Reader Question: Determining the Quality of a Dress Shirt

Loyal reader Tobias writes:

How can you tell how good the quality of a dress shirt is?

That's a good question, Tobias -- in spite of your lamentable grammar -- and a matter that's long vexed shoppers. How do you know what you're buying? How do you avoid getting ripped off?

Fortunately, sartorial sage Alan Flusser has the answer.

Detailed, frighteningly knowledgeable, and yes, quite fussy, Flusser in Style and the Man, goes on like a clear day on what you should be looking for in buying shirts. I'll give you the highlights here.

• Feel the fabric. Typically, the softer and more luxurious, the better. High thread-count (say, 220) two-ply cotton feels like silk.
• Look on the sleeve, near the cuff. Is there a buttonhole on the forearm (technically, on the sleeve placket)? Does the buttonhole go horizontally? (That is, does it run around the arm, rather than up and down?) If so, the shirt is high-quality.
• For striped shirts, look at the shoulder. Does the pattern run off the top of the shoulder (the yoke) down the outside of the sleeve? If so, it's high-quality.
• Look at the collar and cuffs. For most dress shirts, the stitching should be nearly invisible. "If you can clearly see each individual stitch sitting on top of the fabric, its manufacture is less costly," writes Flusser.
• Look for removable collar stays. Those are a plus.
• Buttons should be cross-stitched for strength, which requires extra cost.
• Real pearl buttons are also key indicators of a shirt's quality.
  
  "If a sewing machine needle hits a plastic button, the button shatters; should that same needle strike a pearl button, the needle shatters. Authentic mother-of-pearl buttons, especially thicker ones, are incredible sensual to the hand and eye, as well as costing ten times the price of the typical plastic button."

Flusser is the man.