What's new

Inexpensive Dress/ Business Shirts Non Iron

This is going to reveal me as the cheap guy I am, but want the heck. I actually have a fair number of Thomas Pink and Brooks Brothers shirts, but I am also willing to buy from Costco, and places like Filene's and SYMS.

And, although far and away most of my dress/business shirts are 100% traditional, wrinkle in an instant, cotton, and, unlike some folks around here, really like a good non iron 100% cotton shirt. I like that they do not wrinkle up right away, and I think the good ones look about as good as regular cotton, and perform well in every other respect including breathability.

Anyway, I have bought some non iron 100% cotton dress shirts recently from Filene's/SYMS and from Costco that I thought I would report on. We are talking white or blue with white collar (not white cuffs!), traditional non button down, non spread collar, double/French cuffs.

The Filene's/SYMS shirts--they carry the same brand (label says "Eagle") at the same price, $34.99--seem great. The fabric looks great to me. The non iron aspect performs really well. The body and collar are respectively full and about the size of a couple of years ago. The double cuffs line up nicely and look good. Workmanship seems perfectly good.

The Costco shirts are more like $17.95 or so, if I recall. I think the fabric looks good. Heavier than the Eagle shirts. Toward an Oxford cloth, although not quite there. The cuffs line up well, and workmanship all around seems good. However, in distinction to the Eagle shirts, the Costco shirts are, as labeled, slim cut. Pretty much as tight as some English made shirts I have. It is different than the traditional baggy, say BB, shirt. But lots of folks are fans, and I think it looks pretty good, at least as a change up, even of fat guys like me. Also, the collar is somewhat smaller that what one saw a lot of a couple of years ago. I assume this is designed to recognixze that ties are getting narrower, and it is a very nice touch.

A failing in the Costco shirt, which has been true of every supposed non iron shirt I have ever gotten at Costco is that the non iron quality is pitiful. The Eagle shirts will come out of the dryer very wearable. No way the Costco shirts will not need at least some touch up ironing, and really more like an all over ironing. Once one do that, I think the shirt resists wrinkles much better than a rebular cotton shirt. But it sure is a long way fior Brooks Brothers, or these Eagle shirts.

Still fairly inexpensive at south of $20, and the slim fit and contemporary collars are a very nice touch.
 
I've had good luck with Joeseph Feis from Men's Warehouse. Last time I got them buy-1-get-1 for $40 plus a $10 off coupon. They're much heavier than most department store brands but still ready-to-wear out of the dryer. I've come to avoid cheap packaged department store brands except for oxford cloth.

Sometimes you can catch Joseph A. Bank super 80s for $20 on their deal-of-the-day or clearance, but you'll have to bide your time.
 
I'm a fan of J.C. Penney. I wear their Stafford Super Shirts in Broadcloth and haven't had a problem yet. They hold up pretty well and the adjusting neck button makes it more comfortable for when the temperature fluctuates or I get hot under the collar. :w00t:

They usually run about $20 and J.C.'s almost always has a sales circular with additional coupons.

I know.....I'm a cheap bastard.
 
Brooks Brothers on sale is the way to go for non-iron shirts. Other brands - from JC Penney, Eddie Bauer, for example - don't come out as wrinkle free and don't look quite as good.

And, they give you an option of athletic/slim cut, if you need it.

Even on sale, BB is not cheap. But, their shirts are one of the few luxury items worth paying a small premium.
 
I agree that the BB non iron quality is as good or best than any other maker's. And those are excellent shirts all around. I like the selection of fits, too. notice how small BB is starting to make the collars? Also a good thing.

In fact, there is no reason for me to post re BB shirts! Everyone should know that they are excellent! Except their outlet store 346 brand shirts which are not as well made at all.

I have not tried Penney's or Bauer non iron. Used to have lots of Penney's regular shirts and always thought they were pretty good.

However, for much less, at least if bought at Filenes, I think the Eagle shirts I wrote about have as good non iron quality, and I would say that quality otherwise is awfully good. I am not sure up to BB or not. check back with me in a couple of years. My BB shirts seem to hold up forever. Not much selection in Eagle from Filiene, though--colors, fit, collars, anything--I will give you that!

I also have a Nautica shirt with excellent non iron qualities.

I like the way the Costco shirts look, and their more up to date cut, and the price is amazing. But the non iron properties are weak indeed. I think I have another couple of brands of non iron, too, that are terrible compared to the BB.

Nothing to dislike about BB shirts though. excellent in every respect!
 
I used to wear both BB Non-Iron and Jos A Bank Non-Iron dress shirts. As I recall, the JAB shirts were very adequate, and although perhaps not quite as nice looking as the BB shirts, they were not really noticeably different in quality. The biggest difference was in how long they lasted. It seems the BB shirts last at least 2 or three times longer looking nearly as good as new, while the JAB shirts began looking "worn" sooner. But they were probably 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of BB shirts when you picked them up on JAB "buy 1 get 2 free" sales. I accumulated enough BB shirts that I haven't had to buy any in several years now, and will probably stay with BB when I do replace them, but for the price, JAB was a decent alternative. They were a better quality than the Eagle shirts I had at that time, although to be fair the Eagle shirts were not not-iron. All the shirts were pin-point cotton.
 
They don't pay me enough where work to buy expensive shirts...for the last year or so my go to dress button down **** has been CHAPS, most of the time I get them at Kohl's. I'm not a small guy and they fit great - and come out of the dryer ready to wear if you hang them up as quick as the cycle is over.
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
For the shirt-n-tie crowd, you don't really need an expensive dress shirt IF you are going to keep your suit jacket (or sports jacket &c) on all day anyhow. If that is your approach, what you need is a shirt with, first and foremost, a good collar. Beyond that, it needs to have good material ... cheap shirts tend to have thinly-woven material that will let what is underneath the shirt "show through". Provided that the material is thick enough, and you have a good collar, if you keep your suit jacket on all day you are, realy, good to go.
 
I am in agreement with Jakespoppy on the Jos A Bank shirts. The Traveller collection is a pretty good value in no iron shirts and they are on sale all the time.
 
u can get pretty decent stuff if you look for sales, just this weekend i got 2 CK shirts and 2 dkny for $15 each at a marshalls. they arent no iron tho, but pretty nice shirts
 
My problem with most store brand and inexpensive designer non-iron dress shirts (Van Huesen, Chaps, Alfano, etc) is the material is just too thin, especially on whites and pastels, to the point of being see through. I greatly prefer a heavier material, nearly to the point of being Oxford cloth, even when a smoother texture.
 
My problem with most store brand and inexpensive designer non-iron dress shirts (Van Huesen, Chaps, Alfano, etc) is the material is just too thin, especially on whites and pastels, to the point of being see through. I greatly prefer a heavier material, nearly to the point of being Oxford cloth, even when a smoother texture.

Agreed. I have a different take on wrinkled shirts. I actually like the look of my starched shirts after a few hours. I like the wrinkles and all.
 
Agreed. I have a different take on wrinkled shirts. I actually like the look of my starched shirts after a few hours. I like the wrinkles and all.


ME TOO....don't mind the wrinkles at all...


proxy.php
 
I have always liked Lands end non-iron shirts. They are a great value. So, it depends on the price you want to pay. On the low end JCP stafford is reasonably good. Middle of the price range Lands End is very good. Off course if you want to pay $$$ Brooks Brothers are extremely good. I found out that the best way to judge a brand of shirts is to ask your laundromat folks ...they know which ones hold up well. My lauderer always swears by BB or Land End. Off course as always YMMV



By the way Consumer Reports have done an extensive research on this. Here is part of what they have to say:

"What we found. Shirts from Lands’ End, L.L.Bean, Stafford, Brooks Brothers, and Jos. A. Bank stayed wrinkle-free throughout the day, kept sharp creases, “breathed” well, and were often called soft or supple. The first three, all $40, are CR Best Buys. All come in white, at least one shade of blue, and at least one other pastel color. Jos. A. Bank, L.L.Bean, and Stafford have somewhat thicker fabric than the others. Jos. A. Bank, $75, offers the most colors: nine. None of the shirts showed excessive wear after 10 washes. Some panelists said they wouldn’t buy the Kenneth Cole or Merona shirts whatever the cost. They had flaws such as loose threads or a middling fit".

Here is the link:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...ree-shirts-3-07/overview/0307_shirts_ov_1.htm
 
Agreed. I have a different take on wrinkled shirts. I actually like the look of my starched shirts after a few hours. I like the wrinkles and all.

I do not mind it so much, particularly in a more relaxed situation. And certainly there is nothing wrong with that. It is what happens to a good all cotton shirt. But I like not having to take all of my shirts to a laundry. Also, after a really long day my all cotton shirts really can look pretty bad. I understand that some famous guys change their laundered shirts up to several times a day.

My problem with most store brand and inexpensive designer non-iron dress shirts (Van Huesen, Chaps, Alfano, etc) is the material is just too thin, especially on whites and pastels, to the point of being see through. I greatly prefer a heavier material, nearly to the point of being Oxford cloth, even when a smoother texture.

I used to feel that way, but I seem to have shifted to thinner shirts. I am not sure why.
 
Top Bottom