male only Male clothing sizes

[Manatee 4]

Just before Christmas I bought a pair of dress shirts to go with the suit. I really didn't have interview clothes, and so I dropped in to Men's Wearhouse for the shirts.

I've always just bought polo style and other open collar shirts, so I didn't know anything about sizes. The staff there measured the necksize, arms and handed me some shirts. Great, done deal, etc.

Not so fast...

When I put the shirts on just before the interview, they were massive! True, they fit at the neck and at the cuffs, but I could have put 50% more me in there. Billowy, and cut straight down from the armpits. I ended up folding handfuls of the fabric over in the back to hide it.

Turns out the typical male dress shirt is designed in a basic cylinder, and guys with 18" necks and 32 sleeves are usually VERY cylindrical

The way to correct this is to get a "fitted" shirt or a slim-cut, which is tapered more tightly than the traditional cut. If even this is baggy (and it is, on me), then one's options are limited to the rare athletic cut shirt or custom tailored shirts.

Just an FYI.