Recently, Brooks Brothers featured their idea of "shirt and tie perfection". This idea of perfection was far removed from reality. Ghastly purple-on-purple and floridly green shirts met the eye. But in the interests of office-working men and studious, well-dressed students everywhere, we've put together a collection of fantastic dress shirts that will impress your fellow students or your coworkers.
To start, let's begin with a more exuberant outfit. Brooks Brothers Supima cotton has always had a reputation for durability, so it is with pleasure that we pair the Light Blue Supima Cotton Traditional Fit Broadcloth Dress Shirt (what a mouthful) for a mere $46! If that pattern isn't quite your style, try the similarly colored Egyptian Cotton, Italian woven Gingham Dress Shirt, for $92.50
To match with that fine shirt, let's add the power-worker golden Challis Dot Print Tie, for $49.25. To match with the tie and the shirt, we can chose either a pair of chinos or a pair of dress slacks.
For chinos, we prefer the always reliable Jack Donnelly Dalton Pants ($78). Keep in mind, you'll need to get a tailor to hem the bottom.
For dress slacks, we return to Brooks Brothers' Donegal Trousers, half-off for $124. If you prefer a darker pair of trousers, try the Regent Gabardine Trousers - two for $229.
For a bit of a more austere combination, let's turn to the white dress shirt. Favored by classic preppies (President Kennedy), this is a shirt that has, unsurprisingly, stood the test of time. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find a non-iron dress shirt, so it is with mingled sadness that we recommend this Supima Cotton Dress Shirt. for $60.
A quick note: if you want a iron-required shirt that will truly last at the same level as BB's, try the J. Press Pinpoint Oxford Dress Shirt. It's more expensive, but because of her ironing requirement tends to last longer, for $100, plus shipping.
Paired with that shirt is the ever stately Challis Hound Print tie, in what Brooks Brothers calls pink but what would better be labelled burgundy. Wool ties are riskier than silk, simply because they are so much more casual. Paired with a suit, however, it neutralizes this casualness.
You might as well go whole hog on this matter, and invest in a quality suit. As of writing, the Madison Fit suits are on sale for $899 for two, and can be color-matched. Invest in the Grey & the Light Grey suits. BB has a rather skewed interpretation of color, and in this case, their Light Grey is really Grey, and their Grey Black.
For our final collection, we present to you this: a simple Egyptian/Italian combination, with a mitered cuff, known officially as the Egyptian Cotton Slim Fit Luxury Dress Shirt(again, with the excessively verbose titles!), alongside an orange Medallian Print Silk Tie, combined with a casual pair of Wale Corduroy Pants(we did say casual!) for use on the weekends or on late-night jaunts with the boss.
Traditionally, the monogram was used as a functional piece of equipment. When well-heeled but down-on-their-luck gentlemen needed their clothes cleaned, they sent them to laundromats, where they would be washed alongside other articles of clothing owned by other men. This made it hard - nigh impossible - to distinguish between different clothing and their owners. To rectify this, gentlemen had their intiials sewn into their dress shirts, the linings of their pants and anywhere discreet enough to be noticed but not to be noticeable.
Today, however, the monogram is used in more public settings (the left or right breast pocket, typically), to showcase the extra expense and prestige associated with purchasing clothing from a clothier which offers monogramming services in the first place - a luxury in and of itself.
At PGD, we consider it relatively 'vulgar', if you will, to monogram in anywhere more public than the waist or the cuff - for doing so attracts unneccessary and typically undeserved attention. With that being said, maintain your monogram font to a distinguished block, and leave the repulsive script for the women and for the vulgar unrefined.