For Dress Shirts, Fit is the Thing

Cynthia Cheng  

Clothing sizes is always an issue, for men and for women.  Mike Davie, founder of James VII, a Toronto-based custom clothing business for men is about to branch out to women’s dress shirts.  Since custom shirts are made-to-measure, the look and fit is much better for the wearer – he or she looks much more professional that way. 

According to Mike, the standard sizes for shirts are cut for women who’re 5’6″ and 5’10″ for men.  European cuts are slimmer, while North American brands have a little more room.  In both cases, shorter people (i.e. under 5’3″ for women; under 5’7″ for men) are often left with clothing which is drastically oversized.  Fit is very important when it comes to professionalism.  You don’t want to look like a little kid playing dress up in his or her parents’ clothing at a job interview or at a meeting with clients.  You want to be taken seriously as an adult. Baggy clothing is unkempt and unprofessional.

So what about alterations?  Sure, tailors can do wonders when it comes to making store-bought clothing fit, but they can only do so much without completely altering the garment (e.g pocket and collar size).  Mike indicated that shorter people will “find that the armholes go half way down their chests, with too much baggy cloth when the shirt is tucked in.”  In addition, “the shoulders fall off the sides, hanging 2-4 cm over the arm.”  Taller, slim people have the same problem.  

So are you (or anyone you know) “hard to fit”?  Prospere Magazine and James VII is looking for a few people who have difficulty finding properly-fitted dress shirts to follow for a future series. If you are interested in participating, please send Prospere Magazine an e-mail, letting us know why you are hard to fit.  The names picked will have a free, made-to-measure dress shirt created for them.

About James VII

James VII is a custom clothing business located in Toronto. Our showroom is located at 73 Richmond St West (between Bay and York). We offer men’s custom shirts and accessories and will be launching our new line of women’s dress shirt early March 2009. Currently we are having our Spring sale with shirts as low as $67 when purchased in a package of 3. Customers are invited to make an appointment with Mike by contacting him at 416-897-3365 or email mdavie@jamesvii.com . To see our latest fabrics and to learn more visit www.jamesvii.com

Image: © Ernesto Solla Domínguez/iStockPhoto