Correctly Match A Dress Shirt With Jeans [0:00:00]
This is not how you match a dress shirt with jeans, neither is this look.
In fact, what is this guy even thinking?
Now, gents, you know my stance on clothing, you are free to wear whatever you want.
But, I want you looking your best and the reality is most men when it comes to the dress
shirt and jean combination, they mess it up.
So, in today’s video, I’m going to show you how to look your best when you wear a
dress shirt and jeans.
So, our first rule in wearing a dress shirt with jeans is to know thy situation, understand
the dress code.
Jeans no matter how well-fitted, no matter how dark, no matter how you style them or
what you wear them with are still a casual garment.
So, if the dress code is business casual, if you’re required to wear a suit, understand
that jeans with the jacket is not the right combination.
Now, there are exceptions, most notably unspoken dress codes when jeans are accepted especially
locally culturally, but in most situations, understand jeans are casual and therefore,
should not be worn in formal situation.
Now, perhaps the most common mistake I see when a guy is wearing a dress shirt and jeans
is he doesn’t match the fit.
And by this, I mean when you’re wearing jeans, most guys are wearing jeans that actually
fit them relatively well, a little bit closer, definitely closer than dress slacks.
But, when it comes to dress shirts, a lot of times they wear a dress shirt that’s
way too large.
So, when you wear this oversized dress shirt with well-fitted jeans, it really just looks
off.
Now, I’m not saying wear a baggy jeans, but I am saying pay attention to the fit,
know the name of your tailor.
Take those dress shirts to get darted to get brought in to make sure they fit you properly
the best they can when you’re buying the off-the-rack.
The next rule is to tuck in your dress shirt.
I know some of you guys are saying, “Well, Antonio, I’ve got a button down that I can
wear untucked and looks good.”
And that is a button down.
Button up, those type of shirts, yes, we’re talking dress shirts.
And I will explain the difference between a dress shirt and a button up and a button
down shirt here in a few minutes.
But, understand dress shirts, the more formal shirts are meant to be tucked in.
Now, how to tuck in your shirt you may ask.
Well, right here, I’ve got the military tuck, something I picked up in the United
States Marine Corps.
Simply following this procedure right here, guys, it’s going to ensure that you keep
your shirt tucked in most of the day.
And, of course, if you’re tucking in your shirt, make sure to wear a belt.
Now, what color, what style of belt?
It really comes down to what do you want to do here.
There are going to be tons of casual belt options out there and a variety of color,
variety of patterns, different belt buckles out there.
But, if you want to go over something a little bit dressy, I do recommend just going with
the classic calfskin.
You’re going to either go with black, dark brown.
You can even go with oxblood.
And when it comes to the hardware of the belt, I do like to match metals with metals.
I’m a silver guy, I’m basically cooler tone.
So, when it comes to my rings, when it comes to my watches, when it comes to my belts,
I gravitate towards silver.
But you can change this up, it’s a general rule, it’s not a guideline that you always
have to follow.
And, gentlemen, speaking of belts, I want to bring in today’s sponsor, Anson Belt
& Buckle.
For years, I’ve been talking about these guys.
Go back look at my first – one of my first videos I ever put on this channel was this
straight up review of Anson Belt & Buckle because I love what this company is doing.
It’s a family-run business that basically is making the belt hole obsolete.
Now, Anson does this by leveraging the microadjust system.
And, basically this works they’ve got this like little adjustments right there on the
back of the belt.
And what I love about this is your belt doesn’t deal with any of the warping, any of the basically
misshaping that happens whenever you use the old traditional hole system.
I also love the interchangeability of their belts and buckles.
So, let’s say you pick up three belts, you pick up three buckles, guess what?
You don’t have three different belts there, you have nine different combinations.
And that’s why I do recommend you look at their box set.
They’ve got it, so you can choose two straps, three buckles or maybe three buckles two straps,
whatever combination you want to put together.
It’s the best deal on their website.
And speaking of deals, let’s talk about why it makes such a big deal out of their
customer service.
So, one of you guys years ago actually cut your strap way too short.
And the guy said, you know, “Hey, just send me another one and I’ll pay for it.”
And Dave said, “Don’t even worry about it, man.
We’ve got you covered.”
And that’s what I love about Anson Belt & Buckle is that this is a family-run business
that actually cares about their customers.
And if you want a tough belt, if you’re going to be wearing this with jeans, if you
want a belt that basically you can conceal carry with, check out their Invincibelt Collection.
If you want a strap that’s really premium, high-end, you want an Italian calfskin, you
want crocodile, check out their Premier Collection.
And, gentlemen, if you’re looking to get a deal on an Anson Belt & Buckle, you need
to be on their email list.
Every once in a while, they’ve got their complete belt flash sale where they give you
20% off.
However, if you want to save even more, then make sure to join their new Anson Text Club.
There, you can get a notification for up to 30% off.
And for a limited time, gents, I’ve got a special deal for you over at Anson.
Use the link in the description of today’s video.
When you go over there, you can grab their box set for under a hundred bucks.
That’s three buckles and two straps or three straps and two buckles.
Six belt combinations all for under a hundred bucks.
All right, gents.
So, the next rule to properly combining dress shirt and jeans is to wear the right type
of jeans.
Again, jeans in of themselves are a casual garment.
[0:05:00] But there are different types of styles and
cuts of jeans out there, some more casual than others.
You want to gear towards the dressier jeans if there is such a thing.
So, we’re talking jeans that have the right first cut.
And by cut, I mean you want to avoid skinny jeans, you want to avoid baggy jeans.
What you’re looking for is a straight cut jean.
Now, there are going to be variations of this.
You’re going to see a slim straight cut, which is a great option if you’re a little
bit thinner.
Maybe just want to go for a regular classic straight cut.
This is going to be for a little bit heavier a little bit bigger guy a little bit more
muscular guy.
What if you are a heavier dude though?
Definitely go for a looser straight cut.
Again, we’re not going for baggy jeans here, but we are going for something that’s going
to be a little bit looser that’s going to work with your body build.
Now, when it comes to your color choices, go for darker denim in general.
We’re talking indigo, dark blue.
You can even choose black, maybe a very dark charcoal gray.
But, you want to go for darker colored denim.
Now, there is a time and a place for wearing maybe, you know, maroon going for a dark red,
maybe going for something that has a color or even a lighter jean.
I’ve seen this work.
But, you really need to know what you’re doing.
I think if you’re just getting started you’re watching this video really gravitating towards
dark denim in my opinion is the best look.
And let’s not forget to talk about distressing, any type of design on the jean, going for
a really high contrast stitch.
These are things I like to avoid.
Any type of, yeah, you know, type of rhinestones right there on the back of the buttocks.
Let’s avoid this type of look made popular by a few different brands out there.
I see still guys trying to pull this off, it doesn’t look good especially if you’re
wearing it with a dress shirt.
And by the way, when I’m talking about distressing, I’m also talking about wear and tear when
you wear the denim.
So, if you’ve had a pair of dark denim, but you’ve washed them plenty of times in
the wash and they’ve faded, this may not be the best pair to keep wearing with a dress
shirt.
You want to go with something that’s a little bit, yeah, just going to maintain its color.
And let’s talk about hemming.
When you buy a pair of jeans, there’s nothing wrong with actually getting them hemmed.
There are even some companies that will do this for you.
But, what is bad is, yes, whenever you’re starting to wear and tear that back and you’ve
got loose threads and fraying back there, no, don’t go for this look.
In general, wearing a dress shirt necessitate that you dress up the denim as much as you
can.
So, mirroring that last point, let’s now talk about choosing the right dress shirt
for your denim.
And the same way that denim will try to dress that for the dress shirt with the dress shirt,
we’re actually going to try to dress it down.
Go for the more casual options.
That means, you know, any type of dress shirts that made for black tie that’s going to
have, you know, that wingtip-type of collar, it’s going to have pleats in the front,
it’s going to use studs.
You would never want to wear this type of dress shirt with denim.
Now, I know the terminology can be confusing.
Dress shirts versus button up versus button down.
Let me try to quickly explain the difference and I’ll get back to calling everything
a dress shirt.
So, dress shirts are made to be layered.
They are made to be an under piece, a jacket thrown on top.
A button down specifically refers to the collar.
And a button up is going to be any type of shirt that has buttons in the front area.
And these three even shirts made from casual materials that are made in darker colors,
they’re made to be outerwear in this case.
And that’s where the confusion lies is that these shirts they seem very similar, they
all have similar collars, turn down collars.
And you’re going to sometimes see even dress shirts that have button down collars.
But, understand when this terminology is thrown around in general, button down and button
up shirts are going to be on the casual side and dress shirts are going to be more on the
formal side.
So, getting back to that formal side, what we’re looking to do is in general if you
want to wear a shirt that looks really great with denim, you’re oftentimes going to lean
towards the button up shirt, button down such as oxford.
Oxfords are an excellent option to wear with denims because they are more casual.
Dress shirts often are going to be made from a poplin weave.
Very light, they’re going to be lighter, they’re going to be very tight weave.
You’re also going to see dress shirts in a variety.
You know, this shirt I’m wearing right here is a dress shirt.
It has the stripes going up and down.
You will see occasionally checks, but usually those are going to be on more button up shirts
and button down shirts that are more casual.
You’re also going to see occasionally shirts out there that have floral patterns, maybe
will have dots.
Again, those are going to be more casual, not really a dress shirt.
Dress shirts per definition usually the collar would be pure white.
Now, light blue a lot of us see that as a dress shirt, but it’s technically going
to be a dressed up a very formal type of button up shirt.
And by the way, if this is super confusing, if I haven’t made sense, down in the description
of today’s video, I’m going to link to a support article, which is going to go into
more detail, so it will explain all these in an infographic.
But, understand that terminology, I’m going to continue to go forward talking specifically
just everything as a dress shirt.
Now, another thing we’re going to see with all of our dress shirts is that they are going
to be long sleeve.
Anything that is short sleeve is technically not a dress shirt.
You’re going to see polos, you’re going to see short sleeve button up shirts, but
those are casual and they are technically not dress shirts.
Dress shirts always have a cuff, which, you know, it used to be the cuffs are removable,
the same with the collars.
But, these collars now are pretty much permanently attached, but they are made separate and that
is a key distinction of a dress shirt and even a button down.
[0:10:08] So, if you look at the fabric right here,
you notice how the patterns are going straight there and then they’re going across here.
Clearly, this cuff has been made separate.
Now, we talk briefly about collars, but the dressier collar is definitely be the point
collar.
After that, you’re going to see the spread collar.
And if you understand the way a collar is designed, it’s really simply the angle has
been opened up on a spread collar.
I like spread collars and I do think they’re more casual, simply because it keeps the collar
out of the way.
That being said, you also are going to see a button down.
Button down collars are going to be more casual, made popular because of the sport of polo
and you saw them on the polo fields.
We also see in oxford shirts and a variety of casual shirts.
But, button down collars are going to be one of the more casual collar styles we see out
there.
Now, when it comes to colors and patterns, the most formal is going to be a solid white.
The most informal perhaps it’s going to be, you know, something like this that has
a very strong floral brighter heavier colors like this darker.
All that is going to be on the casual side.
But, going back over to the formal side, after that maybe a light blue.
We’ll see whites with a stripes, similar to what I’m wearing here.
It’s going to be dressier more formal.
And then, as we move down, we start to see the colors come in.
Now, understand if you go for anything that is a dark color, technically it is not a dress
shirt.
This is made to be worn as a casual button up shirt or a button down.
And over on that side, I think that this all works great with denim.
People, again, call them dress shirts.
You go into a store, you maybe buy something online, they’ll call it a dress shirt, but
if it is of a dark color, this is technically not a dress shirt.
That being said, it’s something I think looks great with denim in many situations,
especially, you know, if you got the classic just dress shirt overall fit and design and
it looks good on you, you can even wear this with a sports jacket.
And, again, it functions like a dress shirt, but that darker color are going with, you
know, a small muted pattern, especially maybe a small repeating pattern, the fabric is going
to make it a bit more casual.
In the overall design, though, is going to give the feeling of a dress shirt, something
that can actually be worn and layered.
And that takes us to the next rule of wearing a dress shirt with jeans correctly is to layer
it.
Unless you’ve got the body and it’s really hot outside, I really would say in general
you look better when you layer, especially with a jacket.
You got a little bit of weight around the midsection, you’re a guy in your 30s, 40s,
maybe, yeah, you got the dad bod.
I know for me, wearing a sports jacket just really compliments look.
You can also bring in a blazer.
Blazer dark blue with denim, I think looks great.
But, sports jackets in my opinion are where it’s at.
There are so many different options out there and I’ve talked about the power of the sports
jacket.
It builds up the shoulders, draws attention to the hands, slims up the silhouette, overall
makes you look taller.
But, another option is jumpers, sweaters.
So many great options out there, cardigans.
Modern cardigans are not Mr. Rogers here.
This stuff with a closer fit.
There are even jackets out there that are made from the sweater material, they’re
going to be totally unstructured.
Those look really good.
But, simply pulling over a sweater going for something with a V-neck right there with that
dress shirt.
You bring in that layered look a pattern, I think that this right here is perfect.
You can also go for a crew neck and that dress shirt still decent combination right there.
Maybe going for a sweater vest and vest in general, especially if you’re in a hotter
area.
I know dancers that love vest because it completes the look.
They’re able to wear the denim with boots on a dance floor.
At the same time that, you know, they’ve got that casual button up shirt right underneath
it.
It’s just really it’s a great combination.
All right.
So, really quick let’s hit some rapid fire questions.
A lot of you guys are probably thinking, well, I have this great flannel button down and
I love wearing it with a t-shirt underneath and I wear it untucked.
Well, in that case, that is not a dress shirt.
And if you like the look, then go for it.
It’s kind of stuck in the 90s, although it’s making its way back.
I can see that combination.
But, it’s technically, again, not a dress shirt that you’re wearing untucked.
Now, what about undershirts, do you need to always wear an undershirt when you’re wearing
jeans and a dress shirt?
I think that undershirts help lengthen the life of your dress shirt.
You don’t get stains on the pits.
One of the right type of undershirt, we’re not talking the full-on sleeveless type.
I do think a good undershirt is one can protect you from, you know, and not just sweat stains,
but it just gives, you know, prevents the nipples from popping all that other stuff
in the winter for me works.
You don’t really care about your dress shirt if you get cheaper dress shirts or if you’ve
got so many you don’t worry about the money part.
Well, okay.
But, some of you guys are saying, I know I can wear this combination, but should I wear
this combination?
I think where this look is really bad is when you’re wearing a really formal dress shirt
and casual denim.
And that to me is like mixing oil and water.
You can try to do it, you can shake it up and maybe under the right situation they can
kind of blend, but in the natural state, they’re going to separate.
If you really want to pull off this combination, again, look to dress up the denim.
Maybe go out and buy something that’s higher end that just looks really good from a distance,
almost like a dress pant, although, the fit of denim is always going to be more distinctive
because one thing I love denim is how well it fits a man in the crotch.
[0:15:01] And, you know, I’m not saying the stuff
that area, but what am I saying is that it lengthens the leg line, unlike a lot of, you
know, dress slacks or maybe chinos that guys own, there is too much room in the crotch.
This right here makes a man look good when you’ve got the right pair of denim on.
So, it’s one of the reasons I really like this.
All the being said, if you’re going to try to pull this look off, look to that more casual
type of button up versus the really high-end very – really dressy dress shirts.
So, going with a dark button up is probably a better option and technically I know it’s
not a dress shirt, but when you’re looking how things are labeled online, you’ll see
they’re called dress shirts, so that’s what I’m calling them for this video.
Now, if I’m wearing a dress shirt with jeans, do I actually need to iron the dress shirt?
Well, if it is wrinkled, if it is not made from a wrinkle proof material or maybe a high
tech fabric that doesn’t deal with wrinkles, then, of course, you need to iron if there
are any type of wrinkles.
If you don’t like ironing, look to a steam press or maybe get an iron that can steam.
Steaming is amazing and do a great job.
Isn’t going to get, you know, your collars and your cuffs perfect, but it can do an excellent
job in the front area.
But, never wear a dress shirt that is wrinkled, it’s just, yeah, no matter what you’re
wearing it with, it just, yeah, does not look good.
Now, what about dress socks?
You know, when you’re wearing a suit, you got to wear the dress socks.
Is this something that you have to wear a dress socks when you’re wearing the denim?
I don’t think you have to, especially, you know, if you’re wearing type of footwear
that is fully covering the socks.
That being said, if you want to wear dress socks whenever you’re wearing the dress
shirt and jean combination, go for it.
Now, let’s talk footwear.
What type of shoes to wear with a dress shirt and jean combination?
So, you can keep it casual.
You got tons of options here.
You can go with sneakers.
If you’re going to go with sneakers though, I would go with something a little bit dressier,
maybe made from leather.
You can also keep it really casual and go with boots.
Preferably, I do like dress shoes, especially brogues.
And I’ve got entire video, which I will link to right here in which I talk about how
to match dress shoes with jeans.
I think that many of you guys already have some in your wardrobe.
And whether you’re wearing black dress shoes, oxblood dress shoes, dark brown dress shoes,
I break it out what are the rules, how you can bring this combination together in this
video right here.
So, go check it out, it’s a good one.
[0:17:10] End of audio