I'm guessing you're here to solve a problem: you want to look great in the office, and that means dress shirts. But the off-the-rack shirts you've tried weren't designed to fit your athletic physique. Some fit fine through the chest, but are way too baggy at the waist, leaving you with "muffin top." Others fit your trim waist, but are uncomfortably tight through the chest. You've thought about made-to-measure, but you'd rather find something more affordable and convenient.
Do you already know your height, weight, collar size, and chest measurement/jacket size? Try a free service that searches over 1,000 sizes from 17 top brands in seconds. A personalized assortment that fits the way you want, available online today. With no styling fees, no markups from brand’s website pricing, and no subscriptions. Click here.
Need video instructions to learn your collar size and chest measurement? Click here.
Turns out men come in all shapes and sizes, but brands design for the average to drive production volumes. Most of them use the following rules:
If you think this is easy, here's a "heat map" of the actual chest and waist measurements of guys with 15.5" necks. (The number in each cell is an estimate of the number of guys in the US with these measurements.)
Lots of variety!
The "hottest" spot on the map is 40" chest and 35" waist, so this might be a logical place to start. If a brand designed with only these guys in mind and chose a 5" drop, the shirt would be a bit too loose for guys with 33-34" waists, but they could still wear it. Unfortunately, it would be uncomfortably tight for guys with 36-39." What do most brands do? They take a "big tent" approach to include the wider guys, assuming the leaner guys will put up with baggy shirts. Here the same heat map for shirts with 15.5" collar size.
Let's assume you're a guy with a 15.5" collar, 40" chest, and 35" waist, and you want a Trim Fit shirt. Adding the required 4-5" of ease, you're looking for a shirt with a 44-45" chest and 39-40" chest. You will have a number of good options to chose from
Some guys will have more of a challenge: they have a 15.5" collar, but have been pumping a lot of iron. They have built up to a 44" chest, and slimmed down to a 34" waist. For a Trim fit, they're looking for a shirt with 48-49" chest and 38-39" waist. On the chart they find...white space. It turns out that really athletic guys are so rare that stores can't afford do hold inventory for them. It's just too unlikely that one of them would walk through the door. They've got two options:
Of the brands we're analyzed, 70% design with 3.5" of drop or less: too baggy for an Athletic fit. Fortunately, a select few brands designed for guys in better shape. These brands offer multiple sleeve lengths to fit your arms, and collar sizes to the nearest 1/2" so your neck will be comfortable on days where you need to wear a tie. Here are some examples, each for shirts with 15.5" collar size.
Chest Waist Brand and Fit
41.0 37.0 T.M. Lewin Super Fitted
41.2 36.5 Charles Tyrwhitt Super Slim Fit
41.5 38.5 Charles Tyrwhitt Extra Slim Fit
42.5 37.5 Calvin Klein Extra-Slim Fit
43.0 39.0 Nordstrom Men's Shop Extra Trim Fit
43.5 38.5 T.M. Lewin Fitted
44.0 41.0 Charles Tyrwhitt Slim Fit
44.5 40.8 Boss Sharp Fit
45.0 40.0 Nordstrom Men's Shop Trim Fit
45.0 40.0 T.M. Lewin Slim Fit
45.5 41.0 Paul Fredrick Slim Fit
45.6 41.8 Buttoned Down Tailored Fit
46.0 42.0 Jos. A. Bank Tailored
If you want to see the chest and waist for other collar sizes, click on the brand link to see their sizing chart.
You may also want to consider brands that offer the same Small/Medium/Large + Tall sizing you'd find at Banana Republic, J. Crew, and Uniqlo but tailored for Athletic guys. The challenge: if one of their 3-8 options doesn't fit your neck and sleeve, you're out of luck. Some examples: Hugh & Crye, Mizzen & Main, Ministry of Supply, and State & Liberty
If you think searching through sizing chart pages is a job for a machine, not a busy guy who hates shopping...
If you know your basic measurements, there's a dramatically better way to go. A service that searches over 1,000 sizes from 17 top brands in seconds. A personalized assortment that fits the way you want, available online today. With no styling fees, no markups from brand’s website pricing, and no subscriptions.
If you'd like to try but need video instructions to learn your collar size and chest measurement, click here.
Want to see your best options that fit your body and your budget, in the next 60 seconds? Try a free Personalized Wardrobe Search from The Wardrobe Essentialist
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