Hey guys...I'm looking for a short sleeve shirt that looks nice (not a t-shirt), but can be worn with a suit (pants and jacket). It tends to get kinda hot in the restaurant I work at, and sometimes everything I wear can be a bit much.

Any help??

Thanks!
Stve

Don't do this!

(Unless it is for some sort of comedy persona)

This is a big fashion faux pas.

If you want to wear a short sleeve shirt try dressing it up with a vest and tucked in to nice dressy trousers - if you want to wear a blazer you must wear long sleeves!
There are plenty of warm-weather friendly shirts and jackets. I personally wear a linen shirt (from j crew no less) that is very light and soft and perfect for summer, with a lightweight, unlined 100 % cotton blazer.

Lots of great looking short sleeve dress shirts are available in the summer months. My opinion, nobody will notice or care if there aren't any cuffs showing below your coat sleeves.

If you watch Lennart Green's (rather brilliant) TED performance on youtube you may notice that one of the better comedic moments in the act is when Green removes his jacket to display a rumpled short sleeve shirt. This is a charming and funny character moment that works pefectly for Green's professor-ish quirky performance style.

However, unless you want to portray a similarly bookish character, and have superb sleight abilities to balance such a character against I would highly recommend agains tdressing like an extra from a television show set in cubicles.

Also, David Stone does a funny piece with a short sleeve shirt under a (three button suit) jacket where he pulls his sleeves of his arms and hands them to a spectator... very humorous, but you never see that his shirt is short sleeved.

I believe he took a long sleeved (french cuff) shirt and had the sleeves cut off and altered to short sleeved, and then he had an elastic band put into the top of the cut of sleeve, so that when pulled on they would stay in place until he wishes to remove them. Very clever!

Natanel,

I much prefer function over fashion. the restaurant I perform in is pretty hot right now. I am definitely looking into a short sleeve style shirt soon.

Thanks for all your help guys!
Steve

I agree with Natanel on pairing a short-sleeve shirt with a jacket being a major fashion faux pas. Pick up a summer weight jacket and shirt before going this route. There are certain basic fashion rules that should not be broken like not wearing black socks with shorts, women not wearing white shoes before Easter, men never wearing white leather dress shoes...ever and ties with short-sleeve shirts. Clothes do make the man (or woman), in that if you look professional you will automatically receive a certain amount of respect from your audience. First impressions are important. Sure, most people may not care that they can't see cuffs below the sleeves of your jacket, but there are those out there who know better and, rightly or wrongly, may form an opinion based on the breaking of one of the basic rules of fashion. It will not happen every time, nor probably be apparent, but there will be some who notice. If it is too hot to wear long sleeves, then it is too hot for a jacket and in that case rolled-up sleeves and a vest(maybe) would probably be the next best alternative.

Jared

Just to throw this into the mix...one of my tailcoats and also a regular tux jacket are worn with a short sleeve formal shirt. The sleeves were removed from the shirts and just the cuffs were reattached to the inside sleeves of each coat/jacket. Way more comfortable when performing.

FWIW

In the old days of celluloid Collars and Dickey's often times shirts weren't even worn with formal wear. They simply wore the Collar, cuffs and shirt front (dickey) over their union suit.

If you just attached cuffs to the ends of your jacket sleeves no one will know that you're not wearing a long sleeved shirt

That sounds like a great idea with reattaching the sleeves to the end of the jacket. I might take them to a tailor and have that taken care of.

Thanks guys!!
Steve

I am in southern Louisiana and can not bring myself to wear a suit coat in the summer here. I have decided to go to the short sleeve shirt with the vest for my summer wear. I did not want to look too dressed down by doing this but I tried several nice shirts and found a few that look nice with the vest still giving me the polished look I like.

Natanel, did you not say that a t-shirt under a jacket is a good look?

What about shirt sleeves rolled up under your jacket so you can easily pull back the jacket sleeves while performing? (Does it not interfere with sleeving coins, etc with a shirt underneath?)

There are always ways to break fashion rules and look good. Wearing a t shirt under a blazer is doable, but it is a whole different look. If you want a dressy proffesional appearance, you shoudl not wear a short-sleeve dress shirt with a jacket.

I don't do any sleeving, but I imagine as long as you have a flowing, loosely fitting blazer and shirt you would be fine.

Personally when I perform I always cuff my shirt sleeves over my blazer sleeve revealing about 3 inches of forearm. This way the audience knows no chicanery with the sleeves is happening but I still feel appropriately dressed.

A little known fact, many dove workers of the past wore short sleeve shirts with cuffs in the sleeves of the coats. Make sure that the cuffs match the shirt though.

I wont state a universal like "never do this" because there are times when it is OK. One solution is to attack shirt cuffs to the inside of your jacket so it looks like you are wearing long sleeves. That being said, there is a flaw to this idea. A shirt will actually keep you cooler than short sleeves. The inside of most jackets and spot coats were not designed with being against the skin in mind. You will very very likely be uncomfortable, much more so than you would have been with a long sleeve shirt. Please keep this in mind as you make your plans, and good luck.

Steve,

Ignore these so-called rules. Wear a short sleeve shirt if you wish.

Wear whatever you want as long as it does not offend the management or patrons of the restaurant.

Such rubbish since when do the majority of performers in any field follow a specific dress code or fashion guidelines. You wear what is appropriate for the specific performing arena or occassion.

Lots of clergy wear short sleeve shirts with a full vest and collar -- then throw on a coat as required by function. I am amused thta people who walk up to strangers in restaurants and interupted their conversation are concenred with fashion at all. You magic has to be good enough to overcome the intrusion -- surly it can be good enough so that your attire is not remembered.

Try strolling magic for homeless people -- they don't care.

Ask Shimada!

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

I often wear a camp shirt under a jacket. But, then again, I perform at mostly casual functions. I wear a nicer shirt for the more formal events, with a tie, if it doesn't require a tux.