Finding The Perfect Shirt Retail Vs Custom

By Author: Kelly
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By Luke Mayes

We all love to wear that perfect shirt. The collar is snug, but not too tight. The sleeves are the perfect width and length. The fabric is the right color, finish, and feel. The body doesn't fit like a tent or burst out at the seams. The tails are long enough to wear tucked-in or short enough to wear out. We can wear cufflinks if we want to - or not. And the buttons don't fall off.

Can you find this perfect shirt at retail? Not likely. But what's the price for the perfect custom made shirt? I hear you say. You'd be very surprised! For much less than many designer shirts, a custom made shirt guarantees that you'll get what you want - with no compromises.

COLLARS

Only dogs wear choker collars.

Your shirt collar should not be suffocating. Nor should your collar be too loose and sloppy. A good rule of thumb, for the right fit, is to have just enough room for two fingers when the top button is done up. The collar points should be perfectly balanced and you should wear a collar style that suits your face and body. Men with broad, round faces should avoid spread collars ...
... and men with long, narrow faces should avoid long pointed collars.

At La Rukico, you can choice from 15 different collar styles. Collars are measured to within ¼ of an inch and all shirts come with removable collar stays.

BUTTONS

Plastic buttons are for school children.

Mother of Pearl is the best option for a businessman's shirt buttons. Many shirts that are sold at retail are manufactured in factories that cut costs on components like buttons and thread. The result is a product that looks reasonably nice when wrapped up in a box, but a product that doesn't perform when worn and washed. Buttons crack, threads break (or come loose), and button-holes fray.

At La Rukico, you get Mother of Pearl buttons on all of your shirts. The tailors use cross lock stitching to make sure that your buttons stay firmly attached to your shirt.

GAUNTLETS & CUFFS

Short sleeves shirts are for beaches, bar-b-ques, and NASA ground crew.

Long sleeve shirts are an essential element in a businessman's wardrobe. Only high quality shirts have gauntlets above the cuff. Gauntlets taper the sleeves in for a perfect fit over your forearms. If you love to wear your favorite sports watch, you should be able to have a slight adjustment made to the cuff (of your watch arm) to accommodate this.

At La Rukico, you can choose from 15 different cuff styles, including many French cuff options (if you wear cufflinks) for your custom shirt. Adjustments are made for sports watches if required.

MONOGRAMS & STITCHING

Men don't share shirts.

To make your perfect shirt your very own, a subtle monogram can be added to the cuff, the chest pocket, or the upper or lower chest (on a shirt without a chest pocket). Contrast stitching can also add a touch of individuality. She can wear your shirt around the house, but your initials will always be there to remind her where to return it.

At La Rukico, all shirts are sewn with fine thread at 22 stitches per inch. You can choose between 85 different monogram styles.

TAILS, YOKES, & BODIES

A shirt is in or out...it never sits on the fence.

Your shirt tails should cover your seat if worn tucked into your pants. If you prefer wearing your shirt tails out, the seam-line should run about 6 inches below the belt line of your pants. A perfect shirt makes a slim man look more athletic and a broader man look slimmer. A two piece yoke (that piece of cloth that covers the back of your shoulders) provides more room to move in a shirt that fits to the contours of your body.

At La Rukico, all shirts are cut and sewn to your body measurements and tails and yokes can be adjusted to suit your individual requirements.

FABRIC

Save the sacking cloth is for the potatoes.

If you want to look smooth, you have to feel smooth. Nothing feels like the soft caress of the finest shirt fibers (from Italy or Switzerland) against your skin. The weave, color, design, and weight of your shirt cloth should compliment your suits, jackets, jeans, and trousers.

At La Rukico, you can choose from an enormous selection of 100% Sea Island cotton and Egyptain cotton fabrics from Thomas Mason and Alumo.

So if you love to wear the perfect shirt, rejoice! Your search is over.

Luke Mayes is a textile designer, an independent filmmaker (Red Shift director), and a freelance writer. He writes for tailor.com, the best custom suit maker in New York city. La Rukico is the winner of the best custom tailor award by the city of New York (NYC), for 2007, 2008 and 2009, he has been praised by his clients for his top notch professional services in Custom Shirts, Tuxedos, Custom Suits, world's leading producers of highest quality ie Alumo Shirts and English Made Blazer Buttons.