a shirt is a kind of cloth which is made to cover the upper body. in north america, shirts can mean t-shirts, polo shirts, etc. in britain, a shirt has a collar, sleeves with cuffs and split in half with buttons on one side. (north americans would call this a "dress shirt", a specific type of "collared shirt"). some shirts have sleeves, that cover the arms. t-shirts are a type of shirt that has shorter sleeves. these sleeves cover the shoulders. shirts that do not have sleeves are called "sleeveless".