Over-sized Dress Shirt

[arrogant]

I purchased a very nice dress shirt last year and only a few months later, did I realize that the shirt was significantly too big for me....

I do not want to sell it (it would piss me off to see someone else wearing it)

Has this situation ever happened to you guys???

Any suggestions on how to wear an over-sized dress shirt???

PS: its a size 16 but i usually wear 15 or sometimes 15.5

 

[mack11211]

It is very difficult to reduce the neck size via normal tailoring, but...

Why, who's that? It's Mr. Dryer the Tailor.

MR. DRYER
Just wet the shirt then put it in me on high for as long as it takes. I could take half an inch or more off the neck -- I might reduce the arm length as well. -- hell, it's all the same material, right?...Oh, I see a load of whites coming in --- gotta go.

[Exits.]

Thank you, Mr. Dryer.

 

[arrogant]

and that would not destroy the dress shirt???

 

[alchimiste]

and that would not destroy the dress shirt???

You're not gonna wear it and you're not gonna sell it. So is death better than collecting dust?

 

[j]

Well, is just the neck too big, or the shoulders too long, or the body too big, or all of the above? The body can be taken in. The shoulders and neck are basically stuck where they are, although Mr Dryer and his friend Mr Hotwater may pull them up a bit.

If the neck is just somewhat big, just take in the body and wear it without a tie. But believe me, I have done all this rationalization before and wearing a shirt that fits in the first place is so much better.

 

[stache]

Along with Mr. Dryer, you might be able to cheat the collar button in a bit. Wearing it with a vested suit hides the excess bulk in the body.

 

[boston]

If you have been wearing and washing a shirt for a while, it should have done all the shrinking it's going to do.

the high-heat dryer trick should not effect it.

-boston

 

[mtf]

I've used the dryer trick myself. Sometimes it works great and other times the seams will pucker up on the front button plackett as the fabric presumably shrinks differently than the stitching.

 

[Roger]

Stache's right.  Any good seamstress (you don't need a tailor for this) can move the neck button in 1/4".  I did this on a new 16.5" Zegna shirt I got at a truly absurd price, the neck thus being reduced to 16.25".  Washing in hot water, along with Mr. Dryer, did the rest.  It's now about 16", my normal size.  The only, small, drawback to moving the button in is in reducing the tie space.  The result is that you have to fiddle with the tie a little when you put it on for it to look perfect, but this is a minor inconvenience.