Just wondering where people go to get their dress shirts nowadays, without spending like $100-200 for a decent shirt. Or is that just the norm and something I have to accept?
Decent Dress Shirts That Don't Cost an Arm and a Leg
DevlicK on 27/03/2024 - 09:23
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I've had terrible experience with BLAQ. I bought a bunch when the they were all on sale and ripped so easily at the seams when I was folding up the sleeves…. Literally only got like a couple wears out of them. Might just be a sizing problem but never had that problem with other similar sized shirts from other brands. Or maybe the shirts I got where just bad…
They range in quality. I use to exclusively only buy Rhodes & Beckett before they collapsed. Those were great shirts for the price….
At the R&B warehouse sales it was ~$30 a shirt of two-ply Egyptian cotton - the exceptional quality will probably last my lifetime and I can pass it onto my son.
I still have a hunch of my R&B shirts and they are still great nearly 10 years on. Okay they’re not pristine but still very usable
Agree with your MJ Bale recommendation too
I know this is OzBargain. HOWEVER If you are a bloke just for god sakes buy cotton shirts. Yes it is a bit pricey but is it worth it? Hell yes. Polyester smells. You will be wiffy it is a hot day. Your profile says Brisbane so trust me. It isn’t nice if you are in a meeting room.
Just look on ASOS etc when they have a sale and stock up.
Thanks - Will have a look at ASOS
That said cotton is a pain in the ass for wrinkles. Pure cotton ones just so much as breathe on them and they wrinkle. I've found some polyester or mixed materials with cotton make sucha big difference when ironing - doesn't feel like your ironing aluminium foil like some crispy cotton only clothes.
That said cotton is the best for breathability and cooking over syntheticsNon iron shirts are your friend!
I find the non iron ones the synthetics still are way easier than pure cotton shirts though.
That said I've read non iron uses chemicals so I'm abit torn between convenience and health/safety. Not sure how much of an issue the chemical part really is
keep an eye on the online guys - Charles Tyrwhitt, MJ Bale, Hawes and Curtis. They all do good quality and go on sale semi regularly. CT recently had a 3 shirts for $135 sale, although I think that has finished; but to give you an idea of the prices you can get. H&C has 4 shirts for $280 at the moment and a handful of shirts for $50 if you just want to try them out.
Other option is https://www.pickashirt.com/; get 'made to measure' for between $60 to $90 ish depending on the fabric. Well worth a look.
I had seen Charles Tyrwhitt deals around but always missed out on their deals. I also like to try the shirts on because I'm one of those guys that are in-between sizes (very annoying).
I do have a few MJ Bale shirts that I got on sale - Can confirm quality is great. Wouldn't want to pay full price for them though.
Will check out Hawes and Curtis - Never heard of them.
TM Lewin is another good option. Its slightly more expensive when not on sale (over $100 per shirt) but there is an outlet for around $70 per shirt and the occasional sale
I get them from CT and then tailored if required.
Or order one each of the three fits and return the duds. They also have multiple sleeve lengths in every size so are pretty granular.
Yup I like it more fitted than their own sizes so I get the one that is just a bit more lose than I would like and I get tailor to perfect it with additional darts or adjustments at the back, doesn't cost that much more and it lasts me a long time so is worth it for me personally.
That's a good idea. Will look into it
So online clothing retailers' prices must take this into account!
Once you find the fit type and sleeve length you like they're pretty standard across so you can just order the designs you liked. I find most variability comes from the actual material. Some shirts just feel and fit better for the type of design than others for some reason. Some are soft and flowy and some crisp and easy to wrinkle and not as good.
Target… Lowes…. plenty of places.
Depends on what you want it for… occasional wear, or daily
I'm shocked nobody has recommended the Uniqlo super non-iron shirts. at $60, you cant go wrong.
Uniqlo sizes are tiny though, their XL is more like a M in a lot of other places
I find Uniqlo shirts despite being non iron are super wrinkle prone. You just feel it with some shirts. It's that paper like feel shirts that are super picky to iron.
Is a 'dress shirt' a work shirt, or like a going out shirt?
Dress shirt for work
Ok. I still like CT, even at ~$50 a shirt rather than the old $30, they are much better value than VH poly/cotton shirts, etc. Once you work out your size, pretty easy to order online when needed.
What type of work, and level? E.g. general office/consultant, junior staff/senior manager?
Do other staff wear a suit to work or not? Tie?
Do senior managers wear French Cuff shirts?
Fair call cause in today’s world, it could also mean a dress or shirt depending how you feel when you wake up
I went to David Jones & Myer this weekend to get some more business shirts, I generally get Calvin Klein, MJ Bale, Charles Tyrwhitt type stuff. Couldn't believe how expensive it has gotten now. All of these types of shirts seem to be quite thin material and routinely rip at the elbow after a year or so of use. I went to Uniqlo instead and got 3x business shirts and a pair of pants for $220. The quality seems really good and it was way cheaper than DJ's / Myer.
Couldn't believe how expensive it has gotten now.
Albo's Attire
Go for Van Heusen. they have some decent shirts always on sale (currently 3 for $99). You can get 4 for $100 and it will last you couple of years.
Definitely can recommend van heusen for quality while also being excellent value if you're willing to buy 3 or 4 at a time.
i like the rodd and gun ones but they are like $100 even on discount.
i got one as a gift but idk man its too nice for me to wear to work HAHA (am i poor?)
Uniqlo my man
Got a whole bunch of dress/work shirts from ALDI and they are amazing, but haven't seen any in there for a while. Hope they are back soon.
Quality and materials were amazing and the price was around $20 IIRC.
Do they look like the shirts staff wear? Want to make sure you got the right ones
They were actually quite amazing, proper business shirts. I used to buy brand names in the past and these were sometimes better. Nice easy iron cotton weave and good designs.
Uniqlo
Hard to believe, but our large saver's op shops have fantastic shirts, some even new, at great prices.
You can luck in at TKMaxx occasionally.
My last bunch of work/dress shirts were from there & it's great as you can try them on actual vs guess work of how it will look with stores thay have shirts bagged. Now my go to when I need top ups
Myer/DJs often have 'discount' racks you can peruse that I've found some not bad ones. I use '' as the discount is relative to brands on display
Most stores having Easter Sales on currently so have a squizz. Yet as always be mindful that some stores invite Jack before 'holiday' sales so don't always believe the price tag
Good ol' Jack.
Great tip on TKMaxx - Will see if I can find time to check it out.
Looks like TM Lewin is shipping internationally again - prices aren't as cheap as when they where here locally but like CT probably still worth it if you can find some ~$50 https://tmlewin.co.uk/
I find some BLAQ shirts are decent when on sale for 50% off at Myer. Otherwise, I always like some of the MJ Bale stuff