A Shirt Style Guide

Building on last month’s entry for designing your tuxedo, we are going to explore options when designing your formal shirt. A formal shirt should let the tuxedo take center stage. A White shirt is the most traditional option. Opt for a crisp, smooth, densely woven fabric or choose a fabric that has a very subtle pattern or texture that feels more elegant than your business shirts. Subtle shine created by an extraordinary weave or texture on a formal shirt makes the shirt special. Also consider the season and time of day of an event: day events may call for a lighter weight fabric to ease the effects of heat, evening events may call for fabrics with a bit more weight. Below are some fabric options with texture for the shirt or the bib front:

There are two traditional collar styles for your formal shirt, either spread or wing. Both are appropriate to pair with a bow tie, but not with a neck tie! If you opt for the spread collar, note that the spread between the collar points should be narrow enough for the bow tie to sit squarely between the points- if the spread is too wide the wings of the bow tie could get caught under the collar! We strongly suggest french cuffs for a formal shirt, in order for you to show off handsome cuff links. We have several french cuff shapes to consider, but a square edge is the most traditional. There are several options to consider for the front of the shirt: with or without a bib, bib with pleats or pique front, exposed studs or fly front. This choice is very personal, choose which style best reflects your style and personality. All our formal shirts come with removable buttons to accommodate studs (unless you specify otherwise).

If you are a current client, we would use your most recent measurement profile to create your shirt, with new formal style details. Lastly, we ask that you give us 5-7 weeks ahead of your event date so we deliver you a perfect finished shirt in a timely manner.