What To Look For When Buying Bespoke Shirts

Bespoke shirts are made to the specifications and the measurements of the buyer. High end bespoke shirts are made to measure and are known for their comfort and great appearance. There are a number of things to look for when buying a bespoke shirt:

Fabric

The material of a bespoke shirt determines its ease of cleaning, its durability and its comfort when you wear. Bespoke shirts come in a variety of fabrics. Each fabric is suitable for a given occasion. To this end, the buyer needs to consider where they intend to wear their shirt. If you are buying office wear, consider cotton and linen. This is due to their lack of flexibility. A tapered waist style comes handy when all you do is just sit in your office. However, if you do a lot of standing, consider buying a fitted style.

If you are intending to buy bespoke shirts for evening wear, consider buying silk, rayon and other synthetic fibers. Synthetic fabrics are smooth and contain less sheen thus come ideal to evening wear. If you carry your weight around your waist, avoid shiny synthetic fabrics as they will reveal the contours underneath.

Collar

A collar brings out the finesse of a shirt. Not all shirt collars will look great on you. However, there are more than 25 different collars to choose from. They include the spread, rounded, button down, high, stiff and pointed among others. Given that the collar lies nearer to your face than other parts, it greatly influences your appearance and that of the shirt.

If yours is a round face, a long and pointed collar will appear great on you as it sets a steep angle elongating your figure and making your facial features look slim. On the other hand, if you have a slim and long face, consider buying bespoke shirts with shorter points and a wide flare. Branded collar bespoke shirts, commonly known as collarless shirts, are less formal and come handy for casual occasions and are more weather friendly. They are designed to be worn with a bowtie. To feel comfortable, the collar should leave a space of two fingers between it and the wearer’s neck when the top button is closed.

Sleeve Length and Cuffs

The sleeve of the shirt should be long enough to fit your arm when the arm is raised above the head. However, it should not be so long that there is an excess of fabric around the cuffs when the hands are hanging by the body’s side. You can ensure that you get the right sleeve length by taking the sleeve measurement with your hand akimbo. You should consider long sleeve shirts for formal meetings and short sleeve bespoke shirts for casual meetings.

There are a plethora of cuffs styles for made-to-measure shirts; standard, French cuffs and barrel among others. The barrel and the standard cuffs have the button sewn on the shirt and they do not need folding (rolling) after wearing. The French cuffs on the other hand require folding and are fastened with cufflinks. The latter are more formal and come handy for black tie events.

Yoke

The yoke is the strip of fabric sewn across the shoulder and attaches the back part to the front part of the shirt. While the suit may have a padding to keep it in shape, the shirt has the yoke which makes it a better fit and creates a stretch that moves with you. A yoke ensures that bespoke shirts consider the different shoulder shapes; sloped or squared. You need a longer yoke if you have broad shoulders and a shorter yoke for small shoulders. A straight bottom yoke comes handy for formal type of bespoke shirts while styled bottom yokes are great for casual shirts.

Seams and Buttons

Most bespoke shirt seams are single needle tailoring. This makes them durable. Normally, the seam is sewn along one side and the reverse side sewn by the same needle. This results in one clean line of thread which prevents bunching out. You can also opt for a double needle stitching. You can buy whatever type of seam for a bespoke shirt that you can wear for formal or casual meetings. Your eyes should do the choosing. This is the same with buttons, the back pleats, color and pockets. As long as the bespoke shirts you buy have the sleeve length, right fabric, collar, cuffs and the other factors are minor and should be influenced by your taste.