Casual shirts

Casual Shirts Tailored, Chiang Mai: decide how you will wear it

This is the question that changes the pattern, and it has to be answered before anything is cut.

A shirt intended to be tucked in is cut long with a curved tail so it stays put. A shirt intended to be worn untucked is cut shorter, often with a straighter hem and shallower side splits, so that it finishes at a deliberate point rather than trailing.

A shirt cannot do both well. Wearing a dress shirt untucked is the single most common styling mistake in casual menswear, and it is entirely a pattern problem rather than a taste problem.

For untucked wear, the hem should sit between the top and middle of the trouser pocket and should cover the belt.

Texture does the work

What makes a shirt read as casual is mostly the cloth.

Oxford cotton has a visible basket weave and a slightly rougher hand. It is the archetypal casual shirting and improves with washing.

Chambray is a plain weave with a coloured warp and white weft, giving a soft denim-like appearance without the weight.

Cotton-linen blends have the slubby irregularity of linen with better recovery.

Linen is the coolest and the most crumpled.

Smooth poplin in a casual cut tends to look like a dress shirt that has lost its way. The texture is what signals intent.

Softer collar

A stiff interlined collar looks wrong without a tie and a jacket. It stands too rigidly and implies formality that the rest of the shirt is not delivering.

A button-down collar is the reliable answer. It holds its shape without stays, rolls naturally, and is unambiguously casual. A soft unlined collar also works well and is cooler.

Details

Chest pockets are acceptable and often welcome, in contrast to a dress shirt where they are not.

Sleeves can be worn rolled, which is worth mentioning at the order stage since a slightly fuller sleeve rolls more comfortably than a very slim one.

Short sleeves are practical in this climate and best kept to genuinely casual cloths. See shirts for the full range and blazers for what to layer over them.