Men's dress shirts: variable fit, all the freaking packaging, guilt

October 30, 2014 8:47 AM

I find that different brands of men's dress shirts of the same size very significantly in how they fit, but you can't try them on.

E.g. a 15 neck/34-35 sleeve shirt from Calvin Klein might be cut wildly different from a Nautica of the same size. Which would be fine, except for the packaging. You can't try it on...unless you open it. I know you can return dress shirts that you've opened but what happens to the shirt when you return it? Does an employee there re-package it? (it's a huge pain in the ass) Does it get put on a hanger and placed on the clearance rack? Does it get sent to the warehouse to be re-packaged? I want to know how much guilt I should feel about returning a dress shirt, because I really really need to try it on first.

Also I have another question: Do you know which brands have slim fit dress shirts that are the slimmest fit? that have minimal bagginess? Jos A. Bank for instance seems to be okay except the sleeves are too baggy. So in other words what are they snuggest men's dress shirts?

posted by frankly mister to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (27 answers total)

Is there a shop near you that has dressing rooms so that you could try them on before you bought them? It would certainly be less hassle than buying them, taking them home, trying them on, laundering them, and then finding time to return them.
posted by blueberry at 8:49 AM on October 30, 2014

Returned shirts might either be sold as remainders, or returned to the manufacturer to be repackaged. Don't worry about it. Also, I note that Brooks Brothers has shirts you can try on, out of their packaging. Other shops do this as well; just ask.

For slim fit shirts, I think the best have been Charles Tyrwhitt.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 8:50 AM on October 30, 2014 [2 favorites]

Outside of fashion brands like Band of Outsiders or Epaulet, which tend to be darted and incredibly, punishingly slim for the marked size--basically reverse vanity sizing--the slimmest slim shirts will probably be Brooks Brothers' Extra-Slim Fit.
posted by pullayup at 8:54 AM on October 30, 2014

Returned dress shirts at Macy's get repackaged in-store by floor employees. They're a bit sloppier than they were originally, but nobody really cares. - Former Macy's employee who repackaged your shirts
posted by celtalitha at 8:55 AM on October 30, 2014 [15 favorites]

I've been able to try on dress shirts at nicer department stores. Sure, I felt awkward the first time I asked, but the sales people were generally very helpful.
posted by advicepig at 9:14 AM on October 30, 2014

I wouldn't buy dress shirts without trying them on in store - if the sales clerk is on commission then returns come back out of that commission, which seems worse to me than if customers just don't buy the wrong thing in the first place. Some clerks may give you the stink-eye for unpackaging a shirt, but dealing with that is part of their job. I shop with my husband, and we've never been told not to disassemble a shirt packaging, except in cases where the clerk wants to do it themselves to make sure it's done correctly.

In my experience, the idea that mens clothing can be bought strictly on label size is a myth.
posted by muddgirl at 9:26 AM on October 30, 2014 [2 favorites]

Try them on in the store. If you have to undo the eight million gee-gaws in the packaging, oh well. Buy what fits.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:28 AM on October 30, 2014 [2 favorites]

...and this has been my experience at stores ranging from JC Penney (where we usually do it ourselves) to Nordstroms (where the clerk will often do it).
posted by muddgirl at 9:28 AM on October 30, 2014

I would never buy a dress shirt without trying it on because there are so many variations on the same shirt. If anything you should be asking the clerk for help from the beginning, or at least once you have picked the design you like. They will do a better job of initially sizing you up so you have to try less shirts on, and will take care of all the unpackaging to boot.

This holds at a regular department store like Sears as well as swankier places like Brooks Brothers (Whose slim fit size is such a lie, I am fat and their slim fit shirts billow on me. Extra slim I think is properly slim, but have never tried on because I should not be wearing anything labelled extra-slim). If you're going to a place like Marshalls or Winners you're probably not going to get the assistance, but you can absolutely still try the shirts on before you buy them - they do have change rooms after all.

At the end of the day you're wasting less of everyone's time by trying everything on at the store and buying something that fits then buying 5 things and returning 4 of them.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 9:38 AM on October 30, 2014 [1 favorite]

I could very well have written this question.

I try (don't always succeed but try) to justify it by telling myself that the repackaging of a certain percentage of dress shirts is built into the price. Of course, I never buy dress shirts full-price, so maybe that eats into my justification...
posted by supercres at 9:39 AM on October 30, 2014 [1 favorite]

Yeah, try on dress shirts before you buy them. If they give you the stink-eye about it, find a different place to shop.

It may even vary from location to location among different stores. I had one branch of Mens Wearhouse give me a hard time about it once, but that was part of their general lousiness! When I want to buy stuff from Mens Wearhouse now I go elsewhere.

Obviously this is harder if you live somewhere with more limited options.
posted by Jahaza at 9:56 AM on October 30, 2014 [1 favorite]

I searched around for the same thing this summer and found the J.Crew Ludlow dress shirts to work well for me (I only searched locally because I wanted to try it on first and not deal with returns). The small fits me perfectly, but they don't come sized by neck/sleeve length, just S/M/L, etc. They fit much trimmer and are not billowy like typical dress shirts are. I've bought a couple of the non-iron traveler line ones and they aren't shiny or weird feeling like other non-iron ones can be.
posted by jroybal at 10:02 AM on October 30, 2014

Just don't leave the pins lying around the dressing room. Cue nightmare.
posted by Captain Chesapeake at 10:45 AM on October 30, 2014 [2 favorites]

Also, from what I remember, Uniqlo carries slim fitting shirts which, like everything from them, are pretty good for the price. If you have long arms you may have trouble finding ones that fit though (this may be different outside of Japan).
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 10:55 AM on October 30, 2014

Men's shirts in the US are generally horribly baggy and shapeless - they look like something bought at the local tent & awning retailer. I'm not a particularly trim guy, but most bog-standard "fitted" shirts have room for a fat suit around the middle (vanity sizing: not just for the ladies). I'd strongly suggest looking for brands that are made overseas; UK cuts are much more tailored and don't make you look like you're trying to tuck a fucking poncho into your trousers.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 11:13 AM on October 30, 2014 [1 favorite]

If you have an Express by you (or willing to order online) the 1MX Dress Shirts (Extra Slim) seem very nice. When I went a few days ago they had a buy one get one for $20 deal. There is also this coupon.

I ended up going there because everything in Macys was fitting me very weird (either neck is too small, sleeves way too long or super baggy. So there is that.
posted by pyro979 at 12:35 PM on October 30, 2014

Another vote for just try them on in the store. The dressing rooms have pincushions for a reason. If they get upset with you trying on their shirts they don't want you money.
posted by Broken Ankle at 1:11 PM on October 30, 2014

I buy shirts at thirft stores or used or on big sale and get them taken in. Its not perfect and sometimes the proportions don't work out buts its usually pretty close. My dry cleaners charges about $12-15/shirt for the alterations, which seems funny on a shirt that cost $2 at Goodwill, but overall super cheap for a nice, well-fitting shirt.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 1:57 PM on October 30, 2014

I used to work for a department store chain. You know when you're looking at the yellow dot sale rack where everything is 90% off? They're still making money. If you knew the markup, you wouldn't feel so guilty.
posted by PSB at 2:04 PM on October 30, 2014 [1 favorite]

Its the store's problem. Don't make it your problem.
posted by SemiSalt at 2:14 PM on October 30, 2014 [2 favorites]

What Jahaza said. I had a similar negative experience at a MW in the DC area. Frankly, the reason I even stopped to read this thread was because I've never known what the convention is on trying on dress shirts in-store. This has been enlightening.
posted by doctor tough love at 4:48 PM on October 30, 2014

I'm a 15.5 35 shirt (6"2 180lbs slim build). I've tried Nautica, CK, KC Reaction and other department store brands. The slimmest in arm and torso and with non silly fabrics and collars has been the Black and Brown brand (house brand at Lord & Taylor and also Hudson's Bay in Canada). Not sure where you're located but this has been my go to work dress shirt for ~past year.
posted by dismitree at 8:58 PM on October 30, 2014

I used to feel horribly, horribly guilty about de-packaging/de-pinning shirts in order to try them out. This was probably enhanced by having a background in the service industry. But the thing is that -- pleasant or not -- putting the shirts back together is just part of someone's job. Yer a job creator!

As for recommendations, I (40R/med, kinda-athletic, but a little paunchy 'bout the middle) specifically like the Brooks Brother's slim fit; it's been my go-to for a number of years, due to being very dependable in terms of cut. It's not a company that is chasing trends.

Which brings me to my broader point, which is don't sweat too much over how slim-fitting your shirt is. The extra-snug, second-skin look in shirts is absolutely a trend, and will not endure. It's not even cost-effective (unless you plan to never age, dude); what looks good-n-trim now will almost certainly not, at a later date. Yes, you don't want a sloppy tarp, but you still want room to (literally) breath, room to move, room to still look good after a filling dinner, etc. I would suggest finding something that splits the difference, allowing you to look both trim/neat and comfortable. Here's one example that I've seen referenced as an approach to that ideal.
posted by credible hulk at 8:33 AM on October 31, 2014

I had one branch of Mens Wearhouse give me a hard time about it once, but that was part of their general lousiness! When I want to buy stuff from Mens Wearhouse now I go elsewhere.

I should perhaps clarify. The branch of Men's Wearhouse that gave me a hard time gave me a hard time as part of THAT branch's general lousiness. When I want to buy stuff from Men's Wearhouse I go to another branch of Men's Wearhouse.
posted by Jahaza at 12:30 PM on October 31, 2014

If anything you should be asking the clerk for help from the beginning, or at least once you have picked the design you like. They will do a better job of initially sizing you up so you have to try less shirts on, and will take care of all the unpackaging to boot.

Which brings up the inevitable question, do you tip the clerk, and if so, how much?
posted by carping demon at 11:30 PM on October 31, 2014

I wouldn't even think of tipping the clerk. When I go to buy the shirt I'm pretty sure I'm either asked if someone was helping me or the clerk will bring it up to the counter themselves.

Is this tipping an actual thing or are you just kidding? (it is hard for me to tell because American Mefites seem to tip for everything, and way too much at that)
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 10:00 AM on November 4, 2014

No, store clerks are not usually tipped in America.
posted by muddgirl at 10:23 AM on November 4, 2014