Latest styles offer great colors, great fabrics and great fits -- no matter what shape you're in.

This is the tale of two short-sleeved dress shirts.

One uncompromising, one generous.

One Euro and one consummately American.

One moody, one good-natured.

One with short, fitted sleeves; one with boxy, expansive sleeves.

One made for plain-front trousers, one for pleated trousers.

Which shirt do you favor for a Baltimore spring and summer?

The answer may depend on how well you know your way around a Nautilus.

Either way, this season's shirt expedition is bound to yield a bounty of scrumptious colors, luxurious natural fibers and accessory musts.

The new looks present new choices for those who may not have changed their straightforward shirt style in decades. Puzzled by the possibilities? Here are a few hints for navigating the newest wrinkles in shirt fashion.

Let's start with the tight end of things.

That muscle-busting-at-the-seams shirt by Gene Meyer, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Hugo Boss and other swank vendors looks tailor-made for a gang member in "West Side Story." You were a Shark in the high school musical 20 years ago and would like to reprise your role.

A word of caution to ex-Sharks, Jets and anyone else for whom the term "love handles" may apply: This shirt is for "the guy who is physically fit and wants to show a little biceps," says Delgardo Darby, owner of Firma, a Charles Street menswear shop.

This Euro look is for the "very progressive dresser on weekends who puts on a short-sleeve shirt and necktie," Darby says.

Men "must be well-built to wear" this svelte, unforgiving shirt, tails tucked in or out, says Brian Loeffel of Rothschild's Clothing. That eliminates 99 out of 100 customers, he says. "There aren't that many bodybuilders around. ... It's not flattering. If anything today, a man wants to wear clothes that flatter him."

If your physique is still in the running, Harvey Hyatt of Hyatt & Co. cautions that with a "short-sleeve dress shirt, you want to have something in a nice fabric that has an almost synthetic look, but is all cotton because that's a cutting-edge look. The shirt may have a technical look, but it will be cotton."

To add to the sartorial challenge, the snug, uniform look begs for flat-front, tight-fitting slacks. "It's a very, very clean look," Darby says.

Stovepipe-lean trousers are "strictly for a fashion guy who wants that look," Loeffel says. "The average man, especially a middle-aged guy, looks better in pleated pants."

Still not deterred? Then know that the so-called Boy Scout look demands your Scout's honor to accessorize appropriately.

These snug, uniform-esque shirts lend themselves to a monochromatic, if vivid, color scheme for the shirt and accompanying suit and tie. Go for bright orange, mint, lavender, lime, yellow and other striking solids, haberdashers say. With color, the object is to obtain a "retro '70s type of feeling."

Ditto, your tie. "The biggest thing for spring is the solid color tie," says Edward Steinberg, J. S. Edwards president. Substitute a striped or club tie and "I think you would ruin the whole look."

Sedate opticals, geometrics, shimmery iridescent textiles are also permitted neckwear.

Belts figure, too. "The look is a little more military," Edwards says.

If you don't qualify for the tapered shirt, you're not alone. It may be the rage in Europe, but it's not faring well among manufacturers across the United States. The nerdy, short-sleeve shirt and pseudo cheap tie look may have "taken a fashion stance," says Harvey Hyatt, but customers aren't biting.

But the boxier, short-sleeved shirt in a fine natural or synthetic fabric is a different story. These shirts, with their more relaxed cut, boast the dual advantage of being very comfortable and dressy in a casual kind of way. "I think that's going to be an item which is going to take the States by storm. It is a fresh look," Darby says.

Sometimes known as a camp shirt, this breed of shirt may have a finished, straight hem with side vents, or it can come with a modified shirttail hem. "We have plaid, camp-style shirts, solids that have somewhat of a waffle texture and silk shirts that are smooth, not shiny silk. It's a very nice quality shirt," says Dustin Kominoth, sales manager at Structure in Towson Town Center.

To dress up a Saturday morning errand run, toss a micro-fiber shirt over a T-shirt and leave it unbuttoned, Kominoth suggests.

Silk pants, with a silk camp shirt (tucked in) and silk blazer make an ideal ensemble for a night out on the town, Kominoth says.

Worn with a soft construction jacket, the shirt works for casual Friday, as well.

Ties are optional. The camp shirt is not really an "Oxford style short-sleeve shirt you'd wear a tie with," Kominoth says. Spread collars are made to be draped over a sport jacket or suit coat for a formal, weekend look, retailers stress.

Shirts without spread collars lend themselves more gracefully to ties.

As with the fitted shirt, color rules. "Absolutely," Darby says. "A big color is burnt orange, and bright pastels -- there's a tremendous amount of that."