Undershirts
Polo Shirts
Dress Shirts

UNDERSHIRTS

With only a few exceptions, you should always wear a white undershirt because it

1. Catches perspiration.

   When you sweat (and you will), the undershirt will catch the moisture. Thus, your nice dress shirt won't get soiled and you'll smell better.

2. Hides your skin.

   For one thing, your nipples won't show through your shirt--having your nipples showing is never attractive. Also, if you have a darker complexion or a ruddy complexion, your skin will show through white shirts and it won't be white any more.

3. Hides body hair.

   Only certain girls are into body hair (I took a poll). It's better not to risk it.

On occasion, you may not want to wear an undershirt. For example, if you're trying to go for that "latin" look of having your chest hair hang out of your shirt.

A few types of undershirts exist. This is a matter of personal preference, but I'll tell you my opinion anyway.

• Crew neck.

  The crew neck is cut like a regular T-shirt; it has an even, rounded neck. This is my choice because it covers my chest when I'm not wearing a tie (and hence, don't have my top button fastened). This could also be a disadvantage since there's always a strip of white cotton between my shirt and my face.

• V-neck.

  The V-neck shows the chest when you don't wear a tie.

• Athletic cut.

  I don't like the athletic cut because when you take your jacket off, everyone sees the outline of the shirt. Also it doesn't catch sweat under your armpits. It reminds me of the word, "wife-beater."

Crew Neck	V-Neck	Athletic Cut
Brooks Brothers

T-shirts with writing or graphics are not acceptable for use as undershirts. There's nothing worse than seeing "Budweiser" or some such nonsense showing through a man's dress shirt. Go to the department store and buy some white undershirts...they're cheap.

POLO SHIRTS

I usually reserve Polo Shirts or Golf Shirts for sporting events, as the names imply. It's a classy way to wear short sleeves.

Some would wear a polo shirt under a jacket--this look I cannot advocate. To me, it defeats the purpose of wearing the jacket, that is, to elevate the ensemble to a more formal level. Additionally, since a polo shirt has short sleeves, your skinny wrists and arm hair peek out from under your jacket. There are plenty of casual dress shirts (in summer colors) that would do just fine.

DRESS SHIRTS

Much can be said regarding dress shirts. In this section, I will present only the essentials--the reasons to wear a dress shirt and how to buy one. For information on colors, fabric styles, etc. see the Style section.

1. Fit.
2. Styles.
3. Caring for shirts.
4. Pressing.

For some reason, many men despise dress shirts. They complain about the tightness of the collar or its long sleeves being too hot. The truth is, wearing a collared shirt immediately elevates your image and if you buy a shirt that fits and don't run a marathon in it, you should be comfortable. So many beautiful colors and styles exist you are sure to find some combination that intrigues you.

FIT

Buying a dress shirt is easy--you need only pick out one you like and find the appropriate size (but then again, a woman could say the same about buying a pair of jeans...). Two measurements are needed: neck size and sleeve length, both in inches (if you reside in the US). When looking at a shirt, the tag inside the collar will tell you neck size first, then sleeve length. For example, I am a 14.5-32. Ask a clerk to measure you.

A few notes:

• A sleeve length such as "32/33" means that the sleeve is really 33" long but it has two cuff buttons--one, for 32" and one for 33". The man with a 32" sleeve would make the cuff smaller so the cuff would not gobble his hand.
• You want the collar of the shirt to lay flat on your chest when you're wearing the shirt with the top button fastened. If the collar "floats" above your chest, the shirt doesn't fit right. Floating collars tend to be a problem for those who work out a lot.
• The sleeve should be long enough that the cuff stays over your wrist no matter how much your elbow is bent--you don't want your sleeve riding up just because you bent your arm.

STYLES

There are numerous styles of dress shirts. The main variables are fabric, collar style, and cuff style. See the part on Style for information about fabric choice. As far as collars are concerned, its really a matter of personal preference. However, certain styles are more or less modern than others. Also, the type of knot you should tie changes depending on the collar (see Knots). Please note that these collar styles have different names depending on the retailer. The list includes some alternate names.

			The Buttondown. This is a casual yet classic look. I don't like to wear buttondowns with ties, but that's just personal.
			The Straight. Another classic. Also called "Point."
			The Tab. The Tab, or "English Tab," is old skool. It has a fastener meant to pull the points of the collar together under the tie. Never wear this kind of collar without a tie! Some might consider this "old fashion."
			The Curved. Also called the "Varsity," this is a curved collar with a slight spread. I've seen Edwardian-era British wear these in films.
			The Spread. This can be a formal looking collar. Wear a half- or full-windsor knot with these collars. Alternate names include "Windsor," "English," and "Ainsley." Note that these different names probably mean that the spread widths vary.

The choices for cuff styles are much simpler than for collar style. You have basically two options: button (or barrel) and french.

Barrel		French
Lands' End

The french cuff is usually considered more formal. It requires cufflinks (see the Jewelry section).

Try to buy only 100% cotton shirts--avoid polyester or nylon blends. These will not last as long and they look cheap after a few washes. Remember, you get what you pay for and it's better to have one nice shirt than two cheap ones. Additionally, the cotton shirts will be cooler in Summer.

Don't wear short sleeve dress shirts--you'll look like a NASA engineer from the 60's (remember Apollo 13).

Again, eBay is your friend here. Dress shirts are almost identically sized so finding a shirt that fits should be easy. Check out www.paulfredrick.com. They have good shirts that retail for $55--65 but check out the clearance section--which is always large--for shirts at $25.

CARING FOR SHIRTS

So, you have some nice shirts, now how do you care for them? Well, there are many tips and tricks to caring for shirts. I'll try to cover as many as possible.

Firstly, the subject of cleaning. It is generally advisable to have your shirts dry cleaned. Now, the astute may protest, "Dry cleaning ruins your clothes!" While this is true, it is probably the only way for someone who doesn't have hours for ironing to wear well-pressed shirts. It can be very difficult without professional starch to really press a shirt--for example, getting the placket (that's the strip of fabric over your buttons [on the left-hand side of your shirt]). to lay flat without rolling wrinkles. See Appendix A to find out how to choose a dry cleaning establishment.

When you get your shirts cleaned, have them starched. Starching comes in three strengths: light, medium, and heavy. The choice is a matter of personal preference; I go with heavy. The heavier the starch, the stiffer the shirt will be, and therefore, the better it will hold its shape. However, some people find stiff shirts to be uncomfortable.

You can generally wear a shirt a few times before having to clean it, unless you get it unusually dirty. Almost without exception, the dirtiest thing on a shirt is the collar. So, clean the shirt when the collar becomes a little dingy.

PRESSING

Since you won't be taking your shirts to the cleaners every time you want to have it pressed, you'll be pressing them yourself. Now, I will attempt to describe a method for ironing shirts. Some of you may laugh, "Doesn't everybody know how to iron a shirt?" Well, the answer is no, many people have very little idea how to iron shirts.

Be careful when pressing new shirts. Many times they have coatings that can burn easily. Wash your shirts first before pressing.

First, you must have an ironing board, an iron (filled with water), and some spray starch (although you can probably survive without the starch). We will begin by orienting the ironing board. If you are right handed, as I am, place the tapered end on your left; vice versa if you are a southpaw. This will allow you to easily manuever the iron and use the tapered end.

I begin ironing a shirt by pressing the collar: lay it out over the tapered end and press with steam (set it to the cotton setting on the iron, usually the second highest). If it needs starch, apply starch.

Here it is needed to say a few words about applying starch. First spray the can away from the shirt to remove any big globs from the nozzle. Then, spray the fabric evenly with a light coat. Wait about one minute so the starch can soak in. Iron the starch out, but don't use any of the steam settings--there's no reason to use steam and starch at the same time.

Alright, now that you have pressed the collar, press the back. Slip the shirt over the tapered end, collar first. You won't be able to press the whole back without rotating the shirt--that's fine. Same rule here as with the collar: first press with the steam, then, if desired, apply starch. This will be the case for all parts of the shirt.

Continue by pressing the sleeves and the cuffs. Lay each sleeve out along the ironing board, length wise being careful not to wrinkle the collar and back. Press the sleeve then press the cuff by slipping the iron inside the sleeve and "rolling" the iron around the cuff, so as to preserve the curvature. Some men like a crease in the top of their sleeves; if you want one that's fine, simply align the sleeve so the seam on the underside of the arm is flat along the board and press in a crease.

Finally, press each of the front panels. Slip the tapered end of the board into one of the arm holes, just enough to flatten out the front. You'll probably have to move the shirt around a little to press the entire front.

Always press your shirts in this order because if, for example, you were to press the front first, the front would be wrinkled again when you pressed the sleeves. As it is, only the back gets a little re-wrinkled--that's ok because the minute you sit in a car or a chair, the back is wrinkled. Also, people don't mind a wrinkled back as much as a wrinkled front.