NYC: Dress shirts for skinny guys. Where to get? Forum

[mzing12]

Hey forum,

Any of you in NYC tackle this problem? I'm on the shorter side and skinny, and I've been having trouble finding dress shirts that actually fit well. Mostly they're either way too baggy or way too tight, but I can't seem to find anything in between.

Tips, recommendations, etc., would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

[MrPapagiorgio]

Find a good tailor.

[mzing12]

For custom-made shirts? When a shirt isn't made well for your frame, a tailor really can't do anything ... at most they'll cinch it at the chest, but if the proportions are off, you'll end up looking dorky.

[dougroberts]

Also check brooks brothers, especially online as their shirts come in a variety of fits. Unless you are a skeleton, one of their fits should work.

[fatduck]

For custom-made shirts? When a shirt isn't made well for your frame, a tailor really can't do anything ... at most they'll cinch it at the chest, but if the proportions are off, you'll end up looking dorky.

are you trying slim/extra-slim fits, or regular? if you're still having trouble with extra-slim fits you'll probably need custom-made shirts.

[CanadianWolf]

Look for shirts made in Pakistan as they always seem to be too short & too tight. Often these are sold at discounters such as Marshalls or TJ Maxx. Otherwise consider shopping in the boys' dept. rather than in mens'.

[MrPapagiorgio]

You don't need custom shirts. The tailor I go to has hemmed and cinched my shirts as well as fixed sleeves. How skinny are you that you can't get a shirt a little too big and have it tailored to your frame?

[mez06]

Banana Republic shirts should fit well. Also try Calvin Klein Slim fit. If you go to a department store, they will cost you $50-65. If there is an outlet or factory store, you can find them easily and at a lower price.

How tall are you?

[Renzo]

You don't need custom shirts. The tailor I go to has hemmed and cinched my shirts as well as fixed sleeves. How skinny are you that you can't get a shirt a little too big and have it tailored to your frame?

[SemperLegal]

Brooks Brother's slimfit!

[kwais]

Brooks Brother's slimfit!

correct. half of the first floor of the Madison Ave store is slimfit. I had the same issue and it was solved

[afc1910]

...

[moandersen]

I second (third?) Brooks Brothers (if you catch one of their semi-annual sales, you can get nice stuff without going broke - but go early, it is miserable) and Banana Republic.

Brooks Brothers during their sales is a great place to buy. Unfortunately I only caught the tail end of their winter sale, so I only got one shirt that fit and was the style I was looking for.

(nice avatar I got a king charles, with another on the way this summer)

[mzing12]

Cool, thanks for the suggestions guys.

The only places I've found shirts that fit are from European stores or "boutique shirtmakers", but that's a little out of budget these days. I'm also really picky about how well clothing fits, so YMMV on this topic.

[vttran9]

Zara

[SemperLegal]

I live by an outlet and i find that a good sales weekend, AAA discount, and buying slighly off season lets me dress pretty well on a partime workers budget. I just bought six sweaters and a pair of cords for less than two hundred. At the end of last summer polos were twenty each.

Dress shirts are very rarely on end of season sale but i have stacked three or four sales and gotten them below thirty. Still expensive, but in my mind clearly worth it.

A word of advice, buy the iron free ones, but still iron. They make a sixtly dollar overstock.com suit look like a brook brothers one.

Also, let the salesmen pick out clothes for you and measure you. They not only have better taste, but will often hook you up if your size is "sold out"

[Renzo]

Cool, thanks for the suggestions guys.

The only places I've found shirts that fit are from European stores or "boutique shirtmakers", but that's a little out of budget these days. I'm also really picky about how well clothing fits, so YMMV on this topic.

You're not that picky if you're unwilling to take a shirt to a tailor.

[goingoingone]

For a tailor, Nelson's on the LES does great work, is fast, and cheap, just the way I like it. (ba-dum ching) http://www.yelp.com/biz/nelson-tailor-s ... 0tailoring

I also just bought this shirt from Banana Republic and it fits perfectly off the rack. Probably the best fit I've ever had in a shirt. http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/pr ... tFltr=true Looks like they also have a French cuff version if that's your style.

Also, Brooks Brothers slim fit is good stuff. If you can make it out of the city, check out a Brooks Brothers outlet. Not as easy as going to a regular Brooks Brothers store, but you'll save some money and you'll be able to stock up. I know there's one at Jersey Gardens mall (which you can get to via a short bus ride), but there might be one even more accessible. I don't know.

If you can't leave the city and want something inexpensive, also try checking out Uniqlo in SoHo. Decent quality, inexpensive, and pretty much everything is slim fit there. I would just add as a caveat that you won't get the same quality as you would find at Brooks Brothers or buying a nicer Banana Republic shirt, but it's easy to get to and their stuff is looks nice.

[kalvano]

The BB outlet still charges the same price, maybe $5 cheaper, for non-iron slim fit dress shirts.

[fatduck]

The BB outlet still charges the same price, maybe $5 cheaper, for non-iron slim fit dress shirts.

This is true, but the outlet also runs store-wide sales more frequently than the main stores.

[bilbobaggins]

I've found the best shirts for my frame (6'1" but 170lbs) come from stores other than BB. You want to go somewhere that has more of a European vibe because those are the peeps who are making shirts for skinnier dudes. I will go home and look at some tags. Cannot recall off the top of my head.

[mvp]

Depends on how much you wanna spend: Dolce & Gabbana, Zara, Topman, H&M

[misterbingley]

i've been to most of the places suggested here. and while they'll work great for skinny tall men, what is the skinny short man to do?

usually boys' clothing's sleeves are too short, or the collars are off...

[goles5]

geez... hit the gym

[sullidop]

Brooks Brother's slimfit!

correct. half of the first floor of the Madison Ave store is slimfit. I had the same issue and it was solved

A year or two ago they started to make extra-slim fit shirts.