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In American English, 'shirt' can refer to almost any upper-body garment other than coats and bras (the term "top" is sometimes used in ladieswear). In British English, a shirt is more specifically a garment with a collar, cuffs, and a full vertical opening with buttons; what is known in American English as a dress shirt.

Contents

Kinds of shirts

Parts of shirts

Shoulders and arms

Lower hem of shirt

Body

Neck

Other features

See also

Kinds of shirts

★ shirt or dress shirt — a shirt with collar and full vertical opening with buttons; left and right sides of this shirt meet with the 'placket front'.

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★ blouse — lady's shirt; the term is also used for some men's military uniform shirts.

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★ Hawaiian shirt or Aloha shirt — a colourful short-sleeve dress shirt, loose or not fitted and woven from very light fabric. Often informal. Also just called a "tropical shirt."

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★ Camp shirt — a loose, straight-cut, short sleeved shirt or blouse with a simple placket front-opening and a "camp collar."

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★ guayabera — an embroidered dress shirt with four pockets.

★ T-shirt — a casual shirt without a collar or buttons, usually short-sleeved. It is a common shirt for informal events.

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★ halfshirt — a high-hemmed t-shirt.

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★ tank top — a sleeveless T-shirt.

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★ A-shirt or construction shirt — essentially a sleeveless t-shirt with large armholes, often worn by labourers or athletes for increased movability. Sometimes called a "wife beater" when worn without a covering layer.

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★ camisole — woman's undershirt with narrow straps, or a similar garment worn alone (often with bra). Also referred to as a 'cami', 'shelf top', 'spaghetti straps' or 'strappy top'.

★ tennis shirt, golf shirt, or polo shirt — a v-neck shirt with a full collar; opening often closed with buttons or zipper running partway down the front. Short or long sleeve. Sometimes embroidered with club or designer insignia. Often worn with a sweater vest.

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★ rugby shirt — typically a rugged long-sleeved polo shirt, of thick cotton or wool.

★ baseball shirt — usually distinguished by a three quarters sleeve, team insignia, and flat waistseam.

★ sweatshirt — long-sleeved athletic shirt of heavier material, with or without hood.

★ tunic — primitive shirt, distinguished by two-piece construction. Initially a men's garment, is normally seen in modern times being worn by women.

★ nightshirt — often oversized, ruined or inexpensive light cloth undergarment shirt for sleeping.

★ sleeveless shirt — A shirt with no sleeves. Contains only neck, bottom hem, body, and sometimes shoulders depending on type.

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★ halter top — a shoulderless, sleeveless garment for women. It is mechanically analogous to an apron with a string around the back of the neck and across the lower back holding it in place.

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★ tube top (in American English) or 'boob tube' (in British English) — a shoulderless, sleeveless "tube" that wraps the torso (not reaching higher than the base of either breast, staying in place by elasticity or by a single strap that is attached to the front of the tube.
Tops which would generally not be called shirts:

★ onesie or 'diaper shirt' — a shirt for infants which includes a long back that is wrapped between the legs and buttoned to the front of the shirt.

★ sweaters — heavy knitted upper garments.

★ jackets, coats and similar outerwear

Parts of shirts

Many terms are used to describe and differentiate types of shirts (and upper-body garments in general) and their construction. The smallest differences may have significance to a cultural or occupational group. Recently, (late 20th century) it has become common to use tops to carry messages or advertising. Many of these distinctions apply to other upper-body garments, such as coats and sweaters.

Shoulders and arms

★ with no covering of the shoulders or arms — a tube top (not reaching higher than the armpits, staying in place by elasticity)

★ with only shoulder straps, such as spaghetti straps

★ covering the shoulders, but without sleeves

★ with short sleeves, varying from cap sleeves (not extending below the armpit) to half sleeves (elbow length)

★ with three-quarter-length sleeves (reaching to a point between the elbow and the wrist)

★ with long sleeves, may further be distinguished by the cuffs:

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★ no buttons — a closed placket cuff

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★ buttons (or analogous fasteners such as snaps) — single or multiple. A single button or pair aligned parallel with the cuff hem is considered a button cuff. Multiple buttons aligned perpendicular to the cuff hem, or parallel to the placket constitute a barrel cuff.

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★ buttonholes designed for cufflinks

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★ a French cuff, where the end half of the cuff is folded over the cuff itself and fastened with a cufflink. This type of cuff has four buttons and a short placket.

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★ more formally, a link cuff — fastened like a French cuff, except is not folded over, but instead hemmed, at the edge of the sleeve.

★ asymmetrical designs, such as one-shoulder, one-sleeve or with sleeves of different lengths

Lower hem of shirt

★ leaving the belly button area bare (much more common for women than for men). See halfshirt.

★ hanging to the waist

★ covering the crotch

★ covering part of the legs (essentially this is a dress; however, a piece of clothing is perceived either as a shirt (worn with trousers) or as a dress (in Western culture mainly worn by women)).

★ going to the floor (as a pajama shirt)

Body

★ vertical opening on the front side, all the way down, with buttons or zipper. When fastened with buttons, this opening is often called the placket front.

★ similar opening, but in back.

★ left and right front side not separable, put on over the head; with regard to upper front side opening:

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★ V-shaped permanent opening on the top of the front side

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★ no opening at the upper front side

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★ vertical opening on the upper front side with buttons or zipper

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★ men's shirts are often buttoned on the right whereas women's are often buttoned on the left.

Neck

★ with polo-neck

★ with v-neck but no collar

★ with plunging neck

★ with open or tassel neck

★ with collar

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★ windsor collar or 'spread collar' — a dressier collar designed with a wide distance between points (the 'spread') to accommodate the windsor knot tie. The standard business collar.

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★ tab collar — a collar with two small fabric tabs that fasten together behind a tie to maintain collar spread.

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★ wing collar — best suited for the bow tie, often only worn for very formal occasions.

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★ straight collar — or 'point collar', a version of the windsor collar that is distinguished by a narrower spread to better accommodate the four-in-hand knot, pratt knot, and the half-windsor knot. A moderate dress collar.

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★ button-down collar — A collar with buttons that fasten the points or tips to a shirt. The most casual of collars worn with a tie.

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★ band collar — essentially the lower part of a normal collar, first used as the original collar to which a separate collarpiece was attached. Rarely seen in modern fashion. Also casual.

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★ turtle neck collar — A collar that covers most of the throat.

★ without collar

Other features

★ 'pockets' – how many (if any), where, and with regard to closure: not closable, just a flap, or with a button or zipper.

★ with or without hood
Some combinations are not applicable, of course, e.g. a tube top cannot have a collar.
Toplessness is the opposite of wearing a shirt of some kind, or a bikini top, etc. This is sometimes considered a kind of nudity, especially in the case of women.

See also

★ Phillips Van Heusen

★ Cardigan

★ Jersey

★ Jumper

★ Bare chested

★ First shirt, nick-name for a First Sergeant

★ Brownshirts, known from the colour of their uniform of Sturmabteilung

★ Curtain

★ Dishrag

★ Sleeveless shirt

★ Jermyn Street, home of the oldest English shirtmakers