Shirts for short men

Short men who buy standard shirts have three options: wear a sleeve that is too long, roll the sleeves, or have them shortened through alterations. Dress shirts offer sleeve length options. Casual shirts do not. Men under 5'8" typically wear a 32 or 33 inch sleeve. Todd Shelton offers sleeve lengths starting at 32 inches in one-inch increments.

Sleeve length is calculated from two measurements taken from a shirt that already fits. Measure across the shoulders and divide by 2. Add the two measurements together. For example, if your sleeve length measures 23 inches and half your shoulder width is 9 inches, your sleeve length is 32 inches.

Wearing shirts untucked is more common than tucking. Industry standard shirt lengths are made for tucking. For short men, untucked shirts look too long. Altering a shirt shorter is not an option, it moves the bottom placket button too close to the hem. Todd Shelton offers body lengths from 2 inches shorter than standard in one-inch increments. Men under 5'8" typically wear 1 to 2 inches shorter than standard.

The right body length depends on your height and whether you tuck. Todd Shelton measures body length along the placket: the strip of fabric running down the center front of the shirt where the buttons and buttonholes are located, from the seam where the collar band meets the placket to the bottom hem. Placket measures are published in the size charts.

If wearing untucked, a general guide is the hem should end at the middle of the zipper. If wearing tucked, the shirt should stay tucked when reaching above your head.