Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices. We begin the week in splurge mode, with our most expensive suggestions, and wind our way to Friday, where a less expensive item of clothing might be just what you need to make it to the weekend.
Today’s TPS report is written by City Girl, who writes about a variety of topics pertaining to city living as a professional woman, including beauty and fashion for the workplace.
This shirt is a winner – and this is coming from a complete skeptic when it comes to cotton no-iron shirts. In fact, even though it fit well, I initially bought just one to try it out. I wore it and washed it (delicates/cold cycle, for your reference) and hung it up. Then I sighed, as it had some wrinkles at that point. I figured I would at least have to iron the collar and the cuffs, which invariably happens with so-called no-iron shirts. But no – the next morning the shirt had no wrinkles, and the cuffs and collar had somehow stiffened up. I have no idea what the technology behind it is, but I am sold – I have already bought two more of those shirts and they have held up just as well so far. I also really like the fit, as it is fitted, but not overly so. I wore one of these shirts on an awful 90-degree-summer-hit-DC-way-too-early day, and the shirt was comfortable and still looked good at 8pm, despite not having been starched by the cleaners. Final note: this rave review for the fitted cotton no-iron shirt. I did not find the classic version to fit as well, and it had French cuffs, which require ironing to look good, no matter the material. The fitted version has very simple cuffs. $59 in a variety of colors at Banana Republic. Women: Fitted non-iron shirt – Light citrus
socal
“I have no idea what the technology behind it is, but I am sold…”
City Girl, I hate to break it to you, but the “technology” is usually formaldehyde resin. Personally, I’d rather iron my shirts than knowingly expose myself to a carcinogen on a daily basis. For that reason, I avoid non-iron shirts like the plague.
Anonymous
I love this shirt, but bananarepublic.com has been out of a lot of sizes/color combos for quite a while. I am not into citrus so I guess I’ll have to wait!
j
I am rather busty, and I find that BR’s fitted shirts don’t (ahem) accommodate my assets very well. Their classic shirts fit me perfectly though, but alas there is the French cuff problem.
J
I’ve never tried BR’s no-iron shirts, but I wear the Brooks Brothers ones pretty religiously. They are pricey, but worth it, and they do go on sale and/or are available from outlets. I have a couple of the semi-fitted or fitted ones that have french cuffs, and I NEVER have to iron them. They come out of the dryer looking perfect. Am I just lucky?
Anon_K
Anyone know if these shirts can be put in the dryer without shrinking?
I bought a couple of the classic fit ones — just couldn’t get the sizing right on the fitted ones, I was in between 2 sizes. Don’t really care for the french cuffs, but whatever.
y
I have been looking for a cotton long-sleeved shirts that don’t required ironing, this is good info, thanks. I always thought Brooks Brothers was the only one who had them!
Housecounsel
I love Banana, but I have the same problem as “j” with the fit of these shirts. Gaping buttons at bra level = not so attractive.
Cristi
Lands End online also has no-iron shirts….and if you don’t like them you can return them for free at any Sears.
lawyer
Eddie Bauer also has noniron shirts, and some of theirs have a bit of stretch to them. They fit a little bigger than I’d like (the sleeves are really roomy for some reason) but they don’t gap.
B
Two notes:
To Anon_K, these Banana shirts shrink over time like it’s their job (or at least mine of a year ago did) if you put them in the dryer. In fact, I heard from a menswear place that you’re supposed to put non-iron shirts in the dryer for five minutes, then take them out and hang them up. I am too lazy to do this, so I stick with Land’s End shirts, which I haven’t found to shrink, which leads me to note 2 . . .
I second the Land’s End suggestion. If you basically order a size down in a Tall, you get a fairly fitted shirt with a profile I found similar to my Banana shirt (pre-shrinkage). This might not work for the petite ladies out there, but it’s gotten my 5’9″ frame some perfectly fitted, well-behaved shirts.
lemonfire
banana also has non-iron *tailored* shirts which are roomier in the bust area. i personally don’t need it but i could get them a size down because they have some great colors in that style.
aks
br is great. also try van heusen and geoffrey beene for mens no iron shirts.