The White Shirt: Buying One and Keeping It White

FASHION · GLOBAL

The White Shirt: Buying One and Keeping It White

Fabric and fit, opacity, removing marks and washing

A white shirt is the garment most often bought and most often abandoned, usually because it has gone grey or yellow rather than worn out.

Fabric

Cotton poplin is crisp and smooth. Oxford cloth is heavier, textured and more casual. Twill drapes softly and creases less. Linen is coolest and creases enormously.

Check the composition. A little elastane adds comfort and shortens the garment's life, and high polyester content traps heat and yellows with age.

Opacity

The most common disappointment. Hold the fabric up to a light before removing the tags, and check what shows at the shoulders and across the back, where fabric stretches.

A heavier weight or a double-layer yoke solves it. A neutral rather than white underlayer shows less than a white one.

Fit

Shoulder seams at the edge of the shoulder, which cannot be altered affordably. Sleeve ending at the wrist bone. No pulling across the bust or the back when the arms come forward.

Why white goes grey and yellow

Grey comes from detergent residue and from washing with coloured items. Yellow comes from body oils, deodorant and sun exposure, and from chlorine bleach reacting with residue.

Chlorine bleach yellows cotton over time, which is why it is the wrong answer for whites in the long run.

Washing

Wash whites together, not too full, with the correct detergent dose — too much leaves residue, too little leaves soil. An oxygen-based whitener rather than chlorine bleach.

Treat underarm and collar marks before washing, since deodorant residue sets with heat. Dry in sunlight, which bleaches naturally.

Ironing and finishing

Iron cotton slightly damp on a hot setting, working collar, cuffs, yoke, sleeves then body. A shirt hung immediately on a shaped hanger stays pressed.

Steamers are faster and do not give the crispness of an iron on cotton poplin.

When to replace

Fraying at the collar and cuffs, thinning at the elbows, or permanent yellowing. A worn collar can sometimes be turned by a tailor on a well-made shirt.

Layering it

A white shirt works under a jumper, open over a t-shirt, and on its own. Buying one slightly roomier than a fitted shirt makes all three possible, which is why an oversized white shirt gets worn constantly.

Check what shows through when layering, since a dark garment underneath reads clearly through fine white cotton.

Buy a second of any shirt that fits particularly well, since makers revise their patterns quietly.

Storage

Hang on a shaped hanger rather than folding for long periods, and store away from direct sunlight, which yellows white fabric even inside a wardrobe over months.

WHERE TO BUY

Ready to shop You Know Who's? Use the link below to visit the official store.

→ Shop You Know Who's — official site

Visit this site