Having trouble finding the best dress shirts for short men? This guide covers all of your best options.

Formal dress codes are increasingly rare, but some guys still need to suit up for work. If you’re wearing a tie, getting the collar right is crucial.

Even if you ditch the tie, getting the right sleeve length and showing a bit of cuff under your jacket makes a strong first impression.

We know that if you want to dress taller your clothes need to fit properly. In this post, we’ll focus on great fit for the first thing people see below your face: your shirt.

Specifically, let’s chat about the dress shirt.

We’ll look at two parts of your dress shirts:

• Collar: Brock’s collar above looks comfortable, but with no visible gap between shirt and neck (a gap makes you look like you’ve borrowed your shirt from a bigger friend).
• Sleeves: Like James Bond in Casino Royale, he’s showing ~1/2? of cuff beyond his jacket.

These seemingly insignificant details can make or break your outfit, but it’s not necessarily easy to get them right…

The Challenge

As Brock has pointed out in his post about 6’2? models wearing size medium, the “off the rack” apparel industry does a lousy job of serving guys under 5’8?.

To see where this really breaks down, we took a look at data the U.S. military uses to make sure apparel and equipment fits actual guys.

Out of 4,000 guys they measured in the survey, about 1/4 were under 5’8?. When we zoom in on the ideal collar size for guys under 5’8?, they actually aren’t that bad off.

Less than 10% of short men have collar sizes that are below the 14.5? minimum that most men’s dress shirt brands offer.

For sleeve length, though, it’s a different story.

About 30% of shorter men need a sleeve length less than the 32? off-the-rack minimum. Ouch!