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The quest for the perfect work shirt

September 6th, 2010 Posted in gadgets, review, tips

In February of this year I changed jobs within the organization I work, and I had already at the beginning of the year decided to use this job switch as my vehicle to start dressing more formal at work, to try at expel a higher degree of professionalism by upping the ante on the attire I wear – after all, there have been studies done that conclude that only 8% of how you are perceived is about what you say (It seems low, but it is why hustlers can hustle you and why people like Sarah Palin can be get voted into office). The rest you say? well it is looks, attire, hygiene, whether you are expressing facial queues like smiling etc.

Even though Ralph Waldo Emerson said “There are other measures of self-respect for a man, than the number of clean shirts he puts on every day”, I wanted to try to up my non-verbal “look”, so I decided I needed the best dress shirt out there. However, after looking at the prices for Eton or Stenström shirts, I decided I had to look further, as I cannot afford myself to spend  +1.000 DKK per shirt (unless I wish to have very very few shirts to switch between and wash all the time).

SO, the quest began to find the best work shirt (…that money can buy). And actually, when I began searching around for what could be the best shirt, I actually discovered that some shirts were as good quality as Eton and the likes (the one I’m referring to is shirts from sumisura.com). My shirts ended on me going to try out a bunch or different shirts from brands that I have either been recommended or have gotten good reviews online.

Personality shines in the details

Before I go through the contestants, I would like to go through all the options I think one shoulder consider when picking the right look. Do you like single or double/french cuffs? If single cuff, do you like one, two or three buttons? Do you go with built-in collar stiffeners removable ones or none at all? A flat or placket front? Cutaway, English cutaway, Italian, button-down, business, classic or the Mao collar? Should it be slim fit or regular fit? Now a lot of what one might choose has to do with personal taste. Personally I like the following:

• First of all, and this is most important probably, never ever buy shirts where sizes are given in medium, large or whatever – they never fit anyone like they are supposed to and you look like crap (trust me, you do!). So always, go for shirts whose sizes are mentioned by the neck size (I use 41cm/15½ (actually 41cn equates to 15 and 3/4, but it is rarely available in countries measuring shirts by inches, but often if you buy shirt sizes in centimeter)
• I definitely prefer a flat front over placket front. it looks more elegant and a lot cleaner. I prefer to frame my shirts with a tie if needed, and placket front is unnecessary I think.
• Double/french cuffs also gives a more classy sophisticated look than single cuffs. And since not a lot of people wear double/french cuffs (at least at work – in the circles I come). Another cool thing with double cuffs is that you can accessorize with cool cuff-links, and let’s face it, it’s hard to accessories for men. Truth be told, other than the cuffs we men only really have the watch (I usually wear an IWC 3717) and tie to show our personality.
• If I go with single cuffs, I prefer the one button option over the two, three button option. Also I would never actively go for a barrel cuff (single cuffs but without being able to wear cuff links with the shirt). Many people find single cuff shirts to be more formal than even double cuff shirts, but I don’t. Double cuffs oozes of good taste in my opinion.
• Collar wise I either go with English Cutaway collar for a formal work related shirts (or any shirts I wear a tie to) and button down for more leisurely look
• For collar stiffeners I prefer shirts with removable collar stiffeners, and preferably I would like those to be thick brass ones. I have some, actually pretty nice, blackline Eterna shirts with built-in collar stiffeners and because I, more often than not, wash my shirts (as opposed to dry clean), the built-in collar stiffeners are now bent which is a shame.
• On your back, do you want no folds, side folds, center folds (no, not that kind…) or back darts? Now these serve no other purpose than that of looks. Personally I think it looks best with  either side folds or no folds. Back darts actualy does give the shirt a slightly slimmer fit, but beware that if the fabric you choose is very thin, then the back darts might be visible and ruin a clean shirt look. So always choose good fabrics
• I mentioned shirt fit, and there is usually regular fit or slim fit. Many people seem hesitant to choose slim fit shirts because they don’t have a six pack or are slightly overweight – and let me be the first to tell you, don’t be hesitant. A slim fit shirt simply looks irregardless of your body type. Slim fit does NOT mean the shirt will be super tight, it just means the shirt will fit a bit closer under the arms and will not be as wide. If you start wearing slim fit shirts, you will end up thinking you are swimming around in regular fit shirts. So get your slim fit shirt on!
• The last thing I will mention is shirt pattern and threading of the fabric. While there are many other small details on a shirt (just go and design a shirt at tailorstore.com), the last ones I care about are those. The threading on the shirt can add a lot to the shirt. Whether it’s Poplin, Oxford Twill, Fishbone or any of the many other threading types, it’s something the shirt chooser must be aware of, because the looks can really change the shirt.
• Whether you then choose a checkered, striped or plain old solid colored shirt depends on your usage. Generally, solids is always the right choice, whether is it casual or formal – basically, when in doubt, go solids. Striped shirts, apart from being slimming is a good business shirt as it gives you a more serious look (especially if the striped and narrow), whereas checkered shirts always gives a more causal than formal look.
• Ties, if you choose to use one, can go with all shirts. They should be color-matched with the rest of the outfit (search online for which colors go with what colors – or ask your graphic designer friend), and some general rules are: most ties will go with solid colored shirts, fir striped shirts go solid ties or crooked stripes ties. For checkered shirts, a checkered tie looks cool, but remember the checkered pattern on the tie must be smaller than that on the shirt.

So picking a shirt is not easy is it? You really have to think about what you ant to portray with your look and there’s a lot of choices to consider. Anyway, moving on…

The contestants

Let’s go through a review of them. First the rack shirts…

Sumisura.com ( ~250 DKK per shirt if you buy 6 at a time, otherwise the prices is ~4-500 DKK/shirt) I have actually bought socks from the company for years (10socks.com merged with them or was bought by them or something like that), and noticed they were selling good looking shirts with a stated objective of high quality. Right when I was contemplating givign them ago, they were mentioned on TV easily being of equal quality compared to Eton/Stenström, so when they doubled down and threw a sale at me I couldn’t resist and ordered a shirt from their Exclusive line of shirts in size 40.

The price is usually around  4-500 DKK a piece, so it’s not cheap, but you can usually get 6 shirts (5 classic single cuff shirts and 1 Exclusive) for 250 DKK/shirt which isn’t too bad. Use the coupon “perzonen” to get an additional 10% off. The fit is amazing – on my body almost (if not fully) as good as tailor made shirt. The fabric (all of them are Egyptian cotton) is very nice, easy to iron (even though it is not “Easy Care” treated – very nice!), all their shirts have flat fronts, and this was one came with double cuffs (most their Exclusive Line are double cuffs). They even threw in a couple of silk knot cuff links in the same color as the shirt. An amazing shirt and already one of my favorites overall.

TM Lewin (20-25 British Pounds per shirt) Next up is TM Lewin, a Sawille Row tailor that was recommended by my old boss. Apparently he swears to TM Lewin shirts. The website says shirts are (~£60), but you’d have to be a real sucker to buy at that price. They seem to have a running offer of 4-5 shirts for a 100 (as does Charles Tyrwhitt – see below).

Anyway, I was really lucky when I was going to buy one, not only could I get one of their luxury Twill shirts with double cuffs for just but I also got shipping for free. And since you can return the shirt for any reason for 3 months, I couldn’t refuse it. Unfortunately when I had Julie measure my arms she measured wrong and I ended up getting sent a shirt with VERY short sleeves, so I had to send it back. On a positive note, I did get to try their “no quibble” guarantee and it went flawlessly

Charles Tyrwhitt (~20-25 British Pounds per shirt) Similarly to the TM Lewin shirts (also says regular price is £60, but again, only suckers buy at that price), I also tested the Charles Tyrwhitt shirts, which are very similar to the TM Lewin shirts, in quality (same no quibble guarantee), size and fit. they do use removable brass collar stiffeners and their single-cuff shirts don’t allow for the use of cufflinks (sigh…). The double cuff shirts are fine though.

Still, no real difference to the TM Lewin shirts I my opinion. Charles Tyrwhitt, does, hoewever, have a larger selection of clothes and other accessories, coats, shoes etc..

Lee Baron (~40 Hong Kong dollars per shirt) Lee Baron is an old company. It’s based on Hong Kong, but mostly they travel the world and you come to their temporary offices for measurements and samples and 4-8 weeks later you get your stuff. You can buy shirts, suits, coats and ties. While they have a reputation (from older times I suppose) of supplying polyester shirts, they don’t dabble in that anymore. It’s all Italian or Egyptian cotton their shirts are made of.

For me they came recommended by my dad, who has sworn to them since the 80s when he was spending a lot of time in Asia with work. Lee Baron visited Denmark and I used the chance to pick out two shirts to test out their quality and fit. Time to delivery was a bit long as air traffic in Europe was hit by the infamous Icelandic Ash Cloud of 2010, but the quality is great and fit really nice. Their collars and cuffs are very stiff, which makes them look very nice and makes them easy to iron.

Tailorstore.com (~500+ DKK per shirt) This was a big gamble. Tailorstore.com is a Swedish company that sells tailor made shirts (as with most tailors, they get their shirts made in Thailand) and I had only read about them on trustpilot.com (well trustpilot.dk as the .com version did have any reviews), where they got decent reviews with the biggest issue people have with them are that prices vary on the same shirt depending whether you shop on the .com, .se or .dk site, which doesn’t mean anything to me as differences are like -4 DKK.

I enlisted Julie to measure me (there’s quite the extensive guide on how to measure yourself) and this is the big drawback of online tailor made shirts I think. Where Lee Baron have actual tailors travelling the world and making sure measurements are done correct, with tailorstore.com and others you don’t really know how the product you are sent will end up and if the first shirt is bad you are likely to ditch the tailor. LUCKILY for me, Julie measured me perfectly and the first is probably my best fitting shirt. Unfortunately I chose the cheapest shirt they had (a white regular cotton one), so the fabric is the greatest, but the fit is phenomenal. I have read other places online that you might end up having to order 2 or 3 shirts before you end up with the perfect fit for you. One thing is the drawback of measuring, but to me this is EASILY made up for by the sheer number of fabrics and design options. If you have an opinion of how a shirt should be and not be (and, well, I do!!) , this is a dream. You can customize ALL options. Price wise it is more expensive if you choose comparable fabrics to the rack shirts, but the fit is way better.

I should also note that it’s the only company that has an accessory (for an additional ) called a “tie fix” that I haven’t seen anywhere else. I basically way small piece of fabric in the same color as your shirt that allows you to function regular tie-clasp except it is fastened on the fact and because it is in the same color as the shirt, you never see it. Beautiful and almost a reason to buy shirts from this place in itself. Why no one else does this baffles me.

The best shirt?!

So which shirt won? What will my closet be populated with? Well, all the shirts above. It amounted to 7 shirts in total, so now I am actually not looking to expand my wardrobe anytime soon, but when I have to, I do not think TM Lewin or Charles Tyrwhitt will be the choice, as sumisura.com shirts are much much nicer on my eyes, both design wise, fabric wise and fit wise. Price wise, if 6shirts are bought at a time, sumisura.com shirts are also competitive price wise.

The real question is really whether sumisura.com shirts are as good as the tailormade ones from Lee Baron or tailorstore.com, and generally I think they are  (at least for my body type which is a perfect size 40). Sure you can’t customize them or add a monogram, but luckily their choices of flat front, side folds on the back, English Cutaway collars, use of Egyptian cotton etc. are exactly as I want my shirts. Sharp, smart and clean! But I actually think it will end up coming up to chance what I go for as they are all good shirts.

I need a new suit, however, and will not, as I have usually done, buy cheap suit this time, the fabric tears on my bum too quickly, so I end up with some jackets without trousers. Lee Baron have a running offer to  make 2 tailormade suits including 2 extra pants, 3 shirts and 3 ties for 7450 DKK, so I will probably take advantage of that.

But the bottom line is that if you are in doubt about what to get, but want to ensure you look sharp, I would recommend sumisura.com shirts (get the week pack with 6 shirts). If you want cheap work shirts,  Lee Baron is the way to go, and if you want to design your look down to nitty gritty details (like I do) and have enough money (which I don’t), tailorstore.com is the way to go.

Happy work shirt hunting!

Finishing it all off

To finish the look, I needed some cool cuff-links and I bought a bunch of different ones to complement my new shirts wardrobe of double-cuff shirts.

And of course, I also bought a handkerchief for the suit jacket pocket and finally, to create a truly sophisticated look I also invested in a “gentleman’s briefcase” from HiDesign in tan leather.

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