How to spot a great dress shirt, Chandler Bing would approve

Dress shirts once had a clear job. Now they only appear at weddings and job interviews, which is why most guys panic when buying one. This guide is your Monica, it knows exactly where everything goes.

Step 1: Try it on

From a distance, all shirts look alike. Like Joey’s “smell the fart” acting, the difference only shows up when you actually do it. Put it on and feel it.

Look for two tailor-level details:

• • Rotated sleeves: set into the body to follow your shoulder’s natural movement, giving a cleaner front.
  • High armholes: less bunching at the armpit, more freedom to move.

Step 2: Check the cloth

Shirts come in cotton, linen, silk or blends. Cotton is the everyday pick, but better cotton has longer fibres, which means finer threads and sleeker cloth. Don’t be Ross in his leather pants, quality fabric matters.

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Step 3: Inspect the collar

This is the soul of the shirt, and a well-made one can take up to 30 to 40 percent of the total production time. A good collar sits upright and survives repeated washes. A bad one collapses like Ross’s “Pivot!” couch plan.

Step 4: Look at the pattern match

Check where checks or stripes meet at the seams. On a well-made shirt they line up perfectly. This takes hand-cutting and extra time, which is why most makers skip it.

Step 5: Examine the assembly

A top-tier shirt has around 23 parts, mostly hand-assembled, with hems sewn to 0.1mm tolerances. One shirt can take 36 to 40 hours.

Two tells to check:

• The bottom hem: hand-rolled to about 2mm, like an Hermès scarf but tougher.
• Broken threads: lesser makers sew over them. Great ones remove the thread and resew the seam.

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A great shirt is Rachel’s hair in season one, effortless-looking, but the result of serious work. Check the fit, the cloth, the collar, the pattern and the stitching, and you’ll never panic at a dress code again.