My thick neck

[Ghoulish Delight]

Okay, it seems I'm clueless as to how to find dress shirts that fit me. Hpefully there is SOMEONE here that knows more about men's sizes than I do.

Mostly, my problem stems from the fact that I have a proprtionately large neck and chest. I can get away with a 16 1/2 inch neck, 17 is more comfortable. But I'm only 5'8" or 5'9". If I buy shirts in those neck sizes, they fit around my neck and chest, but then drape like blouses under my arms and everywhere else. Even if it's a long sleeve shirt that matches my sleeve length (32/33), the body of the shirts always seem to be cut to big.

So does anyone have any shopping tips? I know some brands make "short" sizes. Would that bring things into the right proportion? I worry that while that will take out some of the extra material around my middle, it won't do anything about the gorilla-proportioned shoulders that these shirt makers think should be supporting my neck that causes the tents under my arms.

Am I doomed to wear ill fitting shirts until I become wealthy enough to have all of my clothes custom tailored?

Oh, I should add that if we're talking "S,M,L" designations, mediums tend to fit in terms of length, shoulders, and middle, but are often tight around the chest and neck, while larges tend to be too long, big in the shoulder, and blousey while fitting around my chest and neck.