slimmer fitting inexpensive (aspossible) dress shirts

[luk-cha]

zara use are ok for the money!

 

[tiecollector]

I feel my Topshop (TopMan) polos are much better made than my H&M ones.
The chest actually fits too. You need a concave chest to make the H&M dress shirts fit.

Originally Posted by Toiletduck

H&M > Topshop quality?

Its been a long time since I've been to Topshop, but the one H&M shirt I own is made of really material. As in, it doesn't become holey after 2 wears + washes, but it just feels dirt cheap.

 

[Holdfast]

I was in Topshop last week. The quality was appalling. I could see loose threads waiting to unravel, collars that looked as if an elephant had sat on them, etc, etc. Excreble. Really. Maybe I caught them on a bad day. All I wanted was a nice slim-fit lightweight cardigan for a good price and I couldn't even find that. The only one in a natural fibre that they had was a solid black and the nicer stripey ones were acrylic which I hate because of the static.

I was last in H&M about 4 or so months ago and was actually pleasantly surprised at the improvement. Still poor quality and disposable fashion rather than clothing to keep for more than a year or two but much better than what I saw last week in Topshop.

Anyway, just my opinion.

 

[Get Smart]

for $20, Target's Mossimo line of "vintage washed" dress shirts are surprisingly slim. I bought one in a size small and it fits my 38 chest, 33 arm perfectly with the kind of measurements I usually give my tailor to recut my blouse-y shirts into.

 

[Carey]

Nordstrom often has their Boss line of shirts on sale. I don't care for the stiff cotton fabric, but the fit is very trim. I have one of these and although it looks great, it is uncomfortable and does not breathe. I can't recall if it has the slightest bit of lycra, but the damn thing makes me sweat.

Request a follow-up on your success in finding your requirements for an inexpensive, slim fitting shirt. My guess is everything RTW will involve a compromise - and most of these compromises will spoil the find - or your find will be one of fantastic, once in a blue moon stroke of luck. Just like I will never find fully canvassed Polo suits for $200 dollars, like I the four I found in '92 & '93.

 

[JBZ]

Check Lands' End. They have some slim fit offerings, and the most of the prices fall within your range. Generally they get high marks for quality given the price.

 

[Mentos]

Zara.

 

[tiecollector]

Originally Posted by Get Smart

for $20, Target's Mossimo line of "vintage washed" dress shirts are surprisingly slim. I bought one in a size small and it fits my 38 chest, 33 arm perfectly with the kind of measurements I usually give my tailor to recut my blouse-y shirts into.

+1 on the target shirts, I was pleasantly surprised at how well they fit at $19.99. I still have a white one with a spread 2 button collar great for just wearing to work every day. Nice long sleeves too. Thing I don't like is that the collars are a little big in the large and the sleeves too short in the medium oftentimes. You have to look at the country it is made in. Some of their medium sizes fit me, some dont even come close.

I noticed last spring they had some neat patterned ties for $20. I got a cool flowery one that you might see something similar with Ted Baker, they went quick and now they have the same boring striped ones they always have last I checked.

 

[tiecollector]

Originally Posted by Holdfast

I was in Topshop last week. The quality was appalling. I could see loose threads waiting to unravel, collars that looked as if an elephant had sat on them, etc, etc. Excreble. Really. Maybe I caught them on a bad day. All I wanted was a nice slim-fit lightweight cardigan for a good price and I couldn't even find that. The only one in a natural fibre that they had was a solid black and the nicer stripey ones were acrylic which I hate because of the static.

I was last in H&M about 4 or so months ago and was actually pleasantly surprised at the improvement. Still poor quality and disposable fashion rather than clothing to keep for more than a year or two but much better than what I saw last week in Topshop.

Anyway, just my opinion.

Come to think of it, you might be right about that. One of my shirts was coming undone at a seam because it was sewn so close to the edge, I had to restitch it and use some super glue to make it so that it wouldn't fray anymore. All in all though, I wore that shirt and another one all summer without any problems and got nothing but compliments on it. They were only 14 pounds each I think so no big loss.

I did buy a cool powder suit from there that cost me about 130 quid. Compared to a nice suit on the rack, it looks like crap, but when I put it on it looks much nicer. I would say the quality on the suit is a little worse than Banana Republic suits, but the price is also less, so it is probably about the same for the money. The interesting cut is what made me buy it though.

But if you want something to last, dont buy from Topshop or H&M.

 

[drizzt3117]

Originally Posted by NoVaguy

the material really blows. the fit is slightly slimmer than usual, but the material really, really, really blows.

The material is pretty crappy but they have a nice assortment of colors. For $20 they're not too bad but when washed they get fucked up, for the most part heh

 

[tiecollector]

Originally Posted by drizzt3117

The material is pretty crappy but they have a nice assortment of colors. For $20 they're not too bad but when washed they get fucked up, for the most part heh

I have one MX shirt in pink, it is cotton and spandex I think. But I have worn mine for almost a year and haven't had any problems. I like the fit a lot and if you wear it with proper pants and tie I think it looks young and not cheap.

I wash all my shirts in cold water on the delicate cycle with woolite and then hang dry and iron. The thing still looks brand new. The only shirt I have that looks faded is my Alfani shirt from Macy's, the brown is now almost a tan!

 

[drizzt3117]

Originally Posted by tiecollector

I have one MX shirt in pink, it is cotton and spandex I think. But I have worn mine for almost a year and haven't had any problems. I like the fit a lot and if you wear it with proper pants and tie I think it looks young and not cheap.

I wash all my shirts in cold water on the delicate cycle with woolite and then hang dry and iron. The thing still looks brand new. The only shirt I have that looks faded is my Alfani shirt from Macy's, the brown is now almost a tan!

Hm, interesting. I own a bunch of these in different colors and wear them when I want to change things up, I got them for $10-25 each but I've treated them as more or less disposable. I own like 3 of the royal blue ones, and the first time I ever laundered it, the collar nearly disintegrated, it was seriously decontructed, and I washed it on cold cycle and hang dried it... I've had better luck having them professionally laundered, but it doesn't seem worth it, although there is one local dry cleaner that does dress shirts for $1.50 and does a fairly good job.

 

[tiecollector]

Originally Posted by drizzt3117

Hm, interesting. I own a bunch of these in different colors and wear them when I want to change things up, I got them for $10-25 each but I've treated them as more or less disposable. I own like 3 of the royal blue ones, and the first time I ever laundered it, the collar nearly disintegrated, it was seriously decontructed, and I washed it on cold cycle and hang dried it... I've had better luck having them professionally laundered, but it doesn't seem worth it, although there is one local dry cleaner that does dress shirts for $1.50 and does a fairly good job.

I also don't wash after every wearing, which I should have mentioned. I wash after every 2nd or 3rd wearing. I don't have too big of a problem with ring around the collar and I wear undershirts so they really don't stink after wearing them for 10 hours. I usually press at least the front between wearings though. I haven't compared the color to a new shirt, but so far I haven't noticed any fading, pink probably fades better than most colors too.