M seeking shirts; inquire within.

July 31, 2009 3:41 PM

I'm a male looking for a button-down shirt available in different, solid colors that's wrinkle-free (no ironing) and has no shirt pocket. I need a modern/athletic fit. Looking for both long-sleeve and short-sleeve. (A good example is this, but it's not wrinkle-free.)
posted by reductiondesign to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (13 answers total)

Men's Wearhouse has an extensive collection of excellent no-iron shirts in different styles.
posted by donovan at 3:48 PM on July 31, 2009

The best goddamn wrinkle-free modern fit button-up shirts I've ever owned are from g2000. They fit your bill perfectly, down to the option of having no shirt pockets. But they're only in Asia. So ... if you know anybody visiting Hong Kong, have them pick up some shirts for you.
posted by jabberjaw at 4:26 PM on July 31, 2009

My experience with this sort of shirt is that there is a massive difference between 'wrinkle-free' and 'no-iron', and even within a category, there is a lot of variation. 'Wrinkle-free' is usually the better option.

I haven't seen a pocketless version, but the Van Heusen fitted wrinkle-free shirts (especially the broadcloth and pique versions) defy wrinkles better than any shirts I've ever owned. And that includes Thomas Pink, Brooks Brothers, and Nautica wrinkle-free shirts. They're absolutely great, and it looks like they would tick almost all your boxes.
posted by yellowcandy at 4:32 PM on July 31, 2009

Best answer: You don't say anything about your price range, but if you know what you want, and price isn't a big deal, then you can order custom made dress shirts. This place has great info and a style guide and custom shirts starting at $99. Sorry, I don't know how wrinkle free they are, but then I get about two wears, sometimes three out of a dress shirt before I have it pressed (I wash them myself.)

I get by with Brooks Brothers non-iron and they do have a slim fit. I think they mostly come with pockets though. (You should check their custom tailored options.)

If you come across some shirts that you do like, but find the fit too blousy, you can always have them re-cut to your exact measurements. (The site I link too has awful HTML, but good videos.) Sometimes this is actually quite a bit cheaper than buying a custom made shirt.

By the way, most men's shirts are cut far, far too large with the sleeves and neck being the only indicator of size they get right. I think it's because so many American business types are gigantic fat asses. I'm in no way thin, but I'm comfortable with my beer belly and recognize the perils of trying to cover it in a shirt that could pass for a pup-tent.
posted by wfrgms at 4:44 PM on July 31, 2009

Best answer: The shirt pocket shouldn't make any difference. Shirt pockets are easily removed with a $2 seam ripper. You don't need to be careful about it. Just start removing seams on the pocket until it falls off. The holes are slightly visible only when less than one foot away, and a wash will make them disappear.
posted by meowzilla at 4:51 PM on July 31, 2009

Response by poster: I guess it's worth mentioning that I'm looking for bolder colors than most dress shirts come in—vivid reds, blues, and oranges.
posted by reductiondesign at 5:11 PM on July 31, 2009

For whatever it's worth, you might want to consider having your shirts laundered if you can't find brightly coloured ones that are wrinkle-free/no iron. Your profile lists you as living in Atlanta, so I'm sure you probably have a decent amount of drycleaners available to you. I can generally get Mr. dancinglamb's shirts done for about $1US. WAY worth it to me to pay that instead of ironing them myself.
posted by dancinglamb at 5:49 PM on July 31, 2009

Banana Republic just started carrying women's no-iron shirts, and I'm pretty sure they started men's at the same time. They often have a few bright colors in their line.

I can't vouch for the men's product, but I'm pretty happy with the women's no-iron I picked up there recently. (Also can't vouch for longevity, sorry).
posted by nat at 9:14 PM on July 31, 2009

Best answer: http://www.shirtsmyway.com/ is another custom dress shirt company. This one is based in China and seems a bit more reasonable, price-wise, when compared to meowzilla's link.

I haven't tried them (though I want to) so I can't really vouch for them other than that they were featured on TechCrunch. Of course, now your opinion of ShirtsMyWay has become either really increased or decreased depending on your view of Michael Arrington.

or, if you're not a super nerd like me, you have no idea what I was talking about in the second paragraph.
posted by carpyful at 12:38 AM on August 1, 2009

Mr. gudrun also likes solid color shirts in bolder colors than average (though he doesn't care so much about the fit and pocket). He has not found too many like that that are wrinkle free, so he gets the ones that need ironing and just has them laundered at the cleaners, like others have recommended. Our dry cleaner has a special on laundering shirts on Wednesdays, with a discount on shirts if you bring them then. Most dry cleaners do some kind of cheaper special at least one day a week.

He says JoS. A. Bank makes nice wrinkle free shirts like this in a variety of colors, though they are not quite what you are asking for, being mostly paler colors.
posted by gudrun at 1:08 AM on August 1, 2009

Best answer: "Button down" refers to a style of collar; it is not a generic term for "shirt that buttons in the front." A "button down shirt" refers only to a shirt with a button down collar.

Here's a rundown of different shirt collar types.

A button down collar is more casual than a point collar. So don't wear one to a coronation ceremony or something.

With that out of the way, http://www.bestcustomshirt.com/ is pretty great and affordable. I got tons of shirts made to my weird skinny body, designed just as I want, for peanuts. It really is great.

(J. Press and Brooks Brothers are the two classic places for men's shirts in the US, but I doubt they carry "wrinkle free" shirts and the fit is probably not athletic. American and British styles has always tended to be less form-fitting.)
posted by yesno at 5:09 AM on August 1, 2009

First I must insist that there is no way in hell you should be wearing a short sleeve dress shirt. Unless you are going to a Haloween party dressed as a nerd or a 1960's NASA engineer. Secondly You should be able to build any custom shirt you want at Land's End custom.
posted by Gungho at 5:37 AM on August 1, 2009

Gungho said it: no short-sleeved dress shirts. None. Ever. If people see you in one, they will be reminded of their Uncle Marv.
posted by runningwithscissors at 12:03 PM on August 1, 2009