How Many Men's Dress Shirts Do You Really Need?

#dressshirts #mensshirts #notsponsored

So as a general guideline, how many shirts should you invest in when you're starting out and you're interested in a classic wardrobe?

I would say ten is the bare minimum.

so first of all the basics, I think every man should invest in ten dress shirts if they have somewhat of a use for dress shirts on a regular basis and you can check out which first those are in this video here. If you wear shirts to the office 10 is actually the bare minimum. I suggest having more like a three or four-week rotation which means 15 or 20 dress shirts.

Personally, I'm a big fan of pastel-colored shirts, light greens, or lavender, or yellow, but typically that's something you should add on top of the ten basics.

If you don't have to wear a dress shirt to work and you don't like wearing dress shirts, I suggest you have at least three dress shirts that you can always rely on. One is a white dress shirt ideally with French cuffs for cufflinks without a chest pocket and it's something that you can wear for anything from a job interview to a funeral to a wedding or any kind of other formal events. If you don't have cufflinks or you don't want to invest money in them, go with a single barrel cuff which is also known as a button cuff. If you want to invest in cufflinks I would suggest you get one pair in gold and one pair in silver in a very traditional style without any diamonds or colored stones. Personally, I would choose a monkey fist knot cufflink because they're versatile, they're classic, and it's something you could wear with any kind of outfit. If you know that you attend black-tie events sometimes it also pays to invest in a tuxedo shirt.

The second must-have dress shirt you need even if you hardly ever wear dress shirts is a check shirt. Ideally, you get it with a button-down collar because it's more casual and you don't need to wear it with any form of neckwear and for that, you definitely want to have barrel cuffs or button cuffs and you can also have a chest pocket if you want.

The third shirt I think you should invest in is a denim shirt because it can really help to dress down other things, you don't have to iron it, it's something that is popular right now, and has been popular for the last few years. It's soft, it's hard wearing, and it's something that works well in the wardrobe.  

On the other hand, if you're a collector, a classic menswear enthusiast or simply a clothes horse, the sky is really the limit. Obviously, that's me and you can have just 10 shirts that are all in white but they can have different cuff styles, different collar styles, different weaves, different front plackets, different buttons, and all those little details make the shirts different and suited for different occasions. Of course, at this point, storage can be a challenge and basically, you can fold them and put them in drawers but I find that it takes up a lot of drawers and so I hang all of my shirts on specific shirt hangers that are not too wide so they don't take up too much space in my wardrobe. Personally, I use the ones from Butler luxury which served me quite well and match my much wider suit hangers.

So once you have all the basics covered, I suggest you go with pastel colors. Pastel pink, pastel lavender, green, you can have other shades that are combining those colors and just play with things. One color that's really underrated in men's dress shirts, in my opinion, is a subtle green. You can also add different kinds of patterns such as maybe a small houndstooth shirt or maybe a horizontal striped shirt or maybe stripes in an unusual color such as this one in kind of a light charcoal and yellow.

Of course, you can also experiment with different fabrics and different weights as well as finishes and on top of that, playing with a collar shape is probably the detail that has the biggest impact because it defines the V shapes and the triangles that lead to your face.
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Gentleman's Gazette

[ProgressivePatriot]

Another good one, Sven! I had one white dress shirt for 15 years or so. Hardly wore it. In the past year I've built up quite a respectable dress shirt collection of about 25. The first, and still best, advice started with your videos. Thanks again!

[elusana]

60??? WE NEED THAT CLOSET TOUR ASAP. THE ROOM MUST BE LARGER THAN MY HOUSE LOL

[childofthwild]

Only guy to give every detail one would ever need. just like a Gentleman!

[MultiMrMiles]

pastel colours are underrated, also many forget a light pink/ washed pink is an ultimate classic color for menswear, pastel can be awesome

[peterpan]

"it depends" 0:54 . Still can see the law student inside you ! good one Mr. Schneider, Grüße aus Deutschland

[accountnamewithheld]

If you find a dress shirt, OCBD or flannel that you like -- buy another! Having 2 of each shirt you !!like!! makes wardrobe management so much easier --- you can wear it again whilst one is in the wash!

[pal]

I had a favorite shirt that started to fray on the top edge of the collar. I was able to rip out the collar seam and turned the collar inside out. I sewed it back together and had a a perfect collar again. I was very proud of myself. It came out great.

[ardentdfender]

One the most important thing in starting with the dress shirts is to properly measure your neck circumference to get your neck size as well your arm length so you can start off getting properly fitted shirts.

[lorraineperron]

Since 30 years, I have 25 classic dress shirts all light colors and 25 more relaxed but still elegant to wear with suits or blazers, all on going changing rotation.

[pastrychefalfred]

I currently have about 10 or so, all lightweight blends. I live in South Louisiana USA where there is no such thing as seasons... All my shirts are solid colors, I never did like to wear patterns. I do my pattern through sweater vests and ties and i also have a big collection of lapel pins. Two white dress shirts, one casual, and one more formal with french cuffs.
They serve me well. I don't need that many because I am a chef so I spend most of my time in uniforms.

Now the flip side of that is my necktie collection.... I currently have around 350, possibly more... pretty sure its more...

[blackreazor]

I recently became a consultant for men's styling and I kid you not. I can't emphasize enough about neutrals and pastels. Also a healthy tiecollections is what ties it all together.

[theartistformallyknownasdi]

I tend to find I always need one more than I already have!

[ravipeiris]

Thank you Mr. Sven. I appreciate the fact that you are well traveled, something that is a hallmark of a gentleman to be considered "cultured".

[TheSimonsse]

you really deserve more subscribers ! you are providing us very high quality content and its always a pleasure!

[dmshampton]

Hey Sven, I consider myself a minimalist so I’ll probably be sticking somewhere in the 10-15 shirt range once I have my job. Is there any particular clothiers you recommend for a good all around quality and price for a persons first 10-15 dress shirts?

[KRW]

Winchester shirts. I've had a few colored shirts with white colors, but I never knew there was a name for them, . Thanx!!

[augustroesen]

Can you do one single video about teens (15-20) that want to dress more formaly?

[bloodydavid]

Uh, well: As someone working in Law, my closet contains a boring rainbow of blue shades 😅

[throdenday]

Love the video, as always but I have two questions...
1.) What would you recommend for the stains that accrue on the collar from wear?
2.) Where to go, for your first Overcoat for the winter months?

Thanks!

[GLAXxan]

there is no such thing as too many ;) but I would love to see some videos on storage of various garments