Sizing up the Right Shirt for our Style
Originally considered underwear, shirts didn’t come into their own until the 20th century, yet of all the garments that go into our outfits, the shirt is the most diverse and the most visible. White shirts have always been at the top of the fashion food chain because it’s indicative of a lifestyle where the wearer doesn’t get dirty. Likewise, colored shirts have traditionally been more casual because the colors were originally meant to obscure stains between washings.
The easiest way I’ve found to organize this list is by the length of the placket — the reinforced piece of fabric onto which buttons are attached. A shirt with a full placket is one with buttons from the neck down to the bottom hem. Shirts with partial plackets have buttons that start at the neck but don’t extend to the bottom of the shirt. A shirt without a placket has no buttons.
Full Placket
Dress and Sport Shirts
First, let’s discuss our basic shirts with full plackets and collars. They come in a countless array of colors, cuts, and costs. A simple dress shirt in a conservative color is the foundation for nearly every formal outfit. Add a bold pattern or a unique cut and it becomes a sports shirt, ready for a night out. These shirts come in both short- and long-sleeved varieties. Whichever way we go, fit comes first, if it’s too billowy we’ll look like we borrowed dad’s shirt, if it’s too tight, we look fat.
