What makes dress shirts tight in the shoulders?

[masqueofhastur]

This is bugging me about every pair of dress shirts I have, if I wear them with my arms hanging down they are fine, but if I have to do anything like crouch down to tie my shoes, reach around, then the fit is horrible in the shoulders. Does anyone know what feature of dress shirts contributes to this? Armhole size, angle of stitiching of the sleeves at the shoulder, something else?

 

[Luc-Emmanuel]

The shoulders are too tight. Buy larger shirts.

!luc

 

[masqueofhastur]

I'm skinny, I wear small undershirts and they're still a bit loose in the arm, and these are Medium and Large shirts that are tight on me.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

Unbutton your sleeves and see if that helps. If it does - you might need longer sleeves.

 

[Shirtmaven]

Are the cuffs to tight?

sometimes the fusing in the cuffs shrinks too much. Look for excess fabric on the underside of the cuff. Your cuffs could be getting caught on your lower forearms.

Carl

 

[Luc-Emmanuel]

Originally Posted by masqueofhastur

I'm skinny, I wear small undershirts and they're still a bit loose in the arm, and these are Medium and Large shirts that are tight on me.
maybe the sleeves are too short then? Sleeves shouldn't end right at your wrist to allow some allowance, they should be at your wrist when you cross your arm to your heart, like a "pledge" sort of stance.

!luc

 

[masqueofhastur]

That seems to be it. It is more comfortable when I unbutton my cuffs and roll them up, although still a bit tight. Any other reasons to look out for? - It's great to know the current reason but I'd rather not buy another shirt with longer sleeves and find out there's something else wrong with the fit that I have to buy the next shirt for.