After insouciant elegance? Not too Addams Family or Warhol. Not too first-day-on-the-job or stuck in a nine to five rut. Not overly businessy but neither to Mandarin nor eighteenth-century workwear. Not obviously originally bought for a wedding or for exclusive funeral use.
Not too Fred Astaire or retro-Nehru. More Cary Grant in North by Northwest. Less Elvis than Sean Connery in Goldfinger. Not too strong a no tie day statement. Not too consciously preppy and Ivy League.
There is a time and place for a white shirt. It doesn’t always have to be a Thom Sweeney penguin suit tux, shanked mother of pearl buttons, or fancy cuffs. Or with a dicky bow, woolen silk or grenadine tie or linen slacks, and a Panama. Chinos, shorts, and sneakers will do.
Crisp poplin isn’t just for first dates and meeting her parents for the first time. You don’t want to look like you are on the way to a blue blood bar mitzvah or a cremation. Or have been listening to too many Miles Davis albums.
The white shirt can be casual and untucked, paunch masking or, if you prefer, summer-friendly and breathable.
Fussed about Roma buttons, a soft wide front placket, and premium American Pima cotton? Bib front? Cotton twirl? The collar? Bluff, grandpa, spread, cutaway, Cuban/ resort/camp, popped or button-down or invisible button under the collar? 150 stitch buttonholes? Single-ply pique? Boxy cut OCBD Oxford cloth button-down?
The personification of dapper, off the rack or tailor-made, the white shirt is the staple of a man’s wardrobe. But a white shirt is not just for jet black suits, navy blazers, and shiny shoes. Not every day is an awards ceremony.
There are occasions for the monochromatic and inorganic look. For your Gant plain broadcloth, a pure silk jacquard- woven Burberry, Thom Browne webbing-trimmed, Gitman Vintage, Beams Plus. Paul Smith short sleeve, Miuccia Prada camp collar, or exceptionally finished Arket crisp pie crust. But white is not just for evenings.
If Savile Row is too far, you need a tailor who appreciates a man’s body and knows his way around a male’s sixteen independent fit points. A tailor that can leverage his own extensive database of body profiles to distinguish the best fit. That’s why Proper Cloth exists. To cater and custom-make for “The Always Tucked! and “the Always Untucked”.
And Eton has lasted so long and well. Founded in Gånghester in Sweden in 1928, it has “grown into a global brand and reinvented the shirt as a garment you wear to stand out, not fit in.”
Starting on her kitchen table, seamstress Annie Petterson founded Syfabriken Special with her husband, David. Their son visited the English Thames-side town of Eton, home of Eton public school which has produced more British Prime Ministers than any other school. David Cameron and Boris Johnson are the latest.
Impressed by the boy’s dress wear they changed the company name to Eton and, from a former brick factory, launched the world’s first crease-resistant shirt in 100% cotton. Their shirts now use nothing but premium raw materials, like Extra Long Staple Cotton from Egypt and California, woven by mills in Egypt, Italy, Romania, and Turkey.
Eton serves customers in 50 markets worldwide, through its own official online store, brand stores in New York, Los Angeles, London, Stockholm, Malmö, Copenhagen, and Frankfurt as well as some of the world’s most prestigious stores, including Harrods, Selfridges, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Galeries Lafayette, Le Bon Marché, El Corte Inglés, La Rinascente, and KaDeWe.
Luxury means uncompromising quality. Eton white shorts as all their shirts, from Dobby, loom to basketweave texture Royal Oxford fabric, cut from elegant, technically advanced satin, piqué, twill or brocade, all-cotton shirts are made with long-staple or extra-long staple fibers, for a high-quality look and feel. Whether extra-long-staple cotton, linen, silk, or Tencel™, nothing but the finest materials are used by the iconic casual and formal shirt wear manufacturer.
Eton is not old school. It is an elite shirt. Eton Shirts are proud when they boast that they “create tomorrow’s vintage.”
Whether with studs and pocket squares, worn inside or out, French cut, rounded, square-cut cuffs, or folded or turn up short sleeves, life is easier when you are wrinkle-free.
