[doug1022]

Hello,

Any suggestions for high quality, well fitting dress shirts for a semi-formal business environment - to wear with suits or jacket / slacks? Which brand / fit are your go-tos? And what can I expect to pay (and do they ever go on sale)?

I've always worn Brooks Brothers dress shirts, but they were very baggy and after a few years, the elbows would blow out. I no longer by BB.
Am now wearing Jos. A Bank pretty regularly - their slim fits - but the collars tend to sag after a while and the colors (stripes, etc) bleed.

Here are my criteria:
Good Quality / Good Value / Durable
Slim fit / not too baggy (i am 6 feet 180... many slim fit shirts tend to be baggy on me)
High button (I no longer wear ties)
Non Iron

Appreciate any advice - thanks so much!

 

[Dhaller]

(6'1", 175lb here, athletic build, so a ballpark-ish geometry...)

I've generally found Brooks Brothers "Regent" fit a pretty good one, though of course your idea of "slim" might be slimmer than mine. I can't say I've had problems with them wearing out any sooner than any other shirts (though I might not wear them as frequently/long?)

You should be a pretty easy "off the rack" fit (16"/34-35 I'd guess?), so in general made to order/bespoke shouldn't be a necessity, but you might try Kamakura shirts online (though you'll need to fiddle with the fit for the first few shirts), or Proper Cloth.

Honestly, "durable" is more a factor of material type than "shirt quality", and indeed many fine shirting fabrics are not particularly durable. For durable, my go-to is an OCBD (again, partial to Brooks Brothers regent or "slim fit" in Medium); they will always eventually fray aristocratically around the cuffs and collar, but that's what makes such a shirt an old favorite!

But it sounds to me as though you'll want to go with one of the better online MTO outfits in an Oxford Cloth fabric, and then you can specify things like collar type, cuffs, pockets-or-not, and so forth.

DH

 

[DRWWE]

Brooks Brothers lost me years ago. They used to be my go-to brand.

 

[DRWWE]

I suggest you at Eton. Very well made, you might want their contemporary fit. I iron mine but but you could get away without doing so.

 

[triklops55]

Nordstrom store brand shirts are pretty good quality, decent fit and are priced well.

 

[poppies]

Charles Tyrwhitt (ctshirts.com) is my go-to dress shirt, and is a brand worn regularly by some of the best-dressed folks on this forum. Their construction isn't for everyone, but I like their fit and they last reasonably well under heavy use.

They offer a super slim fit you may want to explore.

 

[Matt S]

Kamakura is the best value I have seen. The shirts are beautifully made and well cut. Others with their quality charge 2-3 times as much. Nothing else in the price range compare.

 

[medhat]

I still go to BB for my more formal business wear, their standard broadcloth shirt (Argyle spread collar, Milano fit). To me they're a quintessential business shirt that is contemporary but not modern. I buy them in white and blue when I can bundle on "sale", so I'm guessing ~ $65 a shirt. For events where I'm not wearing a suit I'm partial to both CT and Lewin, which I view almost identically. I like their assortment of patterns and both their slim fits work well for me, sans tie. All of what I've mentioned are non-iron, and I launder them myself, and have no particular issues with wear on any of them. Now in this gradual return to face-to-face interactions, I'm seeing that I'm on the older end of the age divide, and while my suiting still passes muster with my primary client base, to my own mind they're increasingly dated, even though I went and freshened things up within a year of the 2020 shut down. As I'm increasingly working with a younger, tech-oriented group of clients, I'm pivoting (very slowly) towards having a base of suits that work better if I'm not wearing a tie (this has been a very halting adjustment). So to that end I have a few (3 at present) more modern-cut suits, and for those I'm trying out some dress shirts from Uniqlo, which are a steal at $39. A modern spread collar a bit wider that BB, and the cotton has some elastane in it for some stretch. Obviously thinner fabric than the material used by BB and the British brands, but I almost always wear an undershirt so it doesn't bother me. The weird thing I've noticed about this pivot to more tech fabrics in suiting and shirts is that, compared to traditional outlets like BB, and even when compared to more youth-focused vendors like J Crew and JAB, that the new entrants for OTR are typically cheaper, so that's allowed my more room to experiment. Thankfully I try and stay fit so the slim fit suits work well for me, and even OTR I've been able to fit them with only minimal alterations. I know this is a shirt thread, but I will mention a line I've not (yet) crossed. For suiting I'm still very hesitant to fully jump onto the train of suiting with so-called "technical fabrics." Here's where I show my age, but I'm not on board with suit pants, regardless of normal/slim/skinny, that don't have a crease. To me it makes them look too casual, more along the lines of casual chinos or pants from Lululemon (which I like in truly casual environments). That, and the other sartorial hill I'll die on it to not wear sneakers/trainers with suiting. That's why I have a closet of Allen Edmonds. 'Cause I love them.