Loosen Up My Buttons, Baby!

Q: What do you think about shirts with button-down collars as an officewear or with a suit?
-- Stan, Greenhills

A: It’s perfectly fine for officewear with a tie and even for business casual. I’m not too hot about using button-downs for suits though unless the buttons are neatly hidden under the collars the way G2000 does it or using a snap on automatic button popularized by Giorgio Armani. Button-down shirts with visible buttons on the collars, for me, distract from the overall neat and polished look that you would like to exude when you’re wearing a suit.

White Collared Worker

Q: “What do you call those dress shirts where the cuffs and collar are white while the rest of the shirt is a different color/fabric?”
- Lito, Quezon City

A: I don’t know if there’s a real name for them, but I just refer to them as white collared dress shirts. I’ve heard other people come to my shop and refer to this shirt as a banker’s shirt, probably because it is mostly worn by people who work in conservative corporate attire environments like banks, consulting firms and law offices. It’s also a popular dress shirt among CEOs because it has a very top brassy, old rich kind of feel and looks best under a well tailored suit and typically with French cuffs. I wouldn’t suggest this shirt for very young upstarts because, for me, this is the kind of shirt you have to earn to wear.