High-Quality, No Iron/Dry Cleaning Dress Shirts?

Hey guys, what's happening?

So I realize I may be looking for a unicorn here, but I'm looking for a high-quality (or at least looks good) dress shirt that doesn't require ironing or dry cleaning. Preferably one that is fitted as well.

Anyone know of such a shirt?

Thanks!

SargeMaximus said:

Hey guys, what's happening?

So I realize I may be looking for a unicorn here, but I'm looking for a high-quality (or at least looks good) dress shirt that doesn't require ironing or dry cleaning. Preferably one that is fitted as well.

Anyone know of such a shirt?

Thanks!

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Maybe something like the Regent model by Brooks Brothers:


http://www.brooksbrothers.com/Non-I...var_ME02515_Color=LTBL&contentpos=2&cgid=0203

Most dress shirts these days are non-iron.

Which shirts have you been considering? What are your thoughts on them?

12345Michael54321 said:

Most dress shirts these days are non-iron.

Which shirts have you been considering? What are your thoughts on them?

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Well Michael I've been looking into Ministry by Design. I like the temperature control technology and the fit is perfect (I bought one) BUT they're made from polyester and I've read on many sites (including a review on MBD) that they end up taking on your body odor and stinking. No good.

I don't really care what brand so long as the shirt looks good (not like a shirt you can buy at wal-mart) and has the colors I want (navy blue, black, and white)

Ideally, I'd like a shirt that I can wear with a suit or untucked with jeans.



SargeMaximus said:

Well Michael I've been looking into Ministry by Design. I like the temperature control technology and the fit is perfect (I bought one) BUT they're made from polyester

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I'm not familiar with Ministry by Design. But the world is awash with non-iron, 100% cotton dress shirts. You might be better off buying them, rather than the polyester shirts with "temperature control technology" you mention.

Since you haven't indicated where you are, it's difficult to recommend a specific local retailer. Among online possibilities, there's always Brooks Brothers and Charles Tyrwhitt.

As for temperature control technology polyester shirts, they have their place. I'll wear one when I go running, for example. But you say you want a dress shirt.

I don't really care what brand so long as the shirt looks good (not like a shirt you can buy at wal-mart) and has the colors I want (navy blue, black, and white)

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I'm not going to comment on black dress shirts. I just won't.

As for the shirt looking good, that's at least as much a function of proper fit, as it is of anything else.

Ideally, I'd like a shirt that I can wear with a suit or untucked with jeans.

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Generally, a dress shirt will be too long to wear untucked without looking too long. No, not always. Sports shirts tend to run a little shorter.

Do you want a dress shirt, or a sport shirt?

12345Michael54321 said:

I'm not familiar with Ministry by Design. But the world is awash with non-iron, 100% cotton dress shirts. You might be better off buying them, rather than the polyester shirts with "temperature control technology" you mention.

Since you haven't indicated where you are, it's difficult to recommend a specific local retailer. Among online possibilities, there's always Brooks Brothers and Charles Tyrwhitt.

As for temperature control technology polyester shirts, they have their place. I'll wear one when I go running, for example. But you say you want a dress shirt.
I'm not going to comment on black dress shirts. I just won't.

As for the shirt looking good, that's at least as much a function of proper fit, as it is of anything else.
Generally, a dress shirt will be too long to wear untucked without looking too long. No, not always. Sports shirts tend to run a little shorter.

Do you want a dress shirt, or a sport shirt?

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I live in Canada.

What I meant by "looks good" is that the fabric looks good and not like a piece of cheap clothing.

I guess I want sport shirts then because of the length, but I still want them to look like a dress shirt. No buttons on the collar or stripes and etc. Like I said: navy blue, black, and white.

Non iron shirt you can find at Brooks brothers, great quality, but even milano does not fit well on slim guy like me. BB offers MTM shirt, but kinda expensive $150 per shirt. Harry Rosen has lots of great shirt, but most of them need ironing. If you really do not mind iron your shirt, you can find mtm shirt at spier and mackay

CloudLi said:

Non iron shirt you can find at Brooks brothers, great quality, but even milano does not fit well on slim guy like me. BB offers MTM shirt, but kinda expensive $150 per shirt. Harry Rosen has lots of great shirt, but most of them need ironing. If you really do not mind iron your shirt, you can find mtm shirt at spier and mackay

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Thanks, went to BB today and I like their selection but they didn't have navy blue. They also don't carry black shirts. Apparently it's because Lincoln was assassinated while wearing a black shirt. Crazy. Anyhow, they suggested I come back in the fall as they might have navy blue shirts then.

In the meantime, where would be a good place for a black non-iron sports shirt?

SargeMaximus said:

Thanks, went to BB today and I like their selection but they didn't have navy blue. They also don't carry black shirts. Apparently it's because Lincoln was assassinated while wearing a black shirt. Crazy. Anyhow, they suggested I come back in the fall as they might have navy blue shirts then.

In the meantime, where would be a good place for a black non-iron sports shirt?

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Dress shirt should be in light colours, usually the lighter the better. If you want BB and they do not have the colour in stock, you can check their website and ask the salesperson place orders. They ship to Canada without import charge and low exchange rate.

SargeMaximus said:

In the meantime, where would be a good place for a black non-iron sports shirt?

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Banana Republic also has great non iron shirts. But the collar is too short, I will not call it "dress shirt". So check BR for sport shirts.

For dress shirts I prefer 100% cotton or containing a low percentage of synthetic fibers with a purpose, such as adding strength, stretch, textures, etc. Most of the dress shirts can be hand washed. Squeeze and shake to get the excess water off rather than wring. Stretch them a little to remove large wrinkles and then hang them dry. To get the crisp ironed effect, you just need to iron the collar, cuffs and the easily removable small wrinkles.

Non-iron fabric has a resinous coating so cotton is chemically treated, which may reduce the shirt's breathability and make the wearer feel hot and itchy. Thus most of the luxury brands never considered using non-iron fabrics. The coating technology of course will continue to improve to be lighter and more environmental friendly. Vertically integrated luxury brand Ermenegildo Zegna has already developed non-iron cotton textile without chemically treating them.

If both hand wash and luxury are out of the question, Brooks Brothers has a long history of making non-iron shirts. I suppose their fabrics will be of good quality. I can't advice on the fit as I have no information from you.

Thanks guys.
@ Cloud: Call me crazy but I want navy blue and black shirts. I'll check out BR tho, thanks.

@ rob: I can try the shirts on in-store. Small was a good fit at BB.



SargeMaximus said:

Thanks, went to BB today and I like their selection but they didn't have navy blue. They also don't carry black shirts. Apparently it's because Lincoln was assassinated while wearing a black shirt.

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While Lincoln usually wore black pants, black footwear, black hats, and black coats, I suspect he wore them with a white shirt.

I'm sure there's a record of what he was wearing when he was shot - and likely the clothes themselves are in a museum collection somewhere - so unless someone provides me with a url showing that Lincoln was wearing a black shirt to the theater that night, I'm going to assume his shirt was white.

And that Brooks didn't have a black dress shirt to sell you because black is not traditionally a dress shirt color.

Now, it is true that Brooks didn't stock black suits from 1865 until... maybe 10 or 15 years ago. The urban legend was that Brooks Bros. didn't do black suits, because Lincoln was wearing a black Brooks frock coat when he was shot. (Which might explain not selling black frock coats. Well, maybe.) The truth was likely that for many decades black suits were deemed unacceptable for daytime wear unless the wearer was a servant or corpse, so Brooks didn't sell them.

12345Michael54321 said:

While Lincoln usually wore black pants, black footwear, black hats, and black coats, I suspect he wore them with a white shirt.

I'm sure there's a record of what he was wearing when he was shot - and likely the clothes themselves are in a museum collection somewhere - so unless someone provides me with a url showing that Lincoln was wearing a black shirt to the theater that night, I'm going to assume his shirt was white.

And that Brooks didn't have a black dress shirt to sell you because black is not traditionally a dress shirt color.

Now, it is true that Brooks didn't stock black suits from 1865 until... maybe 10 or 15 years ago. The urban legend was that Brooks Bros. didn't do black suits, because Lincoln was wearing a black Brooks frock coat when he was shot. (Which might explain not selling black frock coats. Well, maybe.) The truth was likely that for many decades black suits were deemed unacceptable for daytime wear unless the wearer was a servant or corpse, so Brooks didn't sell them.

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Interesting... what we have here is a case of chinese telephone. Seriously, they told me the whole story about lincoln was why they didn't sell black dress shirts.

Hi!

Long time lurker here, signed up just to recommend you https://www.etonshirts.com/us/shirts/collection?limit=all shirts. I recently bought 3 shirts from there I have nothing but positives to say. Can be washed (hot), non-iron (or as close as you can come) which is achieved without coating them in what is essentially, poison. They even carry black ^^,