My mom wanted to know the size of my neck, to buy me a dress shirt for Christmas, and she said that’s the only measurement one needs.
Now, the reason I need a new dress shirt is because my old ones are too tight in the belly, as well as too tight in the neck. This is of course because of my medical condition, an advancing case of fatbastarditis.
Is it true that you really only need to measure the neck, I suppose because guy’s necks and bellies grow proportionaly as weight is gained?
I’m no expert, but whenever I last went shopping for a new suit and dress shirts, I also needed the sleeve length.
I have a pretty skinny neck (15 1/2), but fairly long arms. I had to dig through quite a bit to find shirts that fit both of those demensions.
Just to be safe, give her your sleeve length as well.
Sometimes you see shirt selections with different cuts. Tapered towards the waist or not tapered towards the waist and tall. I note as I slide gently into fatbastarditis my neck size has grown to keep up with my waist.
If you are measuring sleve length be sure to do it right. Generally it is measured from the middle of the neck down the arm. see links
http://www.mybarong.com/sizechartmen.html
http://www.mytailor.com/sizes/shirtsizes.htm
Above posts with regard to sleeve length are correct, if you are buying a properly sized dress shirt (casual shirts are usually S, M, L based on neck size).
I will add that such shirts are sold two ways. One is with exact sleeve length (inch multiples) and the other is “average” sleeve length. For average sleeve length the measurement will read 32-33, 34-35, etc. The 32-33 is really something like 32-1/2", maybe even a little longer, which is a “compromise”, meaning it fits most people equally badly. To compensate, the manufacturer puts two buttons on the cuff. The outer button will make the cuff tighter, to keep the cuff on a 32-33 from slipping halfway down the hand of a man with a 32" arm.
(My sleeve length is slightly shorter than 34, so 32-33 is too short and 34-35 is too long. I almost always buy exact 34, but not every brand offers exact sizes.)
I am fending off an attack of Dunlop’s Disease so wear full-cut shirts, not those tapered ones I got when I was 22.
If you are of average proportions (of which fatbastarditis is unfortunately one of) then probably the neck-based answer will be fine.
Personally I am bone thin, and small shirts are too short and medium shirts are too big around the neck. So for the grand majority of cases, your mom’s rule will be correct, but it is definitely not an absolute.
if you really want the shirt to fit, you need chest size and a good shirt or good tailor.
I have a thick 17" football player neck, but I’m pretty skinny around the middle, being 5’10" - 155. When I buy the off-the-rack shirts that are 17 / 32-33, I look like I’m wearing a tent because they’re made for a guy 30-40 lbs heavier.
I’m pretty hefty around the middle (I’m 6’4" and 265 pounds), but when I buy a dress shirt by neck and sleeve length (18/38) it fits like a tent around my waist. I guess they assume that with a neck that big I must have quite the beer belly, but my weight is more evenly distributed. I never end up with shirts tight across the tummy. Tight across the chest, yes, but not across the tummy.
I forgot to mention that I only wear short-sleeve shirts, including dress shirts.
Since sleeves aren’t an issue, and the problems some seem to have are too much room in the belly (which won’t be an issue with me), sounds like just neck size will work.
Thanks all!
You wear short sleeve dress shirts?
Get a pocket protecter and some glasses, and you could be in the stage production of Apollo 13. 
I was gonna say he should meet me after school on the playground so I can take his lunch money.
–Cliffy
Ha!
Actually, I pretty much never wear dress shirts, I just need the shirt for my suit (which I only wear for interviews/funerals/weddings). The suit jacket is long sleeve of course… Hey, a short sleeve suit jacket, what a great idea!
A suit does not look good with a short sleeve dress shirt.
You mean even with the long sleeve jacket on? How can anyone tell?
The end of the cuffs of the shirt should be visible when wearing a suit jacket.
Right. You should get a properly-sized long-sleeved shirt - which means you need to know your sleeve length. They aren’t any more expensive than a short-sleeve. And, in fact, most shirt-makers don’t even offer a short-sleeve version in their better quality shirts. Any even half-competent menswear shop, including such entry-level stores as J.C. Penney, will have a guy who can measure you.
Also, to be properly attired, the cuffs of shirt sleeves should be just visible beyond the jacket when your arms are in their natural resting position hanging at your sides.
I recommend the Roberto Villini line available at any S&K Menswear shop (also available thru Amazon.com now I see). These are an excellent value in a mid-price men’s dress shirt. Usually between forty and fifty bucks and offered in a wide variety of colors and fabrics. I’ve got probably 15 or 18 of 'em hanging in my closet that I’ve bought over the last five, or so, years. You will also want to take the shirt to your local dry cleaner to be washed and pressed prior to wearing it. A nice crisp freshly pressed dress shirt is essential to looking sharp. The wrong shirt, or a poorly pressed one, can make even an expensive and well-tailored suit look bad. And shine them shoes, too.
Here, these are on sale even. Forty-five bucks marked down to fifteen. I have all three of these. These, although they’re 100% cotton, aren’t made of the nicest, or softest fabric, but the colors are really excellent, especially the burgundy. The gold one is more brownish-green than the picture shows, so you might wanna beware of that one.
http://www.skmenswear.com/skmenswear/1000_shop/1120_cat_catalog.asp?dept_id=9&display_dept_id=63
I would not give a job to someone who wore a short-sleeve shirt to the interview.
Of course, there’s significant client contact in my business; maybe your industry is different.
–Cliffy
That would be my reaction too.
The usual custom here is for men to take their suit jackets off at the start of a meeting, interview etc.
I used to hire a lot of engineers, Cliffy. A short-sleeved shirt with a tie (but no jacket) was about as dressy as most of them ever got.
I judged them based on their ability, not on their sense of style.
That’s me, I’m an engineer. Although, I do wear the suit jacket to interviews.
I am an engineer also. I have noticed that almost nobody is wearing suits to interviews in southern California.
But if your are going to the touble to wear a suit you should do it correctly.