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tankerjohn

A little poofier than I prefer
For me, a big consideration is if you will be wearing a jacket with the shirt or not. That allows you to have more adventurous colours which are then toned down by the jacket.

I will admit that as I have aged I have become more austere in my taste of clothing.
Interesting. I tend to think the opposite way. A busy shirt will more likely clash with a jacket, but on its own is more visually interesting than plain white or blue. Maybe depends on the jacket. I like patterned sportcoats, but a navy blazer looks better with more types of shirts.

I also tend to prefer lighter colored shirts with jackets for more contrast. Helps accentuate the "V-shape". But no jacket favors a darker shirt and less contrast between top and bottom to avoid highlighting my not-so-svelte beltline.
 

Tirvine

ancient grey sweatophile
You want Mercier and Sons. They're got the "must iron" material, nice collar rolls, and ecru. Spendy, though. I don't own any, but hear they're nice.
I checked with Sabrina. They have cream but can no longer get ecru. A swatch is on the way. If it is dark enough to be recognizable as an intended color rather than dingy white, I'll get it and take advantage of their first time buyer discount.
 

tankerjohn

A little poofier than I prefer
I checked with Sabrina. They have cream but can no longer get ecru. A swatch is on the way. If it is dark enough to be recognizable as an intended color rather than dingy white, I'll get it and take advantage of their first time buyer discount.
No kidding? Huh, I wonder what happened to ecru? I guess I should have checked the website first. Sorry if I sent you on a wild goose chase. I hope the cream color passes muster.
 
Interesting. I tend to think the opposite way. A busy shirt will more likely clash with a jacket, but on its own is more visually interesting than plain white or blue. Maybe depends on the jacket. I like patterned sportcoats, but a navy blazer looks better with more types of shirts.

I also tend to prefer lighter colored shirts with jackets for more contrast. Helps accentuate the "V-shape". But no jacket favors a darker shirt and less contrast between top and bottom to avoid highlighting my not-so-svelte beltline.

I agree if you are talking about patterns as opposed to colours. I guess my point was more you might have say a pink shirt which can be toned down by a blue jacket patterned or un patterned.

Seeing as this thread is about OCBD - I am in the US on business and took an excursion to NYC on the weekend. I visited the famous J Press and picked up a OCBD on their sale for $106. For a made in USA shirt, I thought that was pretty good - they will also make to order for the same price which is nice.

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Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
I have many different style shirts and tend to favor a more slim collar. My issue was shirts designed with large middle sections and long tails. I’m not a slim Jim but it took me awhile to recognize the issue of balloon shirts and trying on for fit. Having proper fitting clothing is my goal. Years ago I had a tailor who would push suits that were just too big on me even with his tailoring. I don’t go for the ultra slim suits or shirts but the suits with the giant shoulder pads and pleated (double pleated) pants make me sick nowadays. I had a few salvaged by a great seamstress but I finally got over it and emptied the closet taking stuff to good will.
 

Tirvine

ancient grey sweatophile
Reporting back, I bought my first Mercer. It is a superlative shirt. I maintain a small enough wardrobe that I can manage their prices, but the shirts are nice enough to justify going back there. Visually the details and cut are very similar to the unlined and unfused shirts that Gitman makes for O'Connell's. On the Mercer the yoke is narrower, there is no button on the gauntlet, and the front placket buttons are one fewer and more widely spaced. The collar roll is perfect. The "feel" of the shirt is more hefty even than Brooks or Press were in the seventies. The selection is staggering. The biggest downside is that there is a wait, even for in stock items, but if you know that up front you can deal with it. They are a small operation with high volume, and just shipping stuff takes time. If you need faster service, O'Connell's cannot be beat. I bought a pair of olive cotton gabs on sale, and Ethan had them in FedEx that day...SOP for them.
 
Oh...lavender. Well, I don't know, I think of lavender as at least as girly as pink. Even the name as a feminine flair. We manly men call it purple. Light purple maybe. Purple OCBDs seem a little harder to come by, at least from the major traddy retailers like Brooks, Bean, and Lands End.
Huh. It’s named after a plant, which produces a scent used in who knows how many shaving products we use. Not sure what’s wrong with that. Also, lavender looks fabulous on me.
 

Tirvine

ancient grey sweatophile
If anyone wants lavender, Mercer offers it. They have several colors outside the normal blue, white, pink, and yellow choices. It goes beyond my sartorial bandwidth. I liked my first purchase (white) enough that I ordered a pink and a blue university stripe. They really are amazing shirts, nicer in my opinion than any of the others including Brooks Brothers back in the 1960s and 1970s. Since I keep a fairly small wardrobe and don't want a Wolfman or a Rocnel or splash on Acqua di Parma I can rationalize their prices. Sadly, others, notably Gitman, are charging similar prices.
 
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