Top 4 Dress Shirts To Own

This is a crazy idea, but I'll play along if I get to have 5 shirts, one for each day of the week

2 white ocbd's
2 light blue dress shirts with a normal collar
1 pink ocbd

I'm a teacher so I can get away with 3 ocbd's in a week, maybe not everyone can (or would want to).

PS, amazing ratio of posters in this thread with low-post-counts, myself included

1. White
2. Light Blue
3. Pink
4. Blue butcher stripe
5. Red of Blue Gingham
5.1. Pale yellow

couldnt decide between gingham and a pale yellow. thank god I dont have to choose in real life.

Originally Posted by in stitches

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white
white
white
white

I love pink shirts. I am a pink shirt guy. But in stitches is 100% correct IMHO. The first four shirts you buy should be standard white shirts in your chosen style. The white is the backbone whether you want it to be so or not. (And I say this as someone who wishes it were not so.)

For many years I had a small wardrobe, and I had only one or two white shirts at a time. And of course I found myself wearing them more often than less versatile shirts that I liked better, which meant they got yucky and dull and wore out faster.

If at all possible, shirts should really be purchased in groups of seven: four whites, two blues, one pink.

Gingham? Who am I, Mary Anne from Gilligan's Island? The Kappa Delta rush chair? Should I put my hair in pigtails as well? Gingham, hah. Excuse me while I die laughing.

Originally Posted by Mr Pelican Pants

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Gingham? Who am I, Mary Anne from Gilligan's Island? The Kappa Delta rush chair? Should I put my hair in pigtails as well? Gingham, hah. Excuse me while I die laughing.

.....

Originally Posted by JGloger

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Don't mind him. He's full of crap.

1. White
2. Pale Blue
3. Lavender
4. Ivory (not cream)
5. Purple & White stripe - bengal or butcher


All these shirts IMO are to be worn with navy or (very dark|) charcoal

Originally Posted by idfnl

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There are only 2.

White
Light blue

Once you have that, anything goes.

I would agree. If you have enough white and light blues to bust out on conservative occasions or for everyday wear if desired, the rest can just be whatever strikes your fancy.

Though for me:

White pinpoint
Blue pinpoint
White/Blue university/bengal/butcher stripe
Tan oxford

1. White (solid) w/ French cuffs
2. Light blue (solid) w/ French cuffs
3. Medium blue (solid) w/ Barrel cuffs
4. Light blue w/ white stripes w/ French cuffs

My rational for #3 is that it's a versatile colour, and the shirt itself can be more casual than the others.

White.
Off-white.
Light Blue.
Pink.

Standard dress shirt collar, not OCBD to start.

I'm going to disagree with the great majority and say that I have very little need for a solid blue dress shirts. Blue suggests slightly more casual and for that I like a pattern, otherwise i chose white. My sportshirts on the other hand I feel almost the complete opposite where I find a white shirt to be the one I wear least and always opt for blue. It also happens that I find that blue works best with the majority of my sportcoats.

So with that said.

White barrel cuff - solid
White French cuff - solid
Blue Bengal stripe
Light blue with white pinstripe.

I don't know why Askmen indicates a brand, I think that's ridiculous.

I don't think quantity should be a concern, for some who require a suit more often I would assume you would multiply the quantity but with weighted preferences. The white barrel covers the extremely conservative like job interviews and speaking arrangements. The white barrel covers daytime weddings and everything else is just business as usual but works for a great many of combinations.

Originally Posted by SkinnyGoomba

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I'm going to disagree with the great majority and say that I have very little need for a solid blue dress shirts. Blue suggests slightly more casual and for that I like a pattern, otherwise i chose white. My sportshirts on the other hand I feel almost the complete opposite where I find a white shirt to be the one I wear least and always opt for blue. It also happens that I find that blue works best with the majority of my sportcoats.

So with that said.

White barrel cuff - solid
White French cuff - solid
Blue Bengal stripe
Light blue with white pinstripe.

I don't know why Askmen indicates a brand, I think that's ridiculous.

I don't think quantity should be a concern, for some who require a suit more often I would assume you would multiply the quantity but with weighted preferences. The white barrel covers the extremely conservative like job interviews and speaking arrangements. The white barrel covers daytime weddings and everything else is just business as usual but works for a great many of combinations.

Blue is a little more casual yes, but it's much more the default than white is these days, at least in the US. They're considered respectable enough to be seen in almost any setting, but they still maintain that little bit of personality that white, to many people, lacks.

As for collar, the button down is perfectly appropriate for business in the good old USofA, and it works better sans tie and/or under a sweater. A pinpoint oxford can work in almost any business dress code in the US today- from a casual office on up to a suits only senior management position. They're the ultimate anonymous shirts, which is why they're the best choice for a list of first shirts to get.

With cuffs, sticking to barrel for the initial couple is probably wise.

As for why askmen indicates a brand, I suspect advertising money may be involved.

White
Light Blue
White w/ pinstripes
White w/ Light blue checks

If you're only going to have four dress shirts, none of them should be black-and-white check, lavender, or dark blue. You need at least one white shirt, without exception. The others should be light blue. At least one should be solid; the other two can be striped or checked. Many of the suggestions in this thread err far too much on the side of whatever the Sartorialist is posting.

I'm with skinny on this one.