Author Topic: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?  (Read 4880 times)

FrugalFisherman10

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With all the fellow bikers here, I imagine there are some other guys who also have to keep look pretty "put together" at work. I've been biking into work a lot more lately, and have finally started to notice the impact a good 'non-iron' type fabric can have on my appearance after being in a bag on my bike or my backpack.

(I have tried out the 'garment pannier' from Nashbar in the past, but didn't feel that it
a) kept the wrinkles out of my clothes that much more than a regular bag would,
b) didn't have much carrying capacity or places to hook things to, if I wanted to carry something other than my clothes and a few toiletries. Like say, my lunch...
c) was REALLY hard to get on and off the bike. Those straps are supposed to be strong, but goodness..I found myself wrestling with that thing alot.. Most likely because the bungies to connect to the bike were not 'worn in' yet.)

Back to the shirts...So I have some banana republic and brooks brothers non-iron type cotton shirts, and I really do think they make a difference in my ability to feel like I look decent going into the office after showering. If I put them in the pack in the morning, they will show up to work not too wrinkled.
They aren't mustachian I admit..when there are alternative dress shirts avaialble for a quarter of the price. [Comparison based on usually getting those nice shirts on sale for between $40 and maybe up to $50. And the cheap alternatives at places like TJ Maxx or Marshalls being marked down to around $14.99 or so.]

I'm looking into adding some more of these non-iron type dress shirts, maybe just one or two and I should be covered. But before doing so I wanted to know if I was missing something. Has somebody found another good alternative to either of these brands, an alternative material (wool dress shirts are bad ass and are a thing..but are even more expensive), or anything else I may be missing?

BrightFIRE

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2018, 01:31:27 PM »
You didn't say how you pack them, but that can also have a difference. Rolling instead of folding, or folding 1 shirt inside another (say a T) can make a difference. Watch some "how to pack" videos on Youtube - there are strategies for folding where the wrinkles will be less visible.

I bought one of those "pack it system" type clothing bags for carry-on-only travel that has an insert you fold the shirt around then slide the insert out. We almost never need to iron our clothes when we travel, even after they've been in the suitcase for 12 hours.

benstagram

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #2 on: July 21, 2018, 12:48:05 AM »
I haven't tried them yet, but Uniqlo dress shirts are pretty highly rated and are $30. I'm planning on trying them the next time I need work shirts. I'm not sure about shirt sizing, but some of their clothing runs smaller than typical US sizes. I made an order a couple weeks ago and they had free shipping on anything at that time, so that might come around once in a while if you watch it.

https://www.gq.com/gallery/best-dress-shirts-under-75-dollars

Dave1442397

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #3 on: July 21, 2018, 08:22:21 AM »
A friend of mine drives to work on Monday morning, with his bike in the car along with a week's worth of work clothes. He then rides to and from work, showers and changes there in the morning, and drives home on Friday evening.

FrugalFisherman10

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #4 on: July 21, 2018, 08:50:32 AM »
A friend of mine drives to work on Monday morning, with his bike in the car along with a week's worth of work clothes. He then rides to and from work, showers and changes there in the morning, and drives home on Friday evening.
I do a similar thing for my food..I drive my car in on Mondays with my week's worth of food (assuming I've cooked/prepped it all on sunday), and leave it in our fridges at work. Then I drive home that evening and start biking tuesday - friday.
Never thought of leaving my clothes in my car (hanging) and leaving my car at work all week. I could bike home monday evenings.

That's a promising idea. just seems like it would mean not only would I need to have all my food prepped on sunday, but also all my clothes ironed and ready to go on sunday. Not terrible...but sometimes I just want to be able to prep a little the night before each bike ride and then go. hmm..will have to think on that one.

This week I realized I have a spot I can leave my shoes at work at my desk. I have to walk into work from my bike ride (after my shower) with my nice clothes + my highlighter colored tennis shoes on though...so I look kinda funny on the way in haha.

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I bought one of those "pack it system" type clothing bags for carry-on-only travel that has an insert you fold the shirt around then slide the insert out. We almost never need to iron our clothes when we travel, even after they've been in the suitcase for 12 hours.
I just checked out the Pack it folders/envelopes by Eagle Creek. These seem really promising. I will often take care to steam or iron my shirts and pants, fold or roll them (how ever I'm feeling that day), and think "great, that looks nice". Then go to put them in my bag on my bike and they just get squished/compressed in weird ways because they don't have any structure to them. The bag itself even compresses them some with how tightly it must be bound/secured to my bike.
So, if they were in a packing folder, they would have that built in structure and could slide easily into my bike bag! My birthday is coming up, so I think i'm going to ask for one of these.

Only concern is, if I only want to put a single shirt and pair of pants in there each day, will they have too much room to move around within the folder? Thus defeating the purpose of the folder? The folder seems to hold something like 12 shirts or pants..not sure if I read that right...seems like a single days worth of clothes will have a ton of extra room . Although I also will include a clean undershirt, underwear and socks, so maybe that will help take up some room.

I haven't tried them yet, but Uniqlo dress shirts are pretty highly rated and are $30. I'm planning on trying them the next time I need work shirts. I'm not sure about shirt sizing, but some of their clothing runs smaller than typical US sizes. I made an order a couple weeks ago and they had free shipping on anything at that time, so that might come around once in a while if you watch it.

https://www.gq.com/gallery/best-dress-shirts-under-75-dollars
Thanks - I'm checking these out as well. I've looked into them before but then talk myself out of taking a risk on the sizing. A friend of mine had some for a while but he ended up blowing out the elbow sleeves (holes) on all of them he said.

Samuel

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #5 on: July 24, 2018, 09:54:32 AM »
I just checked out the Pack it folders/envelopes by Eagle Creek. These seem really promising. I will often take care to steam or iron my shirts and pants, fold or roll them (how ever I'm feeling that day), and think "great, that looks nice". Then go to put them in my bag on my bike and they just get squished/compressed in weird ways because they don't have any structure to them. The bag itself even compresses them some with how tightly it must be bound/secured to my bike.
So, if they were in a packing folder, they would have that built in structure and could slide easily into my bike bag! My birthday is coming up, so I think i'm going to ask for one of these.

Only concern is, if I only want to put a single shirt and pair of pants in there each day, will they have too much room to move around within the folder? Thus defeating the purpose of the folder? The folder seems to hold something like 12 shirts or pants..not sure if I read that right...seems like a single days worth of clothes will have a ton of extra room . Although I also will include a clean undershirt, underwear and socks, so maybe that will help take up some room.

I have and use one of those folders when I take decent clothes. It does a pretty good job keeping nicer clothes wrinkle free, but isn't perfect. There are some light creases (similar to a brand new dress shirt, since that's basically how it's folded) that persist for a while until they work themselves out. I think it's better than most of the alternatives since it does keep everything flat and stable.

I think I have the medium, which supposedly fits 12 items although I've not come close to that. There is a small too, but the dimensions are also smaller so the crease pattern would be different. Either should work fine with 2-3 items, the capacity seems to be determined by how long the closing flaps are. One thing I like is that for 1-3 day trips I'll sometimes just slide it in the (large) laptop sleeve of a regular backpack and don't need a full carry on.

Looking them up now they're more expensive than I remembered...

FrugalFisherman10

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #6 on: July 24, 2018, 11:04:35 AM »
Cool, thanks for the info about the sizes and all.

I'm really not that concerned about the price but that's interesting to know they've gone up.
A) I asked for one for my birthday, so if I get it from my mom (the only person he really buys me gifts these days lol) then I didn't have to pay for it.
B) and if I dont, I see it as cheaper than a single shirt..and if it enables me to continue using some of the shirts I already have that aren't that wrinkle resistant then that's a win, compared to going and trying to buy more of the really wrinkle resistant (and expensive) ones.

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Mrs Brightside

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #7 on: July 31, 2018, 09:29:44 AM »
My brother is in sales and he swears by the Nordstrom brand non-iron dress shirts. They come in a lot of colors and patterns, seem to last forever. They aren't super cheap but if you get them during a sale (yearly sale going on now!) they are very reasonably priced especially for the life you get out of them. He doesn't iron them and says they stay looking pretty good all day. Nordstrom is generous with the return policy, and I'm sure you wouldn't have a problem returning a shirt for a refund if it didn't perform well enough for you. There are different fits, he's a lanky guy so he goes for the trim one. https://shop.nordstrom.com/s/nordstrom-mens-shop-trim-fit-non-iron-dress-shirt/4002754

HoustonSker

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #8 on: August 01, 2018, 06:55:59 AM »
I have heard good things about Nordstrom dress shirts however haven’t tried them. A few years ago I got some Charles Tyrwhitt dresss shirts, specifically the non-iron cotton and won’t try anything else.  They have lots of colors, patterns etc. and you can basically customize to your body type - sleeve length, collar size, type of collar, type of cuff, and body type.  I will snag 4-6 every time I see a deal, usually between $30-40/shirt.

BTDretire

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #9 on: August 02, 2018, 02:22:40 PM »
I'm not a much of a clothing guru, but I have noticed certain shirts that were wash and wear and had excellent durability.
 I put excellent because they lasted a long time. They also never needed ironing, although I'm good at getting clothes
out of the dryer at the right time.
The two that I recall were both 65% cotton and 35% polyester.
I did a little search and found this,
https://www.quora.com/Why-do-some-manufacturers-add-polyester-to-their-cotton-blends

The down side of polyester is it doesn't breath, Personally, I never noticed a problem at 35%, YMMV.
https://www.sewingpartsonline.com/blog/411-cotton-vs-polyester-pros-cons/

beattie228

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #10 on: August 02, 2018, 03:28:11 PM »
Brooks Brothers non-iron shirts have been the best I've found. When I travel, I hang it up when showering and whatever small wrinkle was there is instantly gone. They can be pricey, but there's usually a big sale 3 times a year.

Dicey

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #11 on: August 17, 2018, 09:16:15 AM »
I sold men's clothing at Nordstrom for a decade and I agree their shirts are great. Even better are the Costco men's dress shirts. They're priced really well (about twenty bucks, IIRC), very good quality, decent selection. You coild save the cost of a membership on no-iron dress shirts alone.


ixtap

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #12 on: August 17, 2018, 09:48:46 AM »
We buy tech polos, mostly golfing shirts, at clearances, mostly Kohl's and Dick's.

elaine amj

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #13 on: August 17, 2018, 04:01:30 PM »
A small bottle of spray water accompanied by a few brisk tugs can instantly release some of the minor wrinkles. Not the absolute greatest on dress shirts but works relatively ok on non-iron dress shirts.

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chasesfish

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #14 on: August 17, 2018, 04:04:26 PM »
I know a thing or two about shirts!

Kirkland slim fit non-iron work incredibly well.  $18/each at Costco when you can find them.

GrumpyPenguin

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #15 on: August 21, 2018, 12:00:27 PM »
I sold men's clothing at Nordstrom for a decade and I agree their shirts are great. Even better are the Costco men's dress shirts. They're priced really well (about twenty bucks, IIRC), very good quality, decent selection. You coild save the cost of a membership on no-iron dress shirts alone.

I bought some Costco dress shirts.  Even the "fitted" ones were large and boxy.  If someone has a large and boxy build, I highly recommend they give Costco shirts a shot.  On the bright side, their return policy is the best.

I buy mostly Brooks Borthers non-iron shirts on sale.  They're not that cheap, but I find their quality to be decent and they last me a long time.

chasesfish

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #16 on: August 23, 2018, 06:04:07 AM »
Interesting...I find the Costco shirts to be good, and I'm someone that really struggles with dress shirts/suits.  Higher build up top and smaller waste makes dress clothes in general hell.

I have also given up on the bagginess of shirts in the middle to get the room up top.

Suit pants are the death of me...the new "style" is just not appropriate for someone with 18+ years of squats and deadlifts in their life

Dicey

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #17 on: August 23, 2018, 08:38:01 AM »
I sold men's clothing at Nordstrom for a decade and I agree their shirts are great. Even better are the Costco men's dress shirts. They're priced really well (about twenty bucks, IIRC), very good quality, decent selection. You coild save the cost of a membership on no-iron dress shirts alone.

I bought some Costco dress shirts.  Even the "fitted" ones were large and boxy.  If someone has a large and boxy build, I highly recommend they give Costco shirts a shot.  On the bright side, their return policy is the best.

I buy mostly Brooks Borthers non-iron shirts on sale.  They're not that cheap, but I find their quality to be decent and they last me a long time.
Probably still cheaper to buy Costco shirts and have them tailored, or better still, learn how to do it yourself. Cheaper still is something I was taught was called a "military fold", which may be a misnomer:

Smooth front of shirt, pushing any excess fabric to the back. Reach your hands behind you, thumbs down. Pinch an even amount of fabric on either side of your spine and fold it over your thumbs (away from your spine.) Tuck in shirt. Works pretty  well and costs nothing, for the mustachian win!

ericrugiero

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #18 on: November 06, 2018, 10:29:38 AM »
I like the port authority polo shirts.  I think mine are the "silk touch" which is 100% polyester and pretty wrinkle resistant.  You can find them for about $10-$12 each. 

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Re: Mustachian Non-Iron Dress Shirts and polos - do they exist?
« Reply #19 on: November 06, 2018, 02:08:16 PM »
I have 10 dress shirts than I have been wearing on rotation for the last 4 years. 6 are Brooks Bros non iron and the other 4 are Charles Tyrwhitt non iron which can be had for ~$30 on occasion.

I waited for a sale and bought both batches at once, got them tailored and wear them everyday to work. If a shirt last and the cost/wear goes down, it becomes Mustachian.