Three Things to Know Before You Buy a Dress Shirt this Christmas

While it might seem like the button-down or the button-up dress shirt is as ubiquitous in our culture as a pair of jeans, not every dress shirt is made alike. Simply putting on an ill-fitting dress shirt and calling it an outfit might cut it for your average Friday, but on Christmas, you need to step up your sartorial game.

That’s why it’s important to know a little more about dress shirts before you buy one this Christmas.

  1. Fit is King

Take two pairs of the very same shirt but at different sizes and your entire look can change. On one hand, you could wear an ill-fitting shirt--best recognized by signs like excessive billowing in the stomach and sleeves, or crinkling because it’s too tight. On the other hand, you could wear a properly fitting shirt where the shoulder seams match your shoulders, the sleeves go down to the wrist and not the hand, and there’s no excessive billowing in the fabric. You don’t have to be Tom Ford to recognize that one outfit will look good and the other will look sloppy and unkempt. You want to be the former, so make sure you take time to know what clothes actually fit you.

If you’re buying online, try to take out your favorite-fitting shirt and look up its dimensions. If you’re feeling ambitious, you could always take a quick trip to the tailor and have them measure you for proper sizing. Either way, the course is clear: when it comes to fit, knowledge is power.

  1. Stand out with Color and Patterns

We have nothing against a versatile shirt like a white oxford cloth button down shirt. But when everyone else is wearing the same thing, sometimes it pays to stand out from the crowd. That’s why our Woven Plaid Shirts are bold without being audacious: they’re there to add a little spice to the wardrobe. When you pair these wovens with your everyday versatile items like khakis or denim, the effect is even more pronounced.

At Christmastime, it’s important to add color to the outfit in a conservative way that keeps you warm, which means using one of these wovens under a monochromatic sweater. The pop of color and pattern will help you stand out without overwhelming the entire outfit. 

  1. Wear it Well

There’s a difference between wearing a bold woven plaid shirt on any old weekday and wearing it on Christmas: on Christmas, you’re expected to look your best. You’re only going to do that if you pair your woven plaid shirt with the “dressier” portion of your wardrobe: think khaki trousers and formal boots, not sneakers. Wearing a well-fitting buttoned shirt is all well and good, but if every other item in your outfit undoes the work you did in picking out the best shirt, you’re not going to look as sharp and well-dressed as is your potential.

This Christmas, pay attention to the kind of dress shirt you wear: its pattern, its color, and its fit. After all, a good dress shirt can make or break an outfit. Make sure your dress shirt makes it.

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