Quality white dress shirt that wears well?

[Atterbury Dodd]

Hey All!

I need to find a quality white dress shirt that isn't a see-through piece of junk that will wear out quickly. Would prefer 100% cotton, and a little thicker than most of the stuff out there. It doesn't have to be supper heavy, it will be a all year round shirt, so it will be worn in the summer. I just don't like these super flimsy white shirts that you can see through without a T shirt. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[GHT]

You don't say where you are, The South is a bit vague. I'm UK based and these two links are companies that I have purchased from here in the UK. Both are good quality. The first is called Some Like It Holy: https://www.somelikeitholy.com/spearpoint-shirts-french-cuff-c-1_55.html Amongst their shirts are three white with subtle weaves. Close up you might see a herringbone pattern or a diamond weave, but there's also a plain, beautifully crisp poplin white, all three are around the £65 mark.

The second is Darcy Clothing are a little more expensive between £75 & £95. https://www.darcyclothing.com/shop/shirts/ The link will take you to their entire shirt range. Look for the budget poplin white at £48. Both companies make shirts that will wash and wear for years, and always look immaculate.

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

GHT, those look great, and look to be exactly what I have in mind. However, I bet with Monday being memorial day here in the US, there's no way I could get one here by Thursday of next week, which is when I'd have to have it here.

 

[Mathematicus]

Since you have so little time the only viable option would be to look into Brooks Brothers and pick up one of their higher range shirts. Not inexpensive but of reasonable quality.

Had you had more time available, I would have suggested to try a local shirtmaker. They usually have a wide range of options and cloth will be generically better than most RTW offerings.

If you feel comfortable ordering online, you could also have a look at Tailorstore. They have some nice thicker fabrics; I have two shirts made from them using their cloth "Mestanza" in white twill. Superb fabric, thick and wears well. Only drawback is their collar construction: a bit filmsy for my taste.

About Darcy clothing: I tried one of their white shirts but I was far from impressed by the material. Very thin and wrinkles easily. Nice construction however.

 

[GHT]

About Darcy clothing: I tried one of their white shirts but I was far from impressed by the material. Very thin and wrinkles easily. Nice construction however.

When did you buy the shirt? Mine are from a time before Catherine Darcy, the company founder, used her famous surname to rebrand her popular shirts. Mine have the label: The Vintage Shirt Company.

Maybe their popularity has caused Catherine to take her eye off the ball. There was a time when men & women's underwear nearly all had an M&S label. Then a cheaper cotton was sourced, but the price remained and sales plummeted. Thanks for the heads up, not that I need worry much about where I buy shirts these days. My missus makes them for me, and they are second to none.

 

[Mathematicus]

When did you buy the shirt? Mine are from a time before Catherine Darcy, the company founder, used her famous surname to rebrand her popular shirts. Mine have the label: The Vintage Shirt Company.

I've bought it early this year, together with a detachable wing collar in the washable variety. The collar is very nice and has an unique shape that modern wing collars don't have, but the shirt was not great in my opinion. I needed it for my wedding and I ended up returning it and acquiring a tunic shirt from TM Lewin.

It is entirely possible that, as you say, quality is not as good as before. In my experience this is very common: newer lines will have cheaper materials but same price. For example, I own a very nice Brook Taverner shirt, bought as new-old-stock years ago. A few months later I tried to acquire the same model of shirt from the new stock and when it arrived the fabric felt like a cheap polyester blend.
I was very disappointed when, letting the customer service know about the discrepancy, I was basically told that I was crazy and the quality was the same as before.