Dress shirts for big guys

[dave barron]

Every time I buy a new shirt that fits my neck it's like a poncho everywhere else. Any of you white-collar desk jockey types have a good source for athletic/slim-fit shirts?

[Samantha Libby]

Big & Tall ?? Thats a store thats targets bigger guys...

[D.J. Satterfield]

I used to go to JC Penneys and get their Stafford-brand athletic cut dress shirts.

[Eric Hubbard]

Every time I buy a new shirt that fits my neck it's like a poncho everywhere else. Any of you white-collar types desk jockey types have a good source for athletic/slim-fit shirts?

The only shirts that I have that fit right are custom made and they came with a bunch of suits I ordered from Mohan Tailors in the lincoln building (42nd and Madison). I refuse to go to the big and fat stores, but I dont think they carry much athletic fit type stuff anyway. As for suits, if you are over a size 48 chest, they dont even make Atheltic cut suits over that size so again, back to the custom. Mohan is decent priced but it is still very expensive in comparison. I got a custom tuxedo, two custom suits and 8 custom shirts for about 2400.

I tried taking some of the poncho like shirts to the dry cleaner / tailor by me and his opinion was that he could only take the shirts in so much without ruining the shirt. You may have better luck with your local guy than me. If you are a size 19 and under neck than some of the Charles Thrywytt (sp?) shirts are OK in terms the extra material. Dont even bother with Brooks Brothers because their shirts are the most poncho of them all.

[Mike Zylinski]

I've also had luck at JC Penney's, and have found a good selection of Arrow brand athletic cut shirts at Kohl's lately. One trick I use sometimes is to get a size that fits great in the chest, but you may not be able to close the neck. Then buy collar extenders (I bought a ton of plastic ones off ebay but they make metal also). To hide the extenders, wear a wide tie that makes a wide knot.

Always try the shirts on in the store, it sucks trying to repack and return them. And don't settle on materials you don't like just for the fit. I just wasted $ on 3 shirts that fit great but are 100% cotton, which wrinkles like crazy no matter what I do. The wrinkle free stuff is the way to go.

I'm not big compared to most guys on here and it's still a pain in the butt to get shirts that don't have 55" waists. Good luck.

http://cgi.ebay.com/10-METAL-SHIRT-COLLAR-EXTENDERS-EXPANDERS-NO-PLASTIC_W0QQitemZ380070635681QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH _DefaultDomain_0?hash=item587df9a8a1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1240%7C 293%3A1%7C294%3A50

[tackle78]

You can order athletic cut dress shirts through any good private mens clothing store/tailor/suit shop. They make the shirts along the size guidelines of the coats, so whatver your jacket size is, they can take 10" off the waist for a 10" rise. If that isn't enough, a good tailor can take off another 2-4". I know you can get this up to 60. These are a little more than your off the rack generic, but still reasonable (60-100). I know my problem is always the coats more so, but this has been what worked best for me.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Just buy the big shirt and have it tailored. I've had mine done since high school.

[brianwalsh]

I agree that nothing is better than a custom shirt. It looks way better and feels like you are wearing a t shirt if you have a good tailor. They really arent that expensive either.

[davebeers]

move to florida and just wear t-shirts all day;)

[Reggie Brown]

Buy em big and get em tailored. I get alot of my dress clothes at khols and then take it in. Less than 40 bucks per shit and they look like they cost way more. Plus it fits.

[JustinLallemand]

move to florida and just wear t-shirts all day;)

This is your best bet :)

Then, if you did (hypothetically, of course) gain some in the waist, you would be fine....

[Andy Vincent]

The Men's Warehouse is pretty good. They have larger sizes, in-house tailoring, and will do custom work. Tailoring is a must with anything off the rack, but there's no comparison to custom.

[supermagnamon]

Check out this site.

http://www.casualmale.com/store/en_US/index.jsp

[Nikhil Rao]

Huge problem for me since I'll be in dress shirts whenever I'm on wards for the rest of my life (blech).

I am just barely small enough that the XL fitted shirts from structure work ok. I say ok, because I don't dare stretch out in them or the buttons across the chest will pop.

I had to have the arms and chest let out a bit on my suit coat recently which is a 48 if that helps.

I don't think the fitted shirts will work if you have a waist much larger than 34" though.

They have the non-fitted shirts, which are basically an athletic cut available out to 2XL which should be good for a 54" chest (guesstimating)

Even most 'athletic cut' shirts still have too much material in the waist for my tastes (I look like a fat shapeless blob in them still, but less so).

48"ish chest and 32" waist = PITA