Creating Your Casual Custom Shirt
August 13th, 2013
“DEAR ALEX”
“I’ve been having my office shirts made with you for a few years, and I wanted to know if you would do my casual shirts too. The body fits great but the shirt is way too long to wear untucked (my girlfriend laughs at it, seriously). Can you tell me what would have to change on my shirts so I could make this happen? And, what kind of casual fabrics do you have, I always look for office shirts. Thanks, let me know.” – AJ, Manhattan
AJ, we will adjust the back length if you are planning to untuck your shirt. We have found that taking 1.5 to 2.5 inches off the back length will give you a good length for untucking, but we’ll work with you to determine the exact length decrease. One major issue with untucking your “office” shirt is that a longer shirt makes your torso look longer and your legs shorter – it throws off the vertical balance.
We can also lower the bottom curve height (aka “hip rise” – see illustration). This helps the sides of the shirt from exposing your skin when you are moving and/or bending over. We also recommend making the waist measurement larger for a more subtle torso silhouette.
Some other changes and features related to a casual cut shirt are below:
– Add back side pleats for more comfort
– Adjust the collar point length. Shorter collar points give off a more casual feel, and this subtle detail may add a needed punch to your wardrobe. Also, button-down collars are always casual.
– Choose a fabric with two or more colors, because increase in color count will make the shirt more casual. Also, checks are more casual than stripes and bigger and bolder patterns are more casual than subtle and thin patterns.
Categories: Bespoke Dress-Up, Style Guide
