Different Types Of Men's Collared Shirts - Polo Shirts - Work Shirts - Dress Shirts - Formal
Shirts
Hi!
I'm Antonio Centeno, the founder of Real Men Real Style.
Today, I'm going to be talking about the different types of collared shirts.
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Okay, types of collared shirts, I've got a few questions on this.
I'm going to talk about five types and we're going to start with the least formal collared
shirt.
The great part about collared shirts is that even the least formal collared shirt is more
formal or it's dressier, it looks nicer on a man than most t-shirts.
1.
Polo shirts
What makes a polo shirt, a polo shirt?
Usually, it's the fact that the weave of the cotton -- these are shirts that are actually
made originally for sport.
They were for a gentleman sportsman and the idea with the polo shirt is that it would
actually have a bit of stretch to it.
You could sweat into it and it would wick away some of the moisture.
So on most short-sleeve polos that we see nowadays, they're still holding true.
Higher end polos though are going to get away from that really loose gauze weave and we're
going to start to see a more tighter weave.
There are even variations in the dressiness of polo shirts.
Usually, if it's got sports or it's got a big horse here or that type of a logo, that's
less dressy.
The more simple, the denser the weave, so something from Lacoste is going to be on the
other end of the dressier polos, so there is a difference.
If you get something at Old Navy, I can tell you that that's made more with a gauze weave.
Those are fine polo shirts, but if you're going to be sweating a little bit, let's say
you're going to be walking through a city in Europe during the summer, that's an appropriately
fine shirt.
But if you're looking for something to wear out on an afternoon and you want to pair it
with a nice pair of dress slacks, then that's when you're going to want to look for something
made by a company like Lacoste.
The great thing there is that, again, it's got a much denser weave.
It's made from higher end cotton and it's just got a nicer drape and it's going to have
a better fit for your body.
Another thing with the collar of the polo is that that is a very, very soft collar.
It doesn’t have very long collar points and it's not really ever made to be separated.
It's woven into the actual shirt.
You will see polo shirts that do become long sleeve, although they are less common.
You will see them made by some of the higher brands.
So if you want to match this ever with a sports jacket, which is perfectly acceptable, even
in the summer when you're wearing short sleeve polo, you can wear it off.
Again, lean towards something that's a little bit more formal.
It's always going to look better, so don't be matching your sports jacket with an informal
polo shirt that's got designs and all types of logos all over it.
It's just not going to look right.
2.
Work Shirts
The second type of collared shirts is work shirts and this is where we get the term "blue
collar" from.
Usually, these shirts were darker in color to help cover stains and they were woven with
a plain or sometimes even a twill weave, one of the tougher weaves out there.
The idea is that they're made with heavier fabrics and they protected you, so work shirts
are almost always long sleeve.
You will see some short sleeve ones for those guys that are working outside and just need
a little bit more air flow, but most of the time, you're going to see longer sleeve because
it's there for protection.
These shirts are going to go with a denser weave, so you're not going to necessarily
get as much air flow, but that's acceptable especially when you're working, let's say,
with something corrosive or you've got oil or grime getting thrown all over the place.
This is where you want a good work shirt.
Work shirts also are going to have pockets and they're going to have really hearty, better
sewn on sometimes metal buttons as well.
Another thing with work shirts is that the collar is closer to the dress shirt and they're
going to keep it really simple.
Sometimes, these aren't even designed to be fully buttoned up to the top.
You're never really going to want to wear a tie with a work shirt.
I've even seen some work shirts that actually only button up halfway and you have to pull
them over.
Those are I thought pretty cool.
They're more designed for men that work with animals and they don't want to get anything
caught here and torn open.
3.
Casual button-up shirts
This is something that's a little bit of a hybrid, more modern, and something that you'll
see in fabrics like chambray, so it's going to have the collars of a work shirt, but it's
going to have the delicate build of a dress shirt.
So you're going to see really lightweight fabrics.
Oftentimes, they're going to have colors and patterns brought in.
You're going to see variation in the collars and the types of collars, so you see spread
collars.
You'll see some point collars, but most of these casual shirts again are not made to
be worn with a tie.
You can occasionally dress it up with a sports jacket and with a nice pair of dress slacks,
although a little bit more style advanced.
You need to know what you're doing.
4.
Dress shirts
The dress shirt is marked by -- really it's going to be lighter colors, more conservative
in build.
You'll often see just one pocket over here although on custom shirts, I would say don't
go with any pocket.
The dress shirt, in addition, it's going to be made with a wider range of weaves because
usually you're going to be willing to pay more for a dress shirt.
You're going to take better care of it.
It's not going to have to deal with stains.
So again, you can go with the lighter colors, whites, light blues, lavanders, pinks, golds,
that all works fine, although there are some very classic designs like a blue butcher stripe
or something like that.
And of course, checks and patterns.
Notice a lot of these shirts overlap.
Well, even some of the polo with the work and the casual and the dress.
5.
Formal shirts
The formal is the number five and I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time here.
The big thing with the formal dress shirt is it relies a lot on tradition, so in the
front here, you've often got some overlap if it's a black tie dress shirt.
In addition, the collar, this is in the formal dress shirt.
You can tell if it's a formal dress shirt because it's going to have occasionally wing
collars, which are different than these point collars.
The wings are kind of like wings and they go out.
These are point collars, and most formal shirts are going to have French cuffs, which is the
double cuff.
You will also see that though on dress shirts.
Okay.
Those are the five types of collared shirts.
Hopefully it helped you better understand that.
If you want to learn more about men's style, make sure to go visit my blog over at Real
Mean Real Style.
I'll see you guys in the comments.
Bye-bye.