Shirt alteration questions

[demeis]

Ok i have two questions about getting a shirt altered. One is it possible to have shirt sleeve shortened from a 37 to a 33 or is that way to much.

second question, i'm working at BR and the shirt sizing sucks. I am a 15 inch neck but the shirts only come in 15 1/2 so i have an extra half inch that looks stupid when i wear a shirt with a tie. Is there any way to alter a shirt collar to a 15?

thanks
nik

 

[FIHTies]

Ok i have two questions about getting a shirt altered.  One is it possible to have shirt sleeve shortened from a 37 to a 33 or is that way to much.

second question, i'm working at BR and the shirt sizing sucks.  I am a 15 inch neck but the shirts only come in 15 1/2 so i have an extra half inch that looks stupid when i wear a shirt with a tie.  Is there any way to alter a shirt collar to a 15?

thanks
nik

I am a little confused on the sizing. The 15.5 shirts come in a 37 inch sleeve? Doesnt seem possible...

I think you are pushing it on the sleeve because of how it will mess up the gauntlet (the little sleeve placket) and I dont think its possible on the collar size as you cant just change the collar without changing the entire upper bidy of the shirt.

Shirt makers, correct me if I am wrong please.

JJF

 

[j]

You may be able to have a tailor shorten a 37 to a 33, but he will have to pull off the gauntlet placket and cut it in 4" farther up the sleeve. Some extra tapering of the sleeve may also be necessary to get it to fit into the cuff. If you find the right tailor, it shouldn't be that big a deal. If you get one who looks at you like you're crazy when you try to explain it, this is not the right one for the job.

As for the collars I am not positive and I don't feel like digging out a BR shirt right now, but you may be able to get a little extra tightness by moving the collar button slightly. Many RTW shirts are built with "tie space" at the top, where the collar will not meet in a perfect V, but rather have a space in between. I have successfully moved a collar button about 1/4" up to maybe 3/8" without disturbing the lie of the front placket enough to be noticeable. If you move it too much, assuming the collar isn't already overlapping at the top, you will make the top of the placket rumple between the collar button and the second button. This might be remedied by moving the second button over a little bit, if you are still following my rambling description.

So you probably won't make a 15-1/2 into a 15, but you might get it down to a 15-1/4 or so which would look considerably better. Just be sure to use a small tie knot once you have no tie space left.

 

[norcaltransplant]

J's advice is spot on. Recutting a gauntlet and shortening a sleeve by more than 2" is about $12-15 depending on the tailor in my neighborhood. The collar button is a neat trick that Carl from Cego showed me on some 14.5" casual shirts that I "converted" into a 14.75". I doubt I will ever wear a tie with any of these shirts, but at least I have that option available in a sartorial emergency.

 

[demeis]

Thanks for the reply's i will look into finding a tailor now