Two D.C. Entrepreneurs Found A Brilliant Way To Size A Men's Dress Shirt Off The Rack

This is for all of the gentlemen out there with the too-wide shirts that billow out in the front like a sheet (bad).

This is also for the guys with the too-tight-over-the-chest-shirts where the buttons look like they're about to burst (even worse).

Hugh and Crye is a D.C.-based men's clothing company with a distinct way of sizing their shirts. With two questions on their site they take into account a guy's height and body type to find a more precise fit from a range of 12 sizes (you can check out their sizing chart below).

Dress shirts are priced at $85, and the store plans on expanding to blazers.

Founders Pranav Vora and Philip Soriano launched the company in 2010 for the same reason their clients go there — they thought the shirts they were buying in stores could fit better.

"There's typically too much fabric around the chest and waist, and through the sleeve. The other end of the spectrum is "custom", which is often made-to-measure - an unfulfilled promise," said Vora. "The fit of most MTM/custom shirts can be inexact, take a lot of time to fix and can be costly. We noticed that guys were generally just dealing with the options offered to them."

Yes, this is all a part of what everyone's saying about men's fashion — it's getting better, more stylish. But style falls to pieces if it isn't grounded in fit.

Neither Vora nor Soriano had backgrounds in fashion when they started Hugh and Crye. Vora went to grad school at the London School of Economics and worked in consulting while Soriano worked at a non-profit. After about a year of research and development, though, the duo set up an online store.

The first clients were friends and family, and then little pockets of buyers started popping up. There was even one in Wheeling, West Virgina, where it was clear one guy was telling all of his friends about the business.

"We had little clues along the way to tell us we were on the right track," said Vora and Soriano. "When we were working out our sizing (3 different heights with 4 different fits which result in 12 sizes), a world-renowned pattern maker told us we were doing things with the fit that she had never seen in menswear, but that it could be revolutionary."

When Hugh and Crye customers wanted to start trying shirts on, Vora and Soriano and set up a storefront in Georgetown. The guys say they get their inspiration from pictures of grandfathers, uncles, fathers and other fresh looking gentlemen of old that knew they had to buy quality clothes and accessories that lasted for life.

In short: Sure, there are trends, but this is men's fashion, stick to the classics.

And of course, stay away from a few massive no-nos.

"Hem your pants and denim, gentleman," Pranav said. "Triple breaks aren't a thing, and probably never were. Hate seeing guys wearing cuff links with a jacket... Stay fit. Being in shape is the best way to look fantastic, no matter what you're wearing."

Soriano's fashion don't? — he actually has a few:

"The collar of a shirt is the most noticeable part of a wardrobe when you're talking to someone one-on-one. Two pet peeves: 1) When the collar flops down 70s style. 2) When the collar of the undershirt doesn't coincide with the way a guy is wearing his dress shirt. I often see guys wearing a crew neck undershirt when they have the top button of their dress shirt open. Or they wear a v-neck undershirt when they wear a dress shirt with a tie - you can see the V-neck through the dress shirt. Both are very noticeable and look tacky."

Don't be tacky.

Check out the Hugh & Crye fit chart below: