is a lettering on your shirt, usually the initials of your name. A monogram is a nice personal touch that will often emphasize that your shirt has been custom made for you- really a sign of quality and workmanship. If you decide to get a monogram on your shirt you may want to consider getting it somewhere discreet if it is for office wear.

There is probably more details to the average dress shirt than you though at first. This guide to the men’s dress shirt should make you appreciate all the features and complexity of the dress shirt, even though it may appear so simple. The dress shirt is a piece of timeless fashion that does not seem to lose it’s appeal. Hopefully, you now have a better understanding that will allow you to choose a dress shirt based on your knowledge, to find a shirt that fits the perfect situation, and that properly fits the style you are looking for.

Custom Tailor Of The Business World, tailoring fine custom dress shirts. See yourself in the finest shirts in the world, completely tailor fit for you.

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