I seem to be starting a lot of threads with “Help!” these days. I need to get DS17 a white dress shirt and black tie to wear in a performance. He’ll be playing a big piano piece with the school orchestra, so his clothes shouldn’t be tight. The fit choices are bewildering. He is a little over 6’, not super-slim, but there is no fat on him. I looked at the trim fit and super-trim fit but they looked skimpy to me. Nordstrom has some helpful measurements for different brands:
and fortunately, they give the measurements for his exact neck size. I measured his chest (36") and waist (33"). All of the shirts seem to be a lot bigger than those measurements. For example, the trim fit in the Nordstrom brand is 45" in the chest and 40" in the waist.
How much extra room should there be? And what kind of tie should I get? There is an informational video showing a model wearing the different fit choices, and they mention that a narrow tie should be worn with trim fits.
Go to Nordstrom or any other high end department store. The sales people there are extremely helpful at finding the right fit. It’s worth the money since he will use it more that once.
Also, he needs room to move as he plays, so you really need to consider how it will fit after the first laundering since most of the quality shirts are cotton. (Average price is $65 to $100-they are made out of strong cotton fabrics and blends; you can get them for a lot less at Nordstrom Rack, Ross, Marshalls, but the selection is limited to what’s on hand.)
My husband wears trim fit but he is tall and likes a tighter and tailored fit. My son plays violin and moves a lot during his performances. He wears regular fit because he is tall, fuller in the shoulders, arms and waist. For some reason, the kids want really loose, baggy, clothing.
When you do the first wash, wash in cold water then tumble dry and hang. Light iron.
Seems like he has a small chest and waist for his neck size. That is not unusual for younger guys, but most dress shirt wearing men are larger in both places.
The shirt chest and waist are probably supposed to be 12 to 20 cm or 5 to 8 inches larger than the wearer, depending on how tight or loose a fit is desired, if moderntailor.com is to be believed.
There are some made to measure shirt makers if a good fit off the rack is too hard to find.
If you would like to avoid ironing, Brooks Bros sells no-iron shirts that are truly no-iron. You do have to remove from dryer and hang immediately, but then they look ironed. Have purchased at regular BB and BB Outlet. My son’s shirts are at college with him so I can’t look on the tag to see which cut he wears, but I know it was some variation on slim as he wore a 40L jacket and 33 pants.
Avoid J. Crew no-iron as they emerge from dryer very wrinkled.
The tie is a personal choice. My boys wear Vineyard Vines but that look is not for everyone.
I recall seeing inexpensive, no-iron shirts at Costco and would have purchased, but they did not sell 15 1/2, 35.
While on the subject of outfitting teen boys…I never knew that men’s suit pants have an extra few inches of fabric at the waist, allowing pants to be let out, as needed. Huge savings when son’s waist expanded a little after dropping HS sport.
H and BIL liked the men’s dress shirts. I seem to recall they did have some slim shirts but it’s been awhile since we looked since D rarely wears long sleeved shirts at all.
You definitely need to go try on the shirts. All the online measurements don’t really mean a whole lot once you actually get the shirt on. In a store like Nordstrom they’ll measure him and pull out a bunch for him to try.
If there’s a Nordstrom Rack nearby, they’ll have a good selection to check out too.
As for cleaning, personally I gave up washing my dress shirts a long time ago. Laundering at the dry cleaner is pretty cheap and they do a way better job at ironing than I ever could.
@anomander – the advantage of machine wash & dry shirts for a college student is that they do not always have access to dry cleaning. Cleaning is sent out and returns a week or more later at my son’s university. Not always convenient for a student.
Dry cleaning here in SW CT is actually quite expensive and I find the pressing machines tear off the buttons, whereas the BB no-iron shirts last longer. However, the local cleaners all pick up and deliver twice a week.
Thank you, everyone, for all the great advice! BunsenBurner, I found a Hugo Boss “sharp fit” shirt in his size at Nordstrom Rack, and I ordered that and a slim fit Nordstrom shirt. I can return one of them. If neither fit, I’ll have to take DS to a store. He’s been spoiled because I’ve always bought clothes online, so he’s horrified at the prospect of going to the mall. I hate shopping, too, so I hope that one of these shirts fit.
The BrooksBrothers shirts looked beautiful, but they’re expensive so I’m trying the Rack shirts first. I don’t know how many times DS will wear this shirt. I’m replacing all his performance clothes from last year because he’s outgrown them, pants especially. I keep thinking that he’ll stop growing but so far he hasn’t.
D’s fiance is a classical pianist and conductor who requires room to move. He is 6’5 and has looooong arms. We find that Banana Republic slim fits are reasonably priced and fit tall lean guys like him quite well.
– but my slim S likes shirts that to me often look skimpy.