Q The Tailor Blog

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Clothing Fit: Dealing with Weight Loss and Gain

by Antonio on November 25, 2010 · This holiday season many of us will be eating large meals and spending time with family watching our favorite sporting events. Another portion of us will start our New Year’s resolutions and make exercise and healthy eating a part of our daily lives. Either way, quite a few of us will discover over the next few months that our clothing doesn’t fit the way it used to. And whether those 34X34 jeans become too small or too large, the problem of ill fitting clothing needs to be addressed if for no other reason than a man’s britches shouldn’t fall down or tear around company.

The purpose of this article is to help you understand what to do when you gain or lose a considerable amount of weight and are faced with the issue of not having clothing that fits. The fact of the matter is weight transitions, whether planned or unplanned, can be expensive. Even a man with modest wardrobe needs can face being out quite a bit of money if he is forced to spend resources quickly because his clothing no longer fits. Hopefully this article opens your eyes as to what to look out for when shopping and what your full set of options are when confronted with this dilemma.

General Guidelines for Ensuring Your Wardrobe Can Accommodate Weight Fluctuations

Own less clothing and make sure what you do own is highly interchangeable – Buy less, wear what you have more often, and purchase clothing that matches a wide variety of items in your wardrobe. This is perhaps the best advice I can give a man going through a weight transition. This simple rule saves you money because you buy less and get high mileage from what you have. Purchase clothing that is classic in style, simple in color and pattern, and timeless in cut. Your goal is not for people to remember what you wore, only that you looked great wearing it. I’ll reiterate this point because I see so many people do the complete opposite – they own 10+ pairs of jeans/trousers, 20+ shirts, 5+ pairs of shoes, and 2+ suits yet wear less than 20% of those items more than 80% of the time. The reason – most of the clothing mentioned matches only one item in the closet or was purchased on a whim because it was too good of a deal to pass up. If you expect to gain or lose weight, you can’t afford to recreate this wasteful wardrobe in another size.
Avoid trendy clothing – you might be storing it for years – Whether you gain or lose weight, you’ll want to hold onto your old clothing for at least a year and preferably longer if you have the storage space. Some weight loss experts advocate getting rid of and even burning your “large” clothing after hitting certain weight loss goals. I personally feel this is wasteful especially if the clothing is timeless in style. Also, as many men can attest to, weight fluctuations happen multiple times over a man’s life; you may find a broken leg or too many broken promises to avoid that ever tempting Wendy’s Triple Stack Cheeseburger result in you having to pull out those large pants years later.
Find a good tailor – A good tailor or seamstress is your friend – he or she can often help you fit into your old clothing despite a weight swing of 25lb or more. Experienced tailors can adjust jackets down two full sizes without incident at a cost significantly lower than buying a new jacket. Tailors are only limited by their skill, the amount of excess fabric in the garment, and the limit of the garment’s proportions.
Lower quality fabric is fine in certain areas of your wardrobe – There are items in your wardrobe you can skimp on as your weight fluctuates. These items include dress shirts and trousers, the logic being these items can be covered by quality pieces such as a jacket, and they have the least amount of give and will have to be replaced first. However, once your size has stabilized for 6 months then invest in quality menswear with better fabric and build.
Thrift, Borrow, or Ask – The key with thrifting is finding the time to look. I personally think the best deals can be found at Goodwill and Salvation Army stores located outside of the major cities, as less people are picking over a wide range of items. To thrift successfully you do need to be able to spot quality items that fit or can be altered to fit your frame. Another option is simply to ask your friends and family – know your measurements and sizes and put it out on Facebook and email. If you are losing weight, this is a great way to let people know about your progress and see if they happen to have something hanging in the closet or storage that can tide you over until you reach your weight goal.

Specific Men’s Clothing Tips – Weight Gain and Loss

Gaining Weight & Menswear

Shirts – The good news is that most men’s dress shirts are built to fit men with healthy midsections; the bad news is that if you actually bought shirts that fit you and are now gaining weight you’ll have little room to accommodate any new insulation around the midsection. Other areas you might experience weight gain are in the shoulders which will make the sleeves feel shorter, and the neck where you’ll be hard pressed to button the top button.

Adjust this collar by simply moving the button - if you need to remake it, then cut from the shirt tails as matching this complex pattern is next to impossible.

Addressing the collar issue, a collar button extender or moving the collar button ½ inch might temporarily offer relief. A more expensive option is to attach a new collar, which if white can be made and affixed by most tailors. If your shirt tails are long enough, another option is to have a new collar cut from them – the key being whether there is enough fabric present. As for dealing with sleeve length, a man could have longer cuffs cut and attached – this is limited though by proportions and usually anything more than ¾ of an inch is pushing it. As for the torso – you can’t create room where there isn’t any fabric. Some shirts might have a total of ¾ of an inch of room……but most won’t and so new shirts are called for.
Jackets – Of all the items we’ll discuss, a jacket has the most flexibility to handle weight gain. The simple reason is jackets are normally given 3 or more areas where excess fabric can be let out. It’s not uncommon for a man to have 2+ inches opened up on a jacket and it to still look fine proportionally. But make sure the fabric is there – many times men pick up a jacket at a thrift store and find out it has already been let out, or try to adjust a designer suit which has very little excess material left in. In addition, there are limits to what can be done based on proportion. As for the jacket shoulders, little if anything can be done to extend them although sleeves and the jacket back can be opened to help accommodate the new weight. Usually once a man expands past 1-2 sizes or 25-35lbs, the jacket cannot be worn. Finally pay attention to the front length of the jacket. A protruding belly can cause the jacket to rise considerably in the front, making the jacket un-wearable.

The fabric available for expansion can clearly be seen on this unlined jacket.

Trousers – Trousers are limited by the placement of their back pockets and the amount of excess material sewn into them. As a clothier I leave room for 2+ inches of expansion – most machine cut pants have almost nothing left over in the seams as fabric costs money. My advice is if your weight is fluctuating, be careful about spending too much money on pants. One trick I recommend is that if you have trousers made, skip the back pockets. This gives whoever will alter them in the future a lot more leeway in alterations. Also, although the current fashion is flat front trousers…..a man who enjoys food should wear and enjoy pleats. They keep the excess fabric out of the way when not in use but allow them to stretch out when needed. Lastly, large men are most comfortable in trousers that hang from their shoulders – consider suspenders.

Antonio on November 25, 2010 · This holiday season many of us will be eating large meals and spending time with family watching our favorite sporting events. Another portion of us will start our New Year’s resolutions and make exercise and healthy eating a part of our daily lives. Either way, quite a few of us will discover over the next few months that our clothing doesn’t fit the way it used to. And whether those 34X34 jeans become too small or too large, the problem of ill fitting clothing needs to be addressed if for no other reason than a man’s britches shouldn’t fall down or tear around company.

General Guidelines for Ensuring Your Wardrobe Can Accommodate Weight Fluctuations

Own less clothing and make sure what you do own is highly interchangeable – Buy less, wear what you have more often, and purchase clothing that matches a wide variety of items in your wardrobe. This is perhaps the best advice I can give a man going through a weight transition. This simple rule saves you money because you buy less and get high mileage from what you have. Purchase clothing that is classic in style, simple in color and pattern, and timeless in cut. Your goal is not for people to remember what you wore, only that you looked great wearing it. I’ll reiterate this point because I see so many people do the complete opposite – they own 10+ pairs of jeans/trousers, 20+ shirts, 5+ pairs of shoes, and 2+ suits yet wear less than 20% of those items more than 80% of the time. The reason – most of the clothing mentioned matches only one item in the closet or was purchased on a whim because it was too good of a deal to pass up. If you expect to gain or lose weight, you can’t afford to recreate this wasteful wardrobe in another size.
Avoid trendy clothing – you might be storing it for years – Whether you gain or lose weight, you’ll want to hold onto your old clothing for at least a year and preferably longer if you have the storage space. Some weight loss experts advocate getting rid of and even burning your “large” clothing after hitting certain weight loss goals. I personally feel this is wasteful especially if the clothing is timeless in style. Also, as many men can attest to, weight fluctuations happen multiple times over a man’s life; you may find a broken leg or too many broken promises to avoid that ever tempting Wendy’s Triple Stack Cheeseburger result in you having to pull out those large pants years later.
Find a good tailor – A good tailor or seamstress is your friend – he or she can often help you fit into your old clothing despite a weight swing of 25lb or more. Experienced tailors can adjust jackets down two full sizes without incident at a cost significantly lower than buying a new jacket. Tailors are only limited by their skill, the amount of excess fabric in the garment, and the limit of the garment’s proportions.
Lower quality fabric is fine in certain areas of your wardrobe – There are items in your wardrobe you can skimp on as your weight fluctuates. These items include dress shirts and trousers, the logic being these items can be covered by quality pieces such as a jacket, and they have the least amount of give and will have to be replaced first. However, once your size has stabilized for 6 months then invest in quality menswear with better fabric and build.
Thrift, Borrow, or Ask – The key with thrifting is finding the time to look. I personally think the best deals can be found at Goodwill and Salvation Army stores located outside of the major cities, as less people are picking over a wide range of items. To thrift successfully you do need to be able to spot quality items that fit or can be altered to fit your frame. Another option is simply to ask your friends and family – know your measurements and sizes and put it out on Facebook and email. If you are losing weight, this is a great way to let people know about your progress and see if they happen to have something hanging in the closet or storage that can tide you over until you reach your weight goal.

Specific Men’s Clothing Tips – Weight Gain and Loss

Gaining Weight & Menswear

Adjust this collar by simply moving the button - if you need to remake it, then cut from the shirt tails as matching this complex pattern is next to impossible.

The fabric available for expansion can clearly be seen on this unlined jacket.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

And how long does it take to make a fine suit?

The Best Off-the-Rack Wardrobe
by G. Bruce Boyer
The Duke of Windsor was a stickler for detail. Fanatical when it came to his clothing, he was precise about the number of buttons on his jacket sleeve and the height of his trouser cuff. He had special linings sewn into his custom-made ties to produce the exact thickness of knot he desired, and when he decided that he really preferred American-style trousers with an English-style coat, he simply had his suit jackets made in Savile Row and the trousers made in New York City. It was something of an international compromise, which his wife referred to as "Pants across the Sea." But then, that is not quite as precise as the inclinations of George "Beau" Brummell, the great Regency dandy who reputedly had a different glove maker for each hand.

There are those men who wallow in the very "process" of custom-made clothing,

studiously pouring over the swatch books, luxuriating in the endless discussions of details and the numerous fittings over weeks and months. There is a great deal of pampering as fitters take the corporeal measure of a man, and there is no denying its arcane charm--if you've got the time and the inclination, not to mention a decent tailor and boot maker.
But many of us don't, and we merely want to look well turned-out without all the fuss and bother. We want a well-made suit that fits with minor alterations, one that we can examine and try on, rather than just imagine how it may look.
The problem traditionally has been that the gulf between custom-made and ready-made business wear--tailored clothing, shirts, ties and shoes--was both broad and deep. Selection, in terms of styling and silhouette, has always been rather narrow with ready-to-wear; and assembly-line work cannot begin to duplicate handmade quality. The designer movement in menswear these past two or three decades has only made more men aware of these disparities. There are some designer clothes that have a sense of style but no real quality to them; and then there are one or two quality manufacturers whose idea of brio is someone with all the dash and élan of Henry Kissinger. So the question remains: Where can a man get some stylish-looking quality gear without a lot of endless bother?
Do not despair. There is, as it happens, an international handful of ready-to-wear firms that are every bit the equal of custom quality and styling, firms that employ the finest craftsmen, use only the best materials and have a sense of classic taste.
At a time when hand-tailoring has been in steady decline, a few firms have created an innovative concept as a commercial basis for manufacture: a "factory" of craftsmen. Whether in the United States or Europe, the recipe for producing exemplary ready-to-wear is virtually the same: Success depends upon a happy marriage between technology and craftsmanship.

Success calls for the ability to use technology where it can do a better job and the foresight to keep the craftsmanship where handwork cannot be surpassed. That means using technologically advanced machinery and computers where they can do the most good--recording orders, keeping track of inventories, filing patterns, mailing correspondence and other clerical duties--while also bringing craftsmen together and organizing a workplace for the manufacture of handwork: hand-stitching, hand-cutting, hand-pol-ishing and whatever else cannot be duplicated by machinery.

Let's be clear what we're talking about here. When you have talented craftsmen working with the finest materials--the best woolens, cottons, leathers, horn buttons and the rest of it--the only difference in custom work is the use of individual patterns. With handmade

ready-to-wear, quality is assured, styling is superb and fit depends upon the silhouette a man prefers. And the results at this level of competence must be judged on styling: We are discussing the relative merits of a Rolls versus a Bentley. Prices, needless to say, are as comparable to custom work as is quality.
"There's an almost mystical relationship between mind and hand when it comes to the work of real craftsmen," muses Joseph Barrato, CEO in the United States for the Italian firm of Brioni, tailors extraordinaire for 50 years. In the famous workshops and apprentice school in Penne, in the Abruzzi region of Italy, 200 tailors handcraft suits of impeccable subtlety. "In Italy, they talk about how long it takes to make something, not how quickly it can be pumped out," says Barrato. "The measure of craftsmanship is quality, which means aesthetics married to function. There is still the tradition of taking pride in doing things the best way, rather than the quickest way."
And how long does it take to make a fine suit?
"A single tailor working in a custom tailoring shop can make no more than three jackets a week--and that's the standard," Barrato says. "In Italy, they talk about garments in terms of hours: 'It's a 10-hour suit,' 'a 15-hour coat' and so forth. The artisans at Brioni make an 18-hour coat, which means as much handiwork as in any custom shop."
And it shows: Each jacket is completely hand-cut with scissors; the chest, lapels, collar, armholes, buttonholes, lining, pockets and sleeves are all sewn by hand. Everything is hand-pressed. It is virtually the same way at Kiton, a firm that employs 170 tailors in Naples to make clothing the old-fashioned way. Both Brioni and Kiton limit the number of garments they make to a few thousand per year--or about as many suits as the large clothing factories churn out in a week using laser knives, conveyor belts, a bit of glue and some pressing machines.
Brioni, in fact, has continued the time-honored artisan tradition of apprenticeship by establishing its own senior tailors school to train young people in the craft, the technical aspects of which have a heritage that dates back more than 100 years. And a visit to the Kiton plant in a Naples suburb shows tailors sitting in small groups, doing the work in their laps, one stitching a buttonhole, another a sleeve head. At a worktable across the aisle, a man hand-presses a lining. Many of the tailors have tape measures slung around their necks; it is very much the Old World in a modern setting of space and light.
That experience holds true with the great shoemakers. At the French firm of J.M. Weston, "production moved into a high-tech factory in 1990, but the old cobblers' benches are still used, and the construction methods haven't changed in half a century," says John Ryan, United States sales director. At least 80 percent of each Weston shoe is made by hand, from cutting the leather pattern to final polishing. The firm, which began making shoes and boots at Limoges in 1865, still has its own tannery, to ensure the proper aging of the leathers. Across the Channel--or through the Chunnel, if you will--in the English town of Northampton, Edward Green & Company has been making shoes since 1890, with the skills of the craft handed down from one generation to the next. The firm continues to make the knee-high boots for the Queen's own Household Guard, a tradition begun with Queen Victoria.
"We simply wouldn't think of using glue," says managing director John Hlustik, in a voice that makes you think he would probably thrash you if you mentioned Velcro fasteners. "In fact, we use wild boar bristles for stitching, instead of steel needles, and we make our own twine because it's both thinner and stronger." That's the kind of dedication to craft I'm talking about!
Neither firm, of course, mistakes the frighteningly trendy for style, choosing instead the tried-and-true cap toes and tassel slip-ons, a classic monk strap here, a calfskin-and-linen spectator there. The tremendous variety they offer comes in the form of leathers, finishes and fittings. Sizes and half-sizes in five widths are the norm, and traditional styles usually are available in several different shadings and finishes.
"We are concerned with welted shoes," Hlustik says, "because they are the only ones that can adequately be repaired." Too true, and while we are on the subject, quality shoe manufacturers will, for a modest charge, rehabilitate and rejuvenate your purchase so that you can be well-shod for years and years. That is value for the money.
Shirtmakers have their own set of rules for perfection. Single-needle construction is a must, so that seams don't pucker, and collars must be sewn in layers, rather than be fused (a polite term for gluing). Only the finest long-staple and lustrous cottons and mother-of-pearl buttons are used.
Tie-making is a special art. Some, such as the famous French firm of Hermes, founded in 1837, print their own silk twill in an extremely ornate and complicated silk-screen process. The British firm of Charles Hill produces handmade jacquard-woven silk ties in a variety of weights, from 24 to 50 ounces, the traditional patterns of which are drawn from the archives of historic English silk mills.
The crown jewel of neckwear is the legendary seven-fold tie. The concept of the seven-fold is simplicity itself: A square yard of finest silk is folded in on itself seven times until the tie shape is formed; then it is hand-stitched and pressed. That is all there is to it. No lining is needed to maintain its shape or to tie a perfect knot.
The seven-fold's salad days were the early decades of this century, but as cheaper mechanized production replaced artisan tie makers, and as the price of quality silk rose after the Second World War, the seven-fold all but vanished. Today, there are only two companies that still make the seven-fold: Robert Talbott in the United States and Kiton in Italy.
"The truth is," says famed Biella designer Luciano Barbera, whose family has produced incredibly refined clothing for three generations, "that to make anything well it must be more than a business: It must be a passion." Exactly.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Maintenance: Hanging Trousers

A friend sent me this unattributed scan, the first drawing I can recall seeing about one of the small secrets of Savile Row. And that is the Savile Row fold for trousers which, until the felted hanger bar, was probably the best way to keep one's trousers from falling off the hanger.

The fold was important as suit hangers with locking trouser bars never worked worth a fig for me. I would get to my hotel and find my trousers inevitably puddled in the bottom of their suit bag. Even a little movement in the closet was sometimes enough to send them to the floor, and if the trousers did stay in place it was because the locking bar was putting a crease in them.

Kirby Allison did many of us a favor when he began supplying wooden suit hangers with felted trouser bars. Everything remains in place, without the need for a Savile Row fold. But the fold is the next best thing.http://www.facebook.com/QTHETAILOR

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The GQ Eye The GQ Eye: GQ.com

Monday, August 9, 2010

That is a beautiful shirt!

A ready-to-wear shirt is convenient and can look great, but the reason dress shirt tailors are still in business, and even becoming more popular, is because smart, stylish men know that a tailored shirt is not only unique, it’s more truly flattering and comfortable. No matter what your figure, when you wear a tailored shirt, men and women alike will be impressed, and wonder what it is that makes you look so incredibly good.
Why Use Dress Shirt Tailor?

Even a man’s casual clothes used to be made by hand, custom-fit to the fellow in question. That is part of why, when you look at old photographs, almost everyone looks sharp, even in just basic day wear. Obviously, really well-made designer ready-to-wear shirts will look and feel excellent, but since everyone’s shape is a bit different, a shirt that’s fitted to you exactly, carefully designed to enhance your best features and improve the lesser ones, is going to be a better shirt.

When a shirt is made to your measurements, it always looks fantastic.

For those who think a tailored shirt is just for the elite crowd, whether they’re pretentious or rich, nothing could be further from the truth. Most tailored shirts will last longer than the average ready-to-wear item, so it often works out to be a better value. In addition, the price isn’t necessarily that high, especially when you factor in all the benefits, the cost of alterations to make a ready made shirt fit like a custom made shirt. Also finding a tailor with the skills to make the shirt look like it was never altered in the first place. Dress shirt tailors are not only found in high-end shops, and they are definitely not only for the high-end shopper. They’re for anyone who cares about looking their best

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Tiedtogreatness.org » Restoring the Male Image

Restoring the Male Image

A man’s image is one of his most alluring characteristics. In his book, Restoring the Male Image: A Look From the Inside Out, Alex Ellis aims to restore a man’s pride in his internal and external image. He encourages men to embrace the inherent style and sophistication of The Harlem Renaissance Era — a time period when men dressed with a sense of class and dignity.

Ellis takes his readers through a series of factors to help men identify with their image and introduces a powerful acronym for the word: I=Integrity; M=Manhood; A=Authority; G=Generosity; E= Excellence. This book challenges the reader to revisit his overall image and determine whether his outward appearance reflects the greatness that lies within.

Restoring the Male Image, is also a practical resource, giving men instructions on the basics of a gentlemen’s wardrobe as well as how to appropriately dress for any occasion. It is a must have for any man who takes his image seriously and wants to dress with the authority needed to reach his destiny.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

ALL ABOUT Shirts

How to keep your shirts looking “like new”

Why manufacturers' shortcuts result in defects

Commercial laundering is one of the best ways to give shirts that "professional crisp look." However, a wide variety of elements influence a shirt's behavior in cleaning and use. Some elements can be controlled by proper care procedures. Others are actually inherent properties of the shirt that may influence cleaning success, as seen here.

"Disappearing" Pinstripes

It looks lie color loss from bleach, yet a close examination of the shirt reveals that the colored yarns are missing, leaving a skeletal framework of the white yarns. The dyes used in many brightly colored striped shirts are primarily fiber-reactive dyes. Some sulfur dyes may also be used. Yarns dyed with these dyes do not withstand repeated commercial laundering. Tests have indicated that acidity affects the dyed yarns and decomposition occurs. Research shows laundering in a commercial wash formula where the ending pH is 6.5 - 7.0 prevents the damage from occurring.

Discoloration of Armhole Seams

Some manufacturers may use adhesives or other materials in the armhole seams on men's wrinkle-free dress shirts. This material is used to prevent puckering of the armhole seams. When this material is commercially pressed, the heat softens the material, which results in local staining and stiffness in the seams. On white shirts, the staining will often have a yellow cast, while colored shirts may appear darker or shaded in the area. This damage may occur after the first cleaning or may not show up until after later cleaning and pressing.

In most cases, prevention of this damage is not possible since it cannot be identified prior to cleaning. The damage has usually been seen on wrinkle-free shirts made with a cotton/polyester blend. Some of these shirts are labeled wrinkle-free, while many others advertised as wrinkle-free even though they don't have a permanent label identifying them as such.

Perspiration & Antiperspirant Damage

Perspiration, if allowed to stay in a shirt, will eventually stain and weaken the fabric, allowing the weakened area to be damaged during washing. Aluminum chlorides found in antiperspirants also will weaken the fibers under the arm. Controlled use of antiperspirants and frequent washing immediately after wear may minimize this type of damage.

Interfacing Defects

Puckering and excess fabric in the shirt collar after laundering can be due to shrinkage of the interfacing in the collar. The manufacturer must select an interfacing that is compatible with the shirt fabric.
A mottled gray or shiny look on the collar and cuffs occurs when excess adhesive is used to fuse the interfacing. The excess adhesive softens in pressing and penetrates the outer fabric of the collar and cuffs. This can be prevented by the correct selection of an adhesive that is compatible with commercial laundering.
Some interfacings on shirts react adversely to chlorine bleach. Laundries often use other oxygen-type bleaches that do not react with chlorine-retentive resins. If chlorine bleach is used on this type of fabric, yellowing could occur.

Buttons

Buttons may crack during pressing even though the press padding is in excellent condition and correct procedures are followed. The reason is an inherent problem in the button or the way the button was applied to the shirt. The majority of shirt buttons are made from a polyester resin. The strength of the button depends on the amount of polyester in the resin.
Color, visual inclusion, chips or cracks, and uniformity of size determine the quality of a button. Some manufacturers use less expensive, lower quality buttons to save money, but this sometimes results in higher than average breakage.

Fugitive Dyes

The Care Labeling Rule states that all components in a garment must withstand the recommended care procedure. If the dyes in a multi-colored shirt are not colorfast to water, bleeding will occur. The dye will migrate into adjacent areas during the washing process. This migration of the dye into surrounding areas is not acceptable unless the fabric is madras (plaid or stripe that is guaranteed to bleed).
Some dyes dissolve in water and are partially removed during laundering. After the first laundering, the lightening of color may be apparent, or it may be progressive and only noticeable after several care procedures.

Holes and Tears in Oxfords

Tiny holes can appear at random throughout an oxford shirt. Oxford consists of two thin warp yarns and a thicker filling yarn. The unbalanced construction causes the thin yarns to break, leaving tiny holes. Manufacturers can use a heavier or higher twist in the warp yarn that may prolong the life of the shirt.
In addition, tears in oxfords can occur in the direction of the colored yarns. This can be more evident on oxford shirts dyed with fiber-reactive dyes that have not been properly laundered or as they exceed their life expectancy.

Shrinkage

Most dress shirts are difficult to shrink. The manufacturer has already allowed for the normal 2% and progressive shrinkage requirements. This shrinkage is usually not enough to cause a complaint. Shrinkage beyond this is usually due to poorly stabilized materials.
Shrinkage complaints can easily be resolved by measuring the collar and sleeve length. Measure the collar from the end of the buttonhole to the center of the button. Measure the sleeve length in a straight line from the center of the back of the collar at the seam to the end of the cuff. If these measurements correspond to the shirt size, it has not shrunk.

Wear Life Expectancy

Determining how long a shirt should last is difficult due to the variances in frequency of wear. However, industry experience shows that, on average, shirts have a two-year wear life expectancy. The number of launderings is a better measurement method. The average shirt should have a wear life of 35 to 50 washings. This will fluctuate depending on the amount of abrasion and strain placed on the shirt during wear, the fiber content, the type of fabric, and the laundering procedure.