DRESS SHIRT

Abstract

A dress shirt in one embodiment featuring a torso portion in a resiliently deformable material comprising a front portion and a back portion, the front portion features closures with at least two snaps as closures on the bottommost portion, the back portion features an elasticized hem and two darts, and wherein the lower region of the torso is at least partially tapered and is long enough to cover a sufficient portion of the intended wearer's buttocks in order that the resilient deformability of the fabric comprising the lower region causes the lower region to adhere to the intended wearer's buttocks so as to prevent the torso portion from substantially shifting out of position when the dress shirt is worn.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to clothing, specifically dress shirts. Dress shirts are clothes worn as a top, sometimes a standalone item, and other times in combination with another top clothing article like a blazer, jacket, sweater, and/or tie. Dress shirts are often tucked-in to a bottom article of clothing, such as pants or a skirt, to produce a desired neat or professional appearance.

However there are several problems with dress shirts currently on the market. Once tucked in, dress shirts generally “pull up”, “ride up”, or bunch up when the wearer moves (i.e. when the wear stands up, sits down, or walks around), resulting in an uneven tuck or even completely untucking the dress shirt. The produces a messy, unkempt, or unflattering appearance. Dress shirts do not typically fit or maintain the desired shape and tuck according to how they are shown in advertisements, on packaging, and/or on models.

A strong need exists for a dress shirt that does not bunch up and become easily untucked. The prior art has long looked for solutions to the problem, in some cases dating back to the 1920's. In one case, U.S. Pat. No. 1,530,565, Lindauer proposed a strap device that is passed from the bottom rear hem between the legs and attached to the bottom of the front hem of the shirt. This is similar to that of Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 1,653,288. This approach continued with U.S. Pat. No. 2,727,247. Another approach was to apply friction between the pants and the shirt. Hubbard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,339 discloses a waistband structure on the interior surface of a pair of trousers that is intended to prevent a shirt that is tucked in from riding up. This approach doesn't work well because inevitably, the shirt rides up at the waist, and the tight fit prevents the shirt from riding back down. In addition, that approach requires a normal force to produce the frictional force. The normal force, which is by definition perpendicular to the motion that the frictional force is to prevent, is therefore a force in towards the body. This implies that these approaches require that the trousers fit tightly at the waist. This is not be comfortable for the wearer and is really no solution to the problem at all.

A variation on this concept is the frictional element being embedded in the shirt. This is disclosed by Hamlet, U.S. Pub. No. 2006/0010559. Hamlet discloses a device made of rigid fibers attached to a base material that creates a fabric band that is placed around the waist of the shirt. The nap, or direction of the fibers, point up. According to Hamlet, this prevents the shirt from riding up because the fibers are in contact with the inside surface of the trouser at the region of the waist line. However, Hamlet also discloses that this approach requires “compressing action” between the shirt and the pants, that is, the belt must be cinched tight in order for it to work.

The impracticality of these devices, as well as the discomfort they produce is plainly evident. Therefore there continues to be a need for a dress shirt that is constructed so that it does not ride up as the wearer moves, yet is comfortable to wear.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a dress shirt that is combination of a tapered shape that creates a close fit on the buttocks of the person wearing the shirt using a fabric with sufficient elasticity in its fiber content so that the snug fit holds the bottom of the shirt in place. However, the fabric cannot be so elastic that it introduces a tightness around the waist, which would then cause the shirt to ride up. In addition, an elastic hem may be attached to the bottom of the shirt in order that the fabric of the shirt is positioned properly below the posterior of the buttocks. For dress shirts that are button-down, that is, there is a buttoned opening down the front of the shirt, additional snaps may be used at the bottom of the shirt at the front opening in order to fasten the two sides of the bottom of the shirt and thereby maintain elastic tension along the longitudinal axis of the elastic hem.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1. A front view of the shirt.

FIG. 2. The left side of the shirt.

FIG. 3. The rear view of the shirt.

FIG. 4. The right side of the shirt.

FIGS. 5A and 5B. The bottom closure feature of the shirt with an open front in open and closed position.

FIG. 6. An architectural drawing of the back view of the shirt with the dimension measurement identifiers.

FIG. 7. An architectural drawing of the front view of the shirt with the dimensional measurement identifiers.

FIGS. 8A and 8B. The front and back drawings of the shirt.

FIG. 9. Assembly of one embodiment of the elastic hem.

FIG. 10 Side view drawing of body wearing the shirt and measurement points.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention solves the problems of the prior art, by providing a novel new design for a dress shirt that does not bunch up or become easily untucked. The dress shirt in one embodiment is constructed with an at least partially tapered torso portion comprised of a front portion made of fabric and an at least partially tapered torso portion back portion made of the same fabric. Fabrics may be comprised of polyester, nylon, lyocel, rayon, or modal or natural fabrics like wool, cotton, silk, or jersey, and any blends thereof. In this embodiment, the dress shirt also features two openings for the insertion of the intended wearer's arm, wherein the upper region of the dress shirt where the front and back torso portions attach by seam is closed except for a hole for the insertion of the intended wearer's head and neck.

The dress shirt, schematically shown in side view on FIG. 10, is worn on a body (100) and has a first taper from the chest (105) down to the waist (101). In the preferred embodiment the first taper is at least 10% and no more than 31%. The shirt is also tapered from the waist (101) to the bottom hem (103) with a second taper that is more than that of the first taper. In the preferred embodiment, the second taper be at least 16% and no more than 35%.

The bottom of the shirt is constructed to extend below posterior of the buttock (102). That is, for a shirt constructed for given size category, the person corresponding to that size category that wears the constructed shirt should have the bottom hem of the shirt extend past their posterior of their buttock (102). A shirt is constructed for given size category if a person corresponding to that size category can fit properly into the shirt so that their head and neck protrude through the corresponding holes in the shirt without undue stretch of the chest region of the shirt (105) when the front of the shirt is buttoned or otherwise closed. In the preferred embodiment, the bottom of the shirt extends between approximately 1 inch and 4 inches past the posterior (102) when a shirt of a given size category is worn by a person corresponding to that size category.

In one embodiment the fabric of the dress shirt is a stretch material that exhibits elastic properties that cause the region of the shirt in the area of the posterior (102) and below to the hem (103) to hug the lower buttock region of the properly sized wearer, (102) to (103). The posterior (102) is the region of the buttock that extends out the furthest from the body. The elasticity of the fabric has to be sufficient to create the hugging effect along the posterior region (102) to (103), but not so elastic that the shirt bunches up at the waist region (101). Fabrics like cotton do not exhibit sufficient elasticity for the hugging effect, and high-elasticity fabrics like Spandex™, which are used in so-called “muscle-shirts”, bunch up at the waist (101) when they are worn. Therefore, the elasticity of the fabric must be sufficient to cause a hugging of the wearer's buttocks but not a bunching of the garment at the waist. For this reason, neither woven cotton shirts with little elasticity nor highly elastic “muscle-shirts” produce a dress shirt that meets the requirements of staying tucked and not bunching up at the waist.

The fabric should have a recovery after 1 minute of approximately 85% or more. In one embodiment, the fabric is a woven or knit fabrics using at least 4% and not more than approximately 10% of the deformable fiber, for example, Spandex™ or a fiber similar to it in elasticity. In other embodiments, the fabric is a woven stretch cotton poplin comprised of 96% cotton and 4% of a resiliently deformable material, such as Lycra® or a fiber similar to it in elasticity. In the preferred embodiment, the resulting fabric exhibits a modulus of a range between approximately 0.32 and 0.675 pounds of force (lbf) in the vertical direction and a modulus in the horizontal direction between 0.227 and 0.473 lbf with a resulting elongation of 165%+/−25%, or in the range of 123% to 206% in the vertical and an elongation of 185%+/−25%, or in the rage of 138% to 231% in the horizontal direction. Elongation may be specified as a percentage of the original fabric specimen length at a specified load.

In another embodiment, the dress shirt has an elasticized hem. In one embodiment the elasticized hem is constructed by creating a casing hem line and then inserting a piece of elastic material in the fabric casing and then sealing all the edges. In another embodiment an elasticized hem is only created in the back portion of the shirt, which is then connected by a seam to the front portion of the shirt that features a traditional non-elasticized hem. In the preferred embodiment, the elastic hem width is between approximately ¼″ and approximately 1″. In the preferred embodiment, the elastic hem has an minimum stretch of elastic hem sweep of 40% with the ability of the hem to recover back to 0%, that is, it's measurement. The elastic may be sewn into the hem from side seam to side seam using an spi of 17-20 when relaxed—which will equate to 14-18 spi when the elastic hem is stretched tight. The elastic is aligned with the fabric edge either manually or using a machine folder, and then encased into the fabric with two folds, with a single needle stitched to secure the hem. The stitch should be at least 15 spi but no more than 20 spi. An exemplary process of constructing the hem is shown in FIG. 9. In one embodiment, the use of elastic thread as the seam in the hem line may further aid in producing the desired effect. In the preferred embodiment, the elastic hem is between approximately ¼″ and 1″ in width.

In yet another embodiment of the dress shirt, there is a vertical opening extending from the front of the neck hole down to and including the front of the bottom hem. This opening has a first and second side, corresponding to the left and right side of the shirt, viewed from the wearer's perspective. In one embodiment, closure devices are attached along the edge of the first and second sides of the opening. In the preferred embodiment, these are buttons on one side and corresponding button holes on the other. In the preferred embodiment, there are between 7 and 14 closure devices along the opening. In the preferred embodiment, the last two closure devices at the bottom of the shirt are capable of spontaneously opening when the two sides of the opening are pulled apart from each other above a pre-determined force. See FIGS. 5A and 5B. In this embodiment, the lowest closure point should be no higher from than 1″ up from the bottom hem. See FIG. 5A. The last two closure devices are positioned so that when the shirt of a given size category is worn by the person of corresponding size, tension along the longitudinal axis of the elastic hem (104) is maintained when those two closure devices are engaged to bind the first and second side of the front opening of the shirt together. See FIGS. 1-4.

One embodiment of the invention is shown on FIGS. 5A and 5B. The dimensional identifiers indicated in the figure correspond to the dimensions provided in Table 1. Larger or smaller shirts may be constructed by proportionally increasing or decreasing the dimensions provided in inches in Table 1.

TABLE 1
		Tolerance	Tolerance				1st
POM	DESCRIPTION	(−)	(+)	14½	15	15½	Fit	2nd Fit
A1	CF Length	¼	¼	31	31	32½			32½
	From Hps to				¾
	Bottom Edge
A2	Length at Hps	¼	¼	30½	31¼	32
	to Bottom Edge
A3	Sideseam	¼	¼	17¼	18	18¾			19
	Length From
	Armhole to
	Bottom Edge
A4	Shoulder Slope	¼	¼	½	½	½			1¾
A5	Forward	⅛	⅛	2	2	2			2
	Shoulder Yoke
	@ Armhole
A7	Waist	0	0	16	16¼	16½
	Placement from
	Hps
B1	Waist Width at	¼	¼	18	18⅜	18¾	¾		18¼
	PO, A7
B2	Hem Sweep on	¼	¼	17½	17⅞	18¼	¾		18
	the Straight
B3	Chest Width 1″	¼	¼	20	20⅜	20¾	⅞		20¼
	Below Armhole
B4	Front Width 6″	¼	¼			16			¼
	Dwn From Hps								tapered
C1	CB Length to	¼	¼	30½	31¼	32			31¾
	Bottom Edge
	from Neck
	Seam
C2	Length at Hps	¼	¼	30¼	31	31¾			32
	to Bottom Edge
	at Back
C3	Back Yoke	⅛	⅛	3⅞	3⅞	3⅞			3⅞
	Height from
	Neck Seam to
	Yoke Seam at
	CB
C4	Dart Placement	⅛	⅛	6¾	6¾	6¾
	from Sideseams
C5	Top of Dart	⅛	⅛	6	6	6			6
	Placement from
	SS
C6	Bottom of Dart	⅛	⅛	5	5	5			5½
	Placement from
	SS
C7	Dart Length	⅛	⅛	13	13	14	⅜		14
				¼	⅝
C8	Dart Depth	⅛	⅛	¼	¼	¼		¼
C9	Distance	⅛	⅛	8¾	8¾	8¾			8½
	Between Darts
D2	Back Shoulders	¼	¼	16¾	17¼	17¾			17¼
	Width,
	Armhole to
	Armhole
D3	Back Yoke	¼	¼	16¼	16¾	17¼			16
	Length
D4	Back Width 6″	¼	¼			16¾			15¾
	Down From
	Hps
D5	Back Hem	¼	¼	18	18½	19			19
	Sweep
D6	Back Hem	¼	¼	22	22½	23			24
	Sweep
	Extended
S1	Sleeve Length	¼	¼	34½	34½	34½			34½
	from CB Neck								s/b 33½
	3 Point
	Measurement
	32/33
S1a	Sleeve Length	¼	¼	35½	35½	35½
	from CB Neck
	3 Point
	Measurement
	34/35
S2	Sleeve Length	¼	¼	25½	25½	25½			25½
	from Armhole
S3	Armhole on	¼	¼	9¾	10	10¼			10
	Curve
S4	Muscle Width	¼	¼	7⅝	7⅞	8⅛			7⅞
	1″ Dwn From
	Armhole
S5	Forearm Width	¼	¼	6	6¼	6½			6½
	12″ Up From
	Sleeve Opening
S6	Cuff Height	⅛	⅛	2½	2⅝	2¾
S7	Cuff Opening	⅛	⅛	4¼	4¼	4¼
	Closed
S8	Distance	⅛	⅛	⅝	¾	⅞
	Between
	Buttons
SL1	Cuff Width	⅛	⅛	10	10	10
	Open at Widest
	Part
SL2	Cuff Width at	⅛	⅛	8⅛	8¼	8⅜
	Bottom Edge
SL3	Cuff Edge	⅛	⅛	¾	⅞	1
	Ankle Length
SL4	Buttonhole	⅛	⅛	1⅜	1⅜	1⅜
	Placement
	From Cuff
	Seam
SL5	Distance from	⅛	⅛	8½	8½	8½
	Center of
	Btnhole to
	Center of
	Btnhole
SL6	Distance to	⅛	⅛	1⅝	1⅝	1⅝
	First Sleeve
	Dart from Edge
SL7	First Sleeve	⅛	⅛	⅝	⅝	⅝
	Dart Depth
SL8	Distance to	⅛	⅛	1⅞	1⅞	1⅞
	Second Sleeve
	Dart
SL9	2nd Sleeve Dart	⅛	⅛	¼	¼	¼
	Depth
PL1	Sleeve Placket	⅛	⅛	5⅞	5⅞	5⅞
	Length @ Side
	to Seam
PL2	Sleeve Placket	⅛	⅛	6¼	6¼	6¼
	Length @ Tip
	to Seam
PL3	Sleeve Placket	⅛	⅛	⅞	⅞	⅞
	Width
PL4	Doghouse	⅛	⅛	1⅛	1⅛	1⅛
	Length at Side
PL5	Doghouse	⅛	⅛	⅝	⅝	⅝
	Length on
	Angle
PL6	Button	⅛	⅛	2⅜	2⅜	2⅜
	Placement from
	Cuff
PL7	Ribbon Insert at	⅛	⅛	⅛	⅛	⅛
	Cuff
E1	Top Collar	⅛	⅛	15	15	15		14½
	Length at Edge
E2	Collar Length	⅛	⅛	14¾	15¼	15¾		15½
	at Stand Seam
E3	Collar Height at	⅛	⅛	1 11/16	1 11/16	1 11/16		1 11/16
	Center Back
E4	Collar Height at	⅛	⅛	0	0
	Edge
F1	Collar Facing	⅛	⅛	1¼	1¼	1¼
	Height at Edge
F2	Collar Facing	⅛	⅛	15⅝	15⅝	15⅝
	Length Edge to
	Edge
F3	Collar Facing	⅛	⅛	8⅜	8⅞	9⅜
	Length Along
	Stand
F4	Collar Facing	⅛	⅛	2⅕	2⅔	3⅕
	Angle Length
F5	Distance from	⅛	⅛	15½	16½	16½		16
	Center Button
	Hole to Center
	Hole
F6	Collar Stand	⅛	⅛	16¼	16¾	17¼
	Length
F7	Collar Stand	⅛	⅛	⅕	⅔	1 3/16
	Height at
	Center
F8	Collar Stand	⅛	⅛	¾	¾	¾
	Height at Edge
F9	Collar Stand	⅛	⅛	⅞	⅞	⅞
	Height at Collar
	Edge
F0	Collar Stand	⅛	⅛	11/16	11/16	11/16
	Length from
	Collar to Edge
G1	Collar Stay	0	0	1½	2	2½
	Height
G2	Collar Stay	0	0	⅜	⅜	2½
	Width
H1	Collar Spread	⅛	⅛	⅜	⅜	⅜
H2	Front Neck	⅛	⅛	4¾	4¾	4¾
	Drop from Hps
H3	Back Neck	⅛	⅛	3¾	3⅞	4
	Drop from Hps
H4	Tie Space	⅛	⅛	0	0	0
H5	Ribbon Insert at	⅛	⅛	⅛	⅛	⅛
	Neck/Stand Set
J1	Front Placket			1	1	1
	Width
J2	Face Placket			¾	¾	¾
	Width
J3	Hem Height			⅜	⅜	⅜
K1	Distance			2½	2½	2½
	Between Band
	Button to First
	Placket Bttn
K2	Distance			1 1/16	1 1/16	1 1/16
	Between
	Buttons Center
	to Center
K3	Distance from			0	0
	Hem to Bottom
	Snaps
K4	Distance
	Between Snaps
X1	Placement of			1½	1½	1½
	Extra Buttons
	on Underside of
	Button Plackets

Claims

1. A shirt constructed to be worn by a person of a predetermined size category comprising: a fabric with a first and second holes for the person's first and second arms to pass through and a third hole for the person's neck to pass through, said first, second and third holes positioned to conform with the size category of the person and further where the lower region of the shirt is dimensioned so that the shirt, when worn by the person of the predetermined size category, is sufficiently long that that the bottom hem resides below the posterior of the person and the fabric at the region below the posterior having an elasticity high enough to causes the shirt to hug the buttocks of said person in the posterior region while fabric in the region of the waste having an elasticity low enough to not cause the fabric to collect together in the waist region of the person when the shirt is worn.

2. The shirt of claim 1 where the shirt is dimensioned to have a first taper from the chest down to the waist of at least 10% and no more than 31% and a second taper the waist to the bottom hem that is more than that of the first taper.

3. The shirt of claim 2 where the second taper is at least 16% and no more than 35%.

4. The shirt of claim 1 where the bottom of the shirt extends between approximately 1 inch and 4 inches past the posterior when a shirt of a given size category is worn by a person corresponding to that size category.

5. The shirt of claim 1 further comprising: A vertical opening extending from the front of the neck hole down to and including the front of the bottom hem, said opening having a first and second side;At least one closure device in the region of the bottom hem that when the shirt is worn by the person, attaches the first side of the opening to the second side of the opening.

6. The shirt of claims 1-5 further comprising an elastic bottom hem dimensioned to maintain tension along the longitudinal axis of the hem when the shirt is worn.

7. The shirt of claim 6 where the elastic hem has a minimum stretch of elastic hem sweep of 40% with the ability of the hem to recover back to its relaxed dimension.

8. The shirt of claim 6 where the elastic hem width is between approximately ¼″ and approximately 1″.

9. The shirt of claim 7 where the elastic is sewn into the hem from side seam to side seam at a stitch per inch of 17-20.

10. The shirt of claim 6 further comprising: At least one closure device in proximity to the elastic hem capable of spontaneously opening when the two sides of the opening are pulled apart from each other above a pre-determined force.

11. The shirt of claim 10 where the closure device is no higher than 1″ up from bottom hem.

12. The shirt of claims 1-5 where the fabric is a woven stretch cotton poplin comprised of 96% cotton and 4% of a resiliently deformable material, such as Lycra®.

13. The shirt of claim 12 where the deformable material is Lycra®.

14. The shirt of claims 1-5 where the fabric has a modulus of a range between approximately 0.32 and 0.675 lbf in the vertical direction and a modulus in the horizontal direction between 0.227 and 0.473 lbf with a resulting elongation of 165%+/−25%, or in the range of 123% to 206% in the vertical and an elongation of 185%+/−25%, or in the range of 138% to 231% in the horizontal direction.

15. The shirt of claim 6 where the fabric is a woven stretch cotton poplin comprised of 96% cotton and 4% of a resiliently deformable material.

16. The shirt of claim 6 where the deformable material is Lycra®.

17. The shirt of claim 6 where the fabric has a modulus of a range between approximately 0.32 and 0.675 lbf in the vertical direction and a modulus in the horizontal direction between 0.227 and 0.473 lbf with a resulting elongation of 165%+/−25%, or in the range of 123% to 206% in the vertical and an elongation of 185%+/−25%, or in the rage of 138% to 231% in the horizontal direction.

18. The shirt of claim 6 where the fabric is a knit fabric comprised of at least 4% but not more than 10% of a deformable fiber.

19. The shirt of claim 16 where the deformable fiber is spandex.

20. The shirt of claim 16 where the fabric has a recovery after 1 minute of approximately 85% or more.

21. The shirt of claims 1-5 where the fabric has a recovery after 1 minute of approximately 85% or more.

22. The shirt of claim 21 where the fabric is a woven or knit fabrics using at least 4% and not more than approximately 10% of the deformable fiber, for example, Spandex™ or a fiber similar to it in elasticity.

23. The shirt of claim 22 where the fabric exhibits a modulus of a range between approximately 0.32 and 0.675 pounds of force (lbf) in the vertical direction and a modulus in the horizontal direction between 0.227 and 0.473 lbf with a resulting elongation of 165%+/−25%, or in the range of 123% to 206% in the vertical and an elongation of 185%+/−25%, or in the rage of 138% to 231% in the horizontal direction.