Warm-weather and casual shirts
Shirts cut for a city that sits at thirty-five degrees and is air-conditioned to twenty-two — which is a harder brief than it sounds, because the same shirt has to work in both. Part of our shirt tailoring.
What makes a shirt casual
Not the cloth, mostly. A casual shirt is defined by its collar, its cuff and how much room it is cut with — the same poplin can be made formal or relaxed depending on those three decisions.
- Camp or one-piece collar — lies flat, never takes a tie, unmistakably relaxed
- Button-down — a soft roll; the most versatile casual collar
- Short sleeve, cut to the arm — the detail that separates made from bought
- Straight hem — for wearing untucked, and it needs to be cut shorter to work
- Chest pocket, or not — a real decision, not a default
An untucked shirt is its own cut rather than a tucked shirt worn out. The hem has to finish around mid-fly and the body has to be taken in, or it reads as a shirt that escaped. Collar shapes in full are in collars and cuffs.
Cloth, for thirty-five degrees
The same principle as suiting: the weave decides more than the fibre. An open weave in a lighter cotton moves air; a dense smooth poplin looks crisper and sits hotter.
- Linen — coolest, creases immediately, and is meant to
- Linen-cotton — most of the coolness, far less of the creasing
- Oxford — textured, forgiving, excellent untucked
- Voile and open-weave cottons — light enough to matter outdoors
- Seersucker — puckered so it holds off the skin; cooler than it looks
The full argument about weave and climate is on linen and tropical cloth.
The air-conditioning problem
Most days here involve both thirty-five degrees outside and a room cooled to twenty-two, often within a few minutes of each other. A shirt cut only for the heat is thin and clingy indoors; one cut for the office is unbearable on the walk to it.
The workable answer is a cloth with some body and a cut with a little more room through the body than a business shirt — enough that the fabric is not against your skin everywhere at once. That small amount of extra room is a deliberate measurement rather than a looser size, which is the difference between made and bought.
What we will say before you order
These are the things we say before anything is cut, not after:
- When a cloth will crease more than you are expecting
- When a collar suits the shirt but not the way you will wear it
- Whether a temple visit is in your plans, because that decides sleeve length
- Whether your dates allow it, before anything is cut
The appointments happen at your hotel, office or home, and the process is in the order of the appointments. What goes under a suit instead is on business and formal shirts.
What our customers say
Nice polos and suits!
Patrick Read it on Google
I've now visited twice, once a year ago and again on this recent trip to Bangkok and the service and quality remain consistently excellent. I had three pairs of trousers made at a fantastic price, especially compared to other tailors in Bangkok. This shop delivers exceptional quality at fair prices. Highly recommend!
Paul Buliga Read it on Google
The boss tailor international was is very good long experience about design net personal and customer taker service are wonderful on time prices are very reasonable person are very frankly I have done 3 suits and 3 extras pants 10 shirts if any body looking for the boss tailor international I m recommendHave shirts made
Three or more is where it starts to make sense. We come to you.
Book a fitting for shirts +66911051152
The Boss Tailor · All Bangkok - fittings at the customer's hotel, office or residence · +66911051152 · On Google
Questions we are actually asked
What is appropriate casual attire to wear in Thailand?
For Bangkok, a collared shirt covers nearly everything short of black tie, and the practical constraints are heat and shoulders. Offices and better restaurants expect a collar; temples and palaces require covered shoulders and knees and will turn you away without them, which is worth planning a shirt around if a temple visit is on the itinerary. Beyond that the city is relaxed, and a well-cut short-sleeved shirt is not underdressed here the way it would read in London.
Are there specific colors to avoid in Thailand?
Black is the one worth knowing about, because it is strongly associated with mourning and funerals — so an all-black outfit reads differently here than it might at home, particularly for a celebration. Beyond that there are colour traditions tied to days of the week and to the monarchy that are genuinely observed, and we are tailors rather than a cultural guide: if you are dressing for a specific Thai occasion, ask your host what is expected and we will cut to it.
What is the 3-3-3 rule for clothes?
It is a packing and capsule-wardrobe idea — three tops, three bottoms, three pairs of shoes, worn in combination for a trip. It is a useful discipline and it only works if the pieces genuinely go together, which is where made-to-order helps: three shirts cut to the same fit in colours chosen against the same two pairs of trousers will actually combine, where three bought separately usually will not quite.
Can a short-sleeved shirt be properly tailored?
Yes, and it is more obviously different from a ready-made one than a long-sleeved shirt is. The sleeve opening is the giveaway: off the rack it is cut generously and flaps around the bicep, while a made sleeve is cut to your arm so it sits cleanly without gripping. The body is also cut with less excess, because there is no jacket over it to hide a billowing shirt.
How many casual shirts should I order at once?
Enough that the pattern work pays for itself, which usually means three or more. The first shirt of any order carries the measuring and the pattern; the rest are cloth and making. The Boss Tailor cuts tailored shirts at your hotel, office or home anywhere in Bangkok, and because the pattern is kept you can add to the order later from abroad without being measured again.