Another good idea is to go somewhere you can try shirts on (if you don’t have one) and find one you like (seams at shoulders, wrists covered but sleeves not ruffled) and look at the size. If worn with a tie, the neck should button and not be tight, but you should not be able to fit more than one finger in between the shirt and your neck, otherwise a tie will cause the neck to crumple when tightened.
Memorize or write down the size of the shirt, given in a neck measurement (inches, like 15 1⁄2) and a sleeve length (inches, and often a split value like 32⁄33). This will help if you enter a department store where the shirts are bagged and not easy to try on. Look for your size (neck + sleeves) and hope for the best. These numbers are good to know, as neck sizes may be sold with wide sleeve ranges (30/31, 32⁄33, and 34⁄36), and those buckets make a huge difference.
Lastly, find a particular brand that seems to fit well, if you can. I shop a lot at thrift stores and am of a narrower frame and really have a hard time finding 15-15 1⁄2 necked shirts with the right sleeves that aren’t very “blousy” (where once tucked in, there is a huge “balloon” of shirt sticking out in the back). Pay attention to labels like “classic fit,” “modern fit,” or “athletic fit.” Classic and athletic tend to be slimmer/tapered, and modern tends to be more of a static width, extending the width at the armpits down to the bottom hem.
I still have not figured out how to find work shirts that won’t ballon when tucked in. I may be smaller than most people who give their clothes to the thrift store, or it may be there’s something about this I don’t understand.
You can also get a tailor to slim your shirts. This runs about 30 USD/shirt at a tailor shop but sometimes you can find people offering such services on craigslist for less.
I go barefoot a lot, including walking to work, so I’d need to figure something out with that. Possibly just putting on the shirt stays when I put on my shoes, socks, and dress shirt at work.
You can wear shirt stays while walking barefoot if you leave the bottom disengaged, because the elastic pulls them up into your pantlegs. Also, there are different types. Some clip to your socks like they do to your shirt; some loop around the bottom of your foot. The latter type would be possible to wear completely engaged while (aside from that) barefoot, if you really wanted to. They also have the advantage of not leaving deep, red, itchy, clasp-shaped impressions in your ankles.
Another good idea is to go somewhere you can try shirts on (if you don’t have one) and find one you like (seams at shoulders, wrists covered but sleeves not ruffled) and look at the size. If worn with a tie, the neck should button and not be tight, but you should not be able to fit more than one finger in between the shirt and your neck, otherwise a tie will cause the neck to crumple when tightened.
Memorize or write down the size of the shirt, given in a neck measurement (inches, like 15 1⁄2) and a sleeve length (inches, and often a split value like 32⁄33). This will help if you enter a department store where the shirts are bagged and not easy to try on. Look for your size (neck + sleeves) and hope for the best. These numbers are good to know, as neck sizes may be sold with wide sleeve ranges (30/31, 32⁄33, and 34⁄36), and those buckets make a huge difference.
Lastly, find a particular brand that seems to fit well, if you can. I shop a lot at thrift stores and am of a narrower frame and really have a hard time finding 15-15 1⁄2 necked shirts with the right sleeves that aren’t very “blousy” (where once tucked in, there is a huge “balloon” of shirt sticking out in the back). Pay attention to labels like “classic fit,” “modern fit,” or “athletic fit.” Classic and athletic tend to be slimmer/tapered, and modern tends to be more of a static width, extending the width at the armpits down to the bottom hem.
I still have not figured out how to find work shirts that won’t ballon when tucked in. I may be smaller than most people who give their clothes to the thrift store, or it may be there’s something about this I don’t understand.
Most shirts are “classic fit” or something along those lines. Well fitting shirts for slim people are “fitted” or “slim fit” or some such. “modern” is usually in between. The same goes for tshirts and pants. http://www.primermagazine.com/2011/field-manual/how-to-wear-a-tucked-in-shirt-without-looking-like-an-old-man
You can also get a tailor to slim your shirts. This runs about 30 USD/shirt at a tailor shop but sometimes you can find people offering such services on craigslist for less.
shirt stays
They will change your life.
That is an excellent concept: reverse suspenders.
I go barefoot a lot, including walking to work, so I’d need to figure something out with that. Possibly just putting on the shirt stays when I put on my shoes, socks, and dress shirt at work.
You can wear shirt stays while walking barefoot if you leave the bottom disengaged, because the elastic pulls them up into your pantlegs. Also, there are different types. Some clip to your socks like they do to your shirt; some loop around the bottom of your foot. The latter type would be possible to wear completely engaged while (aside from that) barefoot, if you really wanted to. They also have the advantage of not leaving deep, red, itchy, clasp-shaped impressions in your ankles.