Best Slim White Dress Shirt <$50?

[mispoke]

Looking to build up office attire staples.

What's the best slim, white dress shirt under $50 ?

I'm around a 15.5 collar; 34 arm OTR

 

[mispoke]

preferably semi-spread collar.

also, how many white shirts would a suit-wearing working man need in rotation?

 

[Ivar]

Depends on how you define "slim fit." Boilerplate answer is T.M. Lewin, Charles Tyrwhitt, and (if you're in the US) Brooks Brothers on sale.

I -- and I'm joined in this by many others -- only wear white shirts in the evening. Mostly because they tend to wash out your complexion when worn in daylight.

 

[JackAndy]

Depends on how you define "slim fit." Boilerplate answer is T.M. Lewin, Charles Tyrwhitt, and (if you're in the US) Brooks Brothers on sale.

I -- and I'm joined in this by many others -- only wear white shirts in the evening. Mostly because they tend to wash out your complexion when worn in daylight.

Thanks I'll check those out. I guess it depends on your complexion, but yeah I think I get washed out pretty easy too. I still can't make heads or tails of the "12 season color analysis" things. It seems like black magic.

 

[Jthaeler]

Neiman Marcus Last Call house brand shirts - Trim fit model. They routinely (once per quarter) go on sale for $35 a piece. Two ply, usually x100s. Nothing is going to beat a tailored fit, however. My best advice is to buy a shirt for the fabric and then take it to the tailor.

 

[FLMountainMan]

On the lower end of the price spectrum, Chaps, yes Chaps, makes a slim non-iron dress shirt. Solid workhorse shirt, can get them for $25-$35.00. Fit is just a hair slimmer than Brooks Brothers Extra Slim or Very Slim or whatever they call it. Pick em up occasionally at Kohl's or JC Penney.

 

[Ivar]



I guess it depends on your complexion, but yeah I think I get washed out pretty easy too. I still can't make heads or tails of the "12 season color analysis" things. It seems like black magic.

It's not very complicated, really. If the white shirt makes you look pallid, it's probably time for a light blue one; if not, rock on!

 

[LEgoiste]

Charles Tyrwhitt $39.50 + free tie: www.ctshirts.com/JOHN

 

[archibaldleach]

+1 on Charles Tyrwhitt. The extra slim fit works very well for me and they have a size guide in the Charles Tyrwhitt thread. The slim fit is not all that slim fitting, so depending on your build, I'd look at the extra slim fit.

A man really needs only one or two white dress shirts in a normal sized shirt rotation or 10 or so (I have three in a rotation of around 30 shirts, though I should note that my work dress code is business casual and I generally do not like white dress shirts without a jacket and tie; if my office were business formal, I might go up to 5 or 6). Some people on here wear white shirts everyday and I am sure they can look elegant doing so, but it isn't something one needs to do. In most environments, light blue is a perfectly acceptable substitute and also comes in a variety of patterns to keep things interesting (broadcloth, end on end, herringbone, bengal stripes, etc.).

 

[Troilus]



preferably semi-spread collar.

also, how many white shirts would a suit-wearing working man need in rotation?

It depends on your profession. I split time in two different law offices with very different styles. In one, I can get away with an entire week without a white shirt. In the other, I wear white shirts daily. I would never go to court in anything but white.

White is considered much more formal than blue and other shirts. I was once told by a senior partner that when he was an associate (1970s), only senior partners were permitted to wear anything but white.

In total, I have around seven white non-iron ESF from Brooks Brothers, all semi-spread. I probably have another dozen non-iron shirts (all BB) in different colors.

 

[archibaldleach]



White is considered much more formal than blue and other shirts. I was once told by a senior partner that when he was an associate (1970s), only senior partners were permitted to wear anything but white.

I hear you somewhat. White is more formal, but I don't think there's a huge change in level of formality between a white shirt and a light blue shirt. Of course the white's more conservative and may be preferred in some offices as your experience indicates, but I don't think there's a huge difference today. The comment from the senior partner seems to be more a reflection of the 1970s, when I would guess the white dress shirt uniform was much more common, than indicative of anything today (the number of places where a light blue shirt would be frowned upon are few and far between in my experience).

 

[deadAngle]

If you're willing to order before the end of March, Natty Shirts has all their fabrics for made-to-measure, made-to-order shirts priced at $25.00. You could probably get exactly the fit you want in exactly the colour and pattern you want. I haven't ordered yet but am definitely considering it.

 

[archibaldleach]

I shudder to think of the fabrics that get sold on a $25 shirt. Even back in the day, Jantzen was almost twice this and had fairly mediocre fabric. You're also not guaranteed a good fit using online MTM (some people have success, others have stuff that looks like crap).

 

[haze324]

Agree on Last Call shirts and for a little slimmer I like Nordtrom Rack shirts. Both around 30-35 bucks.

 

[Robstheme]

Moderator's note: This post was shilling for Nattyshirts. The user and others shilling for them have been banned.