The First Five Dress Shirts You Should Purchase

When I was sitting down brainstorming ideas for my next post I suddenly realized I had forgotten to talk about dress shirts. You can’t wear a suit without a dress shirt, and having the appropriate style of shirt is just as important as what shoes you wear. So here is my list of the top five dress shirts you should purchase, in purchase order. This means that number one should be your first purchase, number two your second purchase, and so on.

1.  Solid White

This should be your first purchase, and probably already is if you have bought a suit already. The solid white shirt is one that can be worn with any suit and any pattern at any time of year. It takes the guesswork out of what shirt you should choose.

2.  Solid Light/Pale Blue

For your number two you want another option that requires little thought of how to match. Look no further than a light or pale blue. Just like its white brother it goes with any suit color or pattern and can be worn any time of year. I would be careful on your choice of tie, however; I would stay away from blue ties unless it is navy blue.

3. Blue and White Stripe

Now that you have two solid shirts you can start having a bit of fun with some patterns. So for number three I recommend the blue and white stripe dress shirt. We are sticking with blue and white still because they are the most versatile colors and require little to no thinking when it comes to matching. However, now that you have introduced a pattern you need to be wary of what kind of suit you wear it with. A rule of thumb when it comes to matching patterns is to never wear more than one of the same pattern in any one outfit at once. Doing this can be hard on other people's eyes, so I would avoid the pinstripe suits and and the stripe ties.

4. Duplicate of Option One or Option Two

I know it sounds like a cop out, but it is an important one. Dress shirts are one of those things that need to be replaced about once a year or so if you wear them regularly. So for number four what you need to do is see which of the first two options you wore the most and get another just like it. What this will do is spread the wear and tear across two separate garments, allowing you to keep them for longer. I would almost recommend getting one of each of the first two again if you have the spare funds, but if you don’t, just one more is perfectly fine.

5. Light Gray

Last but not least we have the light gray shirt. I put this one at the bottom of the list because it is the least versatile of each of these options. Gray is one of those colors that really isn’t a color at all. It is a halfway point between white and black and the different shades refer to how the black and white balance is (a dark gray has more black than white and vise versa.) The problem is matching gray with gray. If you have any shade of gray suit, do not try to wear a gray shirt; it will look off, and you’ll look like you don’t know how to match colors. It is best worn with slacks or dark denim jeans and no jacket or a dark navy suit.

So there you have it, my top five dress shirts you should purchase. One last tip for buying dress shirts-- try to get them in 100% cotton. Stay away from polyester the best you can. While that is fine for a low-cost suit, it isn’t okay for a shirt. A suit has a few layers of fabric between you and it, but a shirt is most likely going to come into direct contact with your skin and can leave a rash, especially if it is a lower quality polyester.