White dress shirts in suits

[cantdrv55]

That's what I wear pretty much all of the time. I am really bad at matching striped shirts and ties so I wear mainly whites. Boring but I'm dressed quicker. Is there a dressing tutorial for office dudes in their 50's? I see clothing combos in magazines or on mannequins that look like they should clash. I don't want to go on a limb like that. Definitely don't want to look like the male equivalent of a desparate cougar.

[sugarwood]

Get some blue shirts.

[djmcmath]

Idea #1: Drop by Men's Wearhouse, get some combos that go together. Blue is an obvious one, and virtually any red/blue tie they sell will go with either a light blue or dark blue shirt. I branched out from there to start wearing greys, browns, and even (gasp) a light purple shirt. With appropriate counseling from the gentlemen at MW, I was able to look like a classy gentleman.

Idea #2: Trunk Club. They'll send you clothes that fit and provide guidance on what does and does not work together. It's basically like shopping at Nordstrom's, except you don't go to the store. It's free shipping both ways, you only pay for what you keep, and it's generally awesome. I've been dressing from TC for about a year now, and I ALWAYS look better now than I used to.

[Tobra]

Stick with solid colors on the shirts, unless you have a lot of solid color ties. Striped shirt with a busy pattern tie is rarely going to work.

I see plenty of stuff that guys are wearing or in ads that makes me cringe

[MRM]

Don't change. If you are wearing a suit and tie, you want to look professional and you should wear a white shirt. IBM was successful with their business uniform of white shirt, red tie and blue or gray suit for a reason. It's what looks most professional.

Blue shirts are less formal and professional. I save them for specific suits that go well with brown shoes and brown belt. I'm old fashioned so I think you should wear a white shirt with a suit. Usually I limit anything but white shirts to days when I wear a sport coats with no tie. I consider that more business casual and any nice dress shirt will do. I have the white dress shirt collection to rival Tabs' shoe collection.

[ckelly78z]

I used to wear plain color shirts with exciting ties......wear jeans/t-shirt now.

[rwest]

I just asked the pretty girl working at the somewhat high end store if she would help me pick out an outfit for an art gallery opening I was going to- she was like a fashion robot; "here, put this shirt on, take these pants, I'm going to go find you some shoes..." Best I've ever looked, I had her help me select many articles of clothing, some of the shirts were more expensive than I would buy on my own, but they always looked good, so I bought what she told me to buy!

Unfortunately she decided to leave employment when she had a baby- luckily I have a nice assortment in the closet now.

[fintstone]

These guys (below) are on the money. The suit and white shirt are classic....and practically the uniform of the successful executive. If you want to jazz it up, do so with more colorful ties or even a pocket hanky. A light colored tie with a black suit looks great in the summer. The worse your physique, the less you want to try to jazz up your dress as it usually draws attention to the pot belly (folks say..."check out this dude...should have spent his money on a gym membership instead"). Don't risk that your fashion statement that says "clown."

Originally Posted by Tobra

Stick with solid colors on the shirts, unless you have a lot of solid color ties. Striped shirt with a busy pattern tie is rarely going to work.

I see plenty of stuff that guys are wearing or in ads that makes me cringe

Originally Posted by MRM

Don't change. If you are wearing a suit and tie, you want to look professional and you should wear a white shirt. IBM was successful with their business uniform of white shirt, red tie and blue or gray suit for a reason. It's what looks most professional.

Blue shirts are less formal and professional. I save them for specific suits that go well with brown shoes and brown belt. I'm old fashioned so I think you should wear a white shirt with a suit. Usually I limit anything but white shirts to days when I wear a sport coats with no tie. I consider that more business casual and any nice dress shirt will do. I have the white dress shirt collection to rival Tabs' shoe collection.

[stealthn]

Try black with a colorfull tie...

[Hugh R]

Suits, I think I still own one, I gave a dozen to Goodwill 20 years ago.

[NoRush993/951]

Stop in a Nordstrom's department store and go to the suit department and find a salesperson closer to your age and ask for their assistance pairing an updated shirt/tie to your suit. Bring the jacket with you. It costs a bit more, but you will be well served and it will help keep you from looking dated. They will measure you for the proper shirt fit and you can try them on to make sure the cut is right for your body type. Money well spent as it saves time and needless running around.

[jyl]

White shirts are safe and the most businesslike. But they get pretty boring. You don't always need to look like a lawyer in federal court.

Collar shapes can add a little variety, as can French cuffs.

More interesting, but still business appropriate shirts, include:
- White shirts with subtle pin point, check, or stripe patterns, in gray, blue, rose. I mean subtle enough that from 15 feet away, the shirts look plain white.
- Medium to dark blue. With a light color tie. Not light blue, that looks too blue collar.
- Light rose or yellow or gray. Although yellow doesn't work well on Asians.
- White shirts with colored collars. Kind of a dandy look but some can pull it off. Usually true sage guys who can pull off double breasted suits.

Not such a fan of shirts with bold stripe patterns or check patterns.

I tend to wear the plain white shirts to important meetings, colored or patterned shirts around the office or for other meetings.

[flatbutt]

It's had to go wrong with a nice bright white shirt using the tie to add vibrancy. I used a pocket silk which complements the tie when I wanted to really dress up.

[wdfifteen]

Classic white always works. If you want to get courageous there ia textured while cloth that give the shirt some interest, but it's still white so no chance of being avant garde. Any good men's store should have young fellows prepared to fix you up with some ensembles. They are likely off duty marines, so they know their fashion,

Since being in Europe a few times in the past couple of years I've taken to wearing a scarf in the winter. I like it.

[cantdrv55]

I like it! Great advice everyone. White shirts aren't so boring after all.

[Nickshu]

A couple years ago I hit a style wall and all my clothes were old, had stopped shopping for a bit. I signed up for Trunk Club and it's been great. Personal stylist there keeps me up to date and I get compliments from people all the time. Worth a look, I've been very happy w/ them.

[Seahawk]

I have to wear a suit a few times a month.

White or blue high end shirts with a variety of collars makes me happy. I do wear a scarf in the winter as well.

A friend of mine has the best fashion sense of any man I know, always has. He can pull off a variety of styles I'd feel goofy in.

Nice tip in on the Trunk Club.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Interesting read. I rarely go full suit and tie, typically nice Men's Wearhouse caliber shirts and pants with a nice sport jacket at most. Even the CEO of our multi-billion dollar parent company isn't a tie guy. But nice tip on Trunk Club, I'll check that out.

[Nickshu]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Interesting read. I rarely go full suit and tie, typically nice Men's Wearhouse caliber shirts and pants with a nice sport jacket at most. Even the CEO of our multi-billion dollar parent company isn't a tie guy. But nice tip on Trunk Club, I'll check that out.

I used to be a Men's Wearhouse/Joseph A Bank guy...but both our local stores started doing Tux rental and ever since then their customer service has gone out the window. Every time I go in all the sales associates are working the tux rental and there's no one to help you. They used to be so good there, bummer.

Trunk Club has filled the void very nicely. Sizing is a challenge but after a few trunks they have me nailed down. It's nice to talk to the same person every time who knows me and what I like.

[petrolhead611]

You should not wear blue shirts with brown shoes and belt.Neither should you wear brown shoes with a blue,grey,or black suit.Brown shoes are for brown clothes, and brown is for casual day wear only.Try Van Heusen for shirts and ties.- great selection