Fashionising.com is a leading and influential fashion blog – a very honest and detailed review of NiAlma.com.
Dress Shirt Split Yoke
We have had many comments and a few complaints that we do not offer the option of a split yoke on our dress shirts. The fact is we can make the shirts with a split-yoke but have simply not built the option into the website (which we will do very soon.).
To order your dress shirt with a split yoke simply add the request in the Additional Information section when ordering or email us separately once you have placed your order.
The split yoke is wonderful detail on a dress shirt, especially when the fabric is patterned. The ability to match the split pattern across the yoke of the shirt is a sign of quality craftsmanship. NiAlma Dress Shirts ensures the split pattern is matched perfectly every time.
Next time you order a custom dress shirt from NiAlma, consider ordering with a split yoke.
Egyptian Cotton Dress Shirts
There is a great romance out there in the market place about wearing Egyptian cotton dress shirts. Egyptian cotton is synonymous with quality, strength, feel and above all luxury. This is for good reason, Egypt has and continues to produce some of the finest cotton in the world. The reason behind this is the incredibly fertile flood plains of the Nile Delta and the consistently warm, humid temperatures of the region create the perfect environment for cotton growth.
However, this does not mean that all Egyptian cotton is of the same quality. There are grades of cotton in Egypt depending on where it is grown and the type of cotton grown. The different locations and variations are denoted by a number, for example Giza 45 or Giza 87. These two examples are of extremely high quality and are sought after because of the extra long staples produced in the plant. The different types of cotton are suited to producing different thread counts of finished cotton shirting.
There are a lot of dress shirt brands out there claiming that their shirts are made from Egyptian cotton. The problem for the consumer is that there are no regulations in place to verify the authenticity of these claims. On a global scale there is very little cotton produced in Egypt annually and it is highly competitive amongst fabric producers to get hold of it. The fact is, there is simply not enough Egyptian cotton available to make all of these “Genuine Egyptian Cotton Shirts”.
Price is a good indicator of the quality of fabric used in a dress shirt, however one must be careful, as this is not a hard and fast rule and can be abused by the dodgy brand. The simple point is that there is no such thing as a $39.00 Egyptian cotton dress shirt. Fact.
NiAlma chooses to source its Egyptian cotton shirting from Thomas Mason. They have an incredibly long and proven history of producing the world’s finest cotton shirting and I have never been disappointed with anything we have ever stocked of theirs. To see the beautiful range of Thomas Mason Egyptian dress shirt cotton offered by NiAlma click here.
For more detailed information about Thomas Mason and Egyptian cotton click here.
Striped Dress Shirts
Striped dress shirts in all of the variations offered these days are commonplace in the corporate world. This shirting pattern is a staple of most men’s wardrobes and is a first choice when donning a suit and tie.
Some of the more famous striped dress shirt patterns are the Bengal stripe at one end the hairline stripe at the other. A good example of the Bengal striped dress shirt is this classical blue and white Italian cotton.
Bengal stripe really just means a pattern that has even width alternating stripes. These can be thick and bold or narrow and subtle.
The hairline stripe on the other hand is most commonly found on a white background. The idea is to have a subtle yet stylish detail within the shirt that adds character without being overbearing. An example is this beautiful Thomas Mason hairline blue stripe.
The benefit of a hairline striped dress shirt is the ease with which a tie can be matched. The dress shirt effectively has a solid color appearance from a distance but up close has a classy detail to it.
Striped dress shirts are flattering and thinning when worn in a well fitting shirt. Choosing the right stripe is also important. People with larger builds should avoid very narrow stripes as it can be a bit overbearing. Opt for a medium to wider stripe to better balance your body shape. Conversely, people with slim build should not wear wide striped dress shirts, it gives the appearance of an ill-fitting shirt and a pattern that does not compliment the slim build. Medium to narrow striped patterns are perfect and will look great.
Dress Shirt and Ties
Depending upon which line of work you are in, you may not ever find yourself needing to wear a tie. However, there are still many professions and occasions that require men to wear ties. The next dilemma is matching the dress shirts and ties together. Do you match your ties to the range of dress shirts you have? Or do you by shirts to compliment the ties you have accumulated over the years? I guess it often works out to be a little from column A and B.
Many men find themselves coming back to blue and white dress shirts or white dress shirts with blue stripes. Not only does blue and white look good on almost everyone, it is an easy color combination to match up ties with. In fact all men should have a plain blue and plain white dress shirt as part of their rotation, as they are not only easy to match ties to but when they fit well, look brilliant.
If you want to move away from blues and whites or add some other colors to your dress shirt range, without making it impossible to match your ties, there are alternative options. Gray is a great alternative to blue and white striped shirts. This beautiful Italian gray and white stripe is the perfect example is this Italian gray striped fabric. Any tie that goes with your blue and white striped dress shirt will match this fabric. White with black stripes is also a good option for matching ties to. Here is the perfect example from our Black label Thomas mason range: a stunning fine black striped fabric. This dress shirt will look amazing with a red tie.
When designing your dress shirt, make sure the collar you choose is suitable for the type of knot you tie. If you like a strong Windsor knot you need a collar with enough spread to accommodate the larger size. Our widespread collar would be perfect. If you wear thinner tie and use a smaller four-in-hand knot, you can opt for a narrower spread collar. If you want versatility with your dress shirt collar then choose our spread collar and you cannot go wrong.
For more information on tie knots this website is a great source of information: www.tieknot.com.
Dress Shirt Sizes
When shopping for your dress shirt size in store from a ready to wear brand, generally the only option you have is to choose based on your neck size. Most conventional, ready to wear brands will create a full shirt profile solely off the neck size. Some brands will offer their dress shirts with sleeve length variations to try and create a better fit.
The standard dress shirt sizes we offer are based on the database of customer measurement profiles we have stored and multiple different ready to wear brands. We have tried to create more accurate dress shirt sizing to give those customers who do not want to measure an existing shirt or their body, a genuine opportunity to wear a good fitting shirt.
There are two key measurements of a dress shirt that need to be right (as a bare minimum) for your body in order for it to look good. The shoulder seams need to sit on the edge of your shoulder bones, they act effectively like a coat hanger. Getting the dress shirts sleeve length right is important so as to not have excess fabric bunching in the arms or vice versa, have cuffs that disappear up the suit jacket sleeve.
The most common complaint we get regarding dress shirt sizes is the excess fabric through the torso of the shirt. For slimmer people it is almost impossible to by off the rack dress shirts that are well contoured through the torso. This is where knowing your body measurements is extremely useful to enable you to utilize NiAlma’s full dress shirt tailoring service. All of the critical size aspects of the shirt are cut perfectly to your body. An easy way to establish a good measurement profile is to measure a shirt you own and wear and make adjustments to the dimensions based on the size issues you have with it. If you feel there is too much fabric around the torso take 1.00” – 2.00” off waist measurement. This can be applied to each dimension of the shirt until you have created your own unique dress shirt size profile.
Women’s White Business Shirts
It seems there is a strong design movement this year towards women’s work shirts being decidedly more masculine. This means smaller collars, often buttoned-down, epaulettes, pockets and a less fitted shape.
We have come up with a design we really like. A beautiful white fabric with epaulettes and button-down flap pockets. The shape is designed to still be feminine but with room to move. This business shirt can be worn untucked but just as easily be tucked in and look great.
Let us know what you think…
Website Improvements for 2011
Finally we have completed the new features for the website in 2011.
The most obvious new addition is the “Our Designs” section, which allows customers to choose one of our favorite shirt designs and move quickly through the ordering process. It will also offer a better idea of what our finished product looks like for those who have not used our service before.
The other key change is that we offer standard sizing for customers that do not want or need to submit their own specific measurements. The standard size chart can be viewed as a pop-up through the website. We hope this will appeal to those out there who fit off the rack sizes but would still like to have involvement in the design of their shirt.
On top of this we have redesigned the homepages to make them more user friendly and just better to look at in general!
Any feedback is greatly appreciated, both positive and negative.
