Avoiding wrinkled shirts!

June 24, 2007 8:52 AM

ClothingFilter: When dressing casually, I often wear button-down shirts out, rather than tucked in. The problem is that the moment you sit down, the bottom third of the shirt becomes a wrinkled mess, and looks terrible. Assuming I'm not going to remain standing forever, is there a particular brand, type, or material of shirt that avoids this problem?
posted by lsemel to clothing, beauty, & fashion (16 comments total)

Eddie Bauer makes amazing wrinkle resistant shirts (and pants!).



I bought my husband several shirts for x-mas and he just loves them. He also wears his shirts out, rather than tucked in. The shirts look great after a full day of sitting in front of a computer at the office. Oh, and they even look good after sitting in the dryer for one or two days (which is great for those of us who tend to forget about the laundry in between loads). And if they sit too long in the dryer or in a basket of clean clothes, we just spray the shirt lightly with water and the wrinkles disappear.
posted by msmanners at 9:44 AM on June 24, 2007

Brooks Brothers sells this dress shirt that, in my experience, does not wrinkle at all.
posted by partner at 9:47 AM on June 24, 2007

If there is cotton in the shirt, it will wrinkle if you so much as look at it funny. There are a lot of synthetics that will never wrinkle under any circumstances, and these days they often don't look like they're synthetic. Or they might at least look kind of interesting in their own right (polyester faux suede?)

The other solution is to buy some shirts that are designed to not be tucked in - the bottom of them doesn't hang much below the waist. I don't see these all that often, but it would be an extremely simple alteration to make on an existing shirt.
posted by -harlequin- at 9:59 AM on June 24, 2007

is there a particular brand, type, or material of shirt that avoids this problem?

These sorts of materials are usually permanently winkle-free:
90% polyester, 10% nylon
70% polyester, 30% rayon
etc
posted by -harlequin- at 10:04 AM on June 24, 2007

Higher quality cotton wrinkles less than the cheap stuff, because the fibers that make up the threads are longer. This is why some brands of 100% cotton shirt are more wrinkle resistant than others.

If you can't afford pricey shirts, get something that's a cotton/polyester blend. Even a little bit of synthetic will help fight the wrinkle monster.
posted by happyturtle at 10:09 AM on June 24, 2007

Has no one ever heard of shirt stays (froogle)? They exist to eliminate this exact problem.
posted by phrontist at 10:11 AM on June 24, 2007

(also the topic of a recent AskMe)
posted by phrontist at 10:12 AM on June 24, 2007

phrontist, it'd be a bit hard to wear shirt stays outside of your pants. I mean, I guess you could...
posted by TheNewWazoo at 10:18 AM on June 24, 2007

2nding Brooks Brothers' Non-Iron shirts. Some of their shirts can be a bit too formal looking to wear untucked (especially with jeans). The tails can hang down pretty low as well. However, I have found some shirts that are perfect for wearing untucked there.

Also, the BB stores I've been in have had exceptionally good customer service.
posted by ArcAm at 10:23 AM on June 24, 2007

Some fabric softeners are good wrinkle prophylactics.
posted by Prince Nez at 10:25 AM on June 24, 2007

I often wear button-down shirts out

I totally missed that. Sorry.

external shirt stays are this season's avant-garde accessory - you heard it here first!
posted by phrontist at 10:26 AM on June 24, 2007

You might want to try buying smaller shirts. When I buy casual shirts I like to see them only go an inch or so past the belt. See this as an example of a good fitting untucked shirt.
posted by orlick at 11:46 AM on June 24, 2007

Eddie Bauer makes amazing (...)
word of advice: eddie bauer tailors shirts for overweight men. if you have a rather normal body shape, an untucked shirt will make you look a bit like a balloon. yes, that can be comfortable and not too bad but for the style conscious it should be mentioned.

consider buying shirts that were meant to be worn like this. your dress shirts are supposed to go with a suit and tucked in and are thus tailored longer in general. shirts that you should wear above your pants tend to be tighter and shorter.

an example: 7 diamonds at nordstrom is a rather flashy brand but you can get the idea from the page. you should have no problems finding something classy and stylish at a place like nordstrom.

also worth checking out: the forums at men.style.com. there are a lot of men on there that will know more than you, me and pretty much anyone else here about this topic, which is another way of saying it's where the style fanatics hang out.
posted by krautland at 12:29 PM on June 24, 2007

LL Bean has some no wrinkle shirts (cheaper than BB or Eddie Bauer)
posted by mmf at 1:00 PM on June 24, 2007

2nd LL Bean, I have a couple of their wrinkle free shirts and they are fantastic.
posted by jtfowl0 at 1:05 PM on June 24, 2007

What you need is a guayabera.
Possibly from Casa de las Guayaberas, 5840 SW 8th St.
Miami (Hialeah) Tel [phone]
posted by adamvasco at 12:00 AM on June 25, 2007