Key Difference – Casual vs Dress Shirt
Casual shirts and dress shirts are two shirt classifications based on their style and occasion they are worn. As the name implies, casual shirts are the ones that are worn for casual occasions. Dress shirts are worn for more formal occasions such as business meetings, evening functions, and job interviews. The key difference between casual and dress shirt is their styles; dress shirts are more conservative in colors, patterns, and styles than casual shirts.
What is a Dress Shirt?
A dress shirt is a shirt with a collar, opening at the front, long sleeves and wrist cuffs. Dress shirts can be worn for evening functions, business meetings, church, job interviews, etc. They can be worn with or without a tie and a suit jacket. Since dress shirts are usually meant for formal or semi-formal occasions, they have conservative styles and colors.
Dress shirts are made from cotton or various cotton blends; silk is also used to manufacture luxurious dress shirts. White is the most common color used for dress shirts, but colors like blue, lavender, pink and off-white can also be seen. Solid, stripes and checks are the commonest patterns in dress shirts. They are meant to be worn tucked, so they are generally longer than sports shirts. Dress shirts usually have two measurements on their tags: neck and sleeve length.
Dress shirts typically have stiff collars so that they can withstand things like lapels of the suit jacket or neckties. There are two main collar styles in dress shirts: point collars and spread collars. In point collars, the angle between the two collar points is at or less than 60 degrees. In spread collars, the angle between the collar points is greater than 90 degrees.
What is a Casual Shirt?
Casual shirts, as the name suggests, are the shirts that are worn for casual occasions. These are also known as sports shirts. Variations such as polo shirts, tennis shirts, etc. also fall under casual shirts. Since they are more casual than formal or dress shirts, they can have bolder and bigger patterns, bright colors, less stiff collars, shorter sleeves, epaulets, pockets, etc.; overall, they are less conservative in styles. Most casual shirts are made from comfortable materials such as denim, various blends of polyester, cotton and other materials.
Casual shirts can be worn with jeans or slacks. They may not be as long as dress shirts since they are not exclusively designed to be worn tucked in. When worn untucked, the shirt should not reach lower than the bottom of your back pocket. Casual shirts typically come in sizes S, M, L, XL etc.
What is the difference between Casual and Dress Shirt?
Casual vs Dress Shirt |
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| Casual Shirts are worn for casual occasions. | Dress shirts are worn for evening functions, business meetings, job interviews, etc. |
Collar |
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| Casual Shirts have less stiff collars. | Dress Shirts have stiff collars. |
Colors and Patterns |
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| Casual Shirts can come in big patterns and bold colors. | Dress Shirts are conservative in colors and patterns. |
Pockets |
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| Casual Shirts can have pockets or epaulets. | Dress Shirts don’t have pockets or epaulets. |
Tucking |
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| Casual Shirts can be worn tucked or untucked. | Dress Shirts are generally tucked in. |
Weaves |
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| Casual Shirts are made with rugged weaves such as plain oxford or flannel. | Dress Shirts come in soft weaves such as twill, pinpoint Oxford, and broadcloth. |
Sizing |
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| Casual Shirts are sold by overall size: S, M, L, etc. | Dress Shirts have two measurements in tags: neck and sleeve length. |
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