Number of shirts in rotation?

[facet]



Wow - sure hope you like your work. Certainly decreases the need for casual shirts/wear.

I actually do like my work a lot; I certainly don't plan on working 5.5 days forever, though. Yeah, I only have two pairs of jeans that I wear on a regular basis.

 

[academe]



I confess that I'm not really sure what a dress shirt is, or a sports shirt: I don't think I've ever heard the terms outside SF. Pretty much all my shirts are made identically now - semi-spread collar, two button rounded cuffs - and within the collection there is a spectrum of smartness based on cloth type/colour/pattern, but I would have a hard job dividing them into two distinct types - dress and sports. I suppose there are some that I would probably only wear with a sports coat or more casual suit - are they "sports shirts" then, and the rest "dress"?

I wear a shirt almost every day of my life, have done since I was six or seven. There are maybe ten or twenty days a year that I wear a polo or t-shirt instead. If you want a decent choice each morning and don't want to be doing your laundry all the time, I think it's nice to have about two dozen in total, if not more.

I'm not sure about others' definitions, but I suppose I think of "dress" shirts as those made in smarter fabrics, often plain or with only simple patterns (e.g. butcher's stripes, gingham, herringbone, etc.). "Sports" shirts are those that I think of as with more casual details (e.g. button-down collars, chest pocket, short-sleeves, "Western" details, etc.) and shirts made with "busier"/more casual patterns (e.g. paisley, madras, or plaid). I suppose there are some fuzzy zones; gingham check shirts can be made with "smart" or "casual" details, as can chambray, or linen. "Dress" shirts are those that you would unthinkingly wear with coat and tie; sports shirts are worn almost exclusively open collar, on the weekend, on a trip to the supermarket, taking your wee ones to the park, etc.

 

[TheTukker]



I actually do like my work a lot; I certainly don't plan on working 5.5 days forever, though. Yeah, I only have two pairs of jeans that I wear on a regular basis.

Interesting; good for you.

I'm not sure about others' definitions, but I suppose I think of "dress" shirts as those made in smarter fabrics, often plain or with only simple patterns (e.g. butcher's stripes, gingham, herringbone, etc.). "Sports" shirts are those that I think of as with more casual details (e.g. button-down collars, chest pocket, short-sleeves, "Western" details, etc.) and shirts made with "busier"/more casual patterns (e.g. paisley, madras, or plaid). I suppose there are some fuzzy zones; gingham check shirts can be made with "smart" or "casual" details, as can chambray, or linen. "Dress" shirts are those that you would unthinkingly wear with coat and tie; sports shirts are worn almost exclusively open collar, on the weekend, on a trip to the supermarket, taking your wee ones to the park, etc.

I think this describes it well.

 

[RSS]

Fellows, fellows ... we are forgetting 'country' shirts.* As I'm in tweed 75% of the time, these are among my favorites.

That said, there are times I'll wear a 'town' shirt of gingham or chambray with my tweed. As Academe notes, these can 'pass' while being worn on the other side of the tracks.

Well, that's not precisely what he said, but that is what I have elected to infer.

* When I write country ... that's in the English sense. I'm not talking something worn to a rodeo.

 

[TheTukker]

RSS: any chance you can elaborate or post a pic of a 'country shirt'?

I take it this is not it:

 

[RSS]

Think tattersalls in flannel or brushed cotton.

Just found this one on the Internet:

Or my shirt in this 'ensemble' ...

 

[academe]



Think tattersalls in flannel or brushed cotton.

Just found this one on the Internet:

Or my shirt in this 'ensemble' ...

Fellows, fellows ... we are forgetting 'country' shirts.* As I'm in tweed 75% of the time, these are among my favorites.

That said, there are times I'll wear a 'town' shirt of gingham or chambray with my tweed. As Academe notes, these can 'pass' while being worn on the other side of the tracks.

Well, that's not precisely what he said, but that is what I have elected to infer.

* When I write country ... that's in the English sense. I'm not talking something worn to a rodeo.

Is that shirt from Hoggs of Fife? We just drove by their shop in Cupar on our quest for some variegated periwinkles!

 

[RSS]

The one in my ensemble is not ... the photo I found on the internet is. But I was thinking you might get a kick out of it were you to see it!

Should anyone want to check them out: http://www.hoggs.co.uk/index.php

 

[TheTukker]



Think tattersalls in flannel or brushed cotton.

Just found this one on the Internet:

Or my shirt in this 'ensemble' ...

Interesting - I thought these were in Academe's fuzzy zone, but agree that they should be in a category of their own.

 

[Parker]

Previously I'd call that a "sport shirt", but "country shirt" makes perfect sense to me now.

 

[academe]



Previously I'd call that a "sport shirt", but "country shirt" makes perfect sense to me now.

Though I suppose "sport," in the traditional British sense, really meant country pursuits (horse riding, shooting, deer stalking, fishing, etc.) then the terms are probably almost synonymous.

 

[RSS]



Though I suppose "sport," in the traditional British sense, really meant country pursuits (horse riding, shooting, deer stalking, fishing, etc.) then the terms are probably almost synonymous.

I think you are right: dress shirt = town shirt and sport shirt = country shirt. But I'm recalling the days when I first began to use British shirtmakers (New & Lingwood back in Sean O'Flynn's early days and then Bowring Arundel & Co. before Whittaker went off to Dege), the terms town shirt and country shirt were what I most often heard.

But the shirts I'm referencing -- be they town or country -- can easily be paired with a coat. There are, however, some shirts out there -- more than a few even made by Jermyn Street makers -- that I can't see being worn (not easily or well) with a coat. What do we call those shirts?