Two shirts can use the same fabric and fit completely differently after five washes. The difference is construction — and you can check it in sixty seconds at the shop.
The inside tells the truth
Flip the garment. Clean, finished seams (overlocked or bound) signal care; raw fraying edges promise unravelling. Check armpit and side seams first — factories cut corners where you look last.
Pull the seam gently
Stretch a seam sideways. Threads that gap and expose stitches mean low stitch density, the top predictor of seams splitting later.
Button zones and hems
Buttons should be anchored with a shank of thread, not sewn flat. Hems should be even and double-stitched — a wavy hem never irons flat, ever.
Pattern matching
On checks and stripes, patterns should align at the side seams and pocket edges. Matching costs fabric; brands that bother with it rarely cheat elsewhere.
