My New Favorite Button Down

Buying custom clothing is a great way for short men to avoid the hassles of ill-fitting, brand-name clothes. After all, what guy wants to spend hours in a department store just to realize that nothing there really fits? Shopping is bad enough as it is, but us short gents have it the worst.

These days, there are a ton of custom shirt makers that operate online to keep costs down. It’s impossible to know which ones are quality and which ones should be avoided. Your best bet is to do your research and take a chance with a reputable made-to-measure clothier.

Denver-based Ratio Clothing is one shirt maker that I’ve heard a lot of great things about. Founder, Erik Powell, recently offered me a discount on a custom button down of my choice. I took him up on his offer and chose the Purple Mini-Gingham.

For those who are interested in fabric and construction, here’s a note from Ratio Clothing about this shirt: “The Purple Mini-Gingham is from Albini, an Italian mill and one of the most renowned mills in the world. Construction-wise, we use a minimum of 16 stitches per-inch, single-needle tailoring, and a split yoke. Our collars are made with fused Wendler interlinings and our buttons are a thick, highly-durable resin.” ~RC

Getting the Right Measurements

Ratio’s measuring process is less involved than most companies. You have two options:

1. Choose your measurements based on previous experience (jackets and shirts you’ve bough in the past).
2. Use this guide to measure your best-fitting shirt.

This is great because you don’t have to measure yourself. Which means you don’t need to get tailor’s tape, you don’t have to ask anyone for help, and you won’t mess up.

But, for the guys who have no idea what their measurements are and who don’t own any dress shirts that fit well, it gets tricky. Ratio recommends that you go to a store and try on some shirts to figure out your measurements.