Men - How many dress shirts do you own?

**krantcents** · 01-20-2015, 04:17 PM

When I used to wear dress shirts, I had about 10 shirts. Just enough to send about 5 out and still have a week's worth. I would replace shirts as they wear out to keep it even.You may want to keep a spare if you have to change during the day for various reasons.

**disneysteve** · 01-20-2015, 04:55 PM

Originally posted by krantcents View Post

When I used to wear dress shirts, I had about 10 shirts. Just enough to send about 5 out and still have a week's worth. I would replace shirts as they wear out to keep it even.You may want to keep a spare if you have to change during the day for various reasons.

Were all of them the same, like all white, or did you wear all different colors and patterns?

**Scanner** · 01-20-2015, 05:05 PM

Yeah, I wouldn't swear to it, but about 5 button shirts that could be worn with a tie (dress shirt). But I don't wear a dress shirt every day.

10 does seem about right. . .for someone who does.

Oh, as far as shirt sleeve, when i was in student clinic, someone said, "If you wear a short sleeve shirt (with a tie), it makes you look like a refrigerator salesman." So for the longest time, I eschewed wearing short sleeve dress shirts. (LOL - he was kinda right)

Until one summer it was a summer in NJ and I said, "Expletitive! I don't care if I do look like a refrigerator salesman. . .I am wearing a short sleeved shirt if it's 95 degrees out and 95% humidity" So, yeah, I have about 3 of them.

**Scanner** · 01-20-2015, 05:09 PM

As far as colors, someone handed me the old dress for success book (and no book for men has come out since to match it's cultural dominance) when I was starting out.

White shirts.
White shirts with maybe a light pinstripe of types.
1 yellow shirt.

Your pants should be:

1 black
1 navy
1 olive green
2 gray/slate

Your tie should come to your belt buckle. There used to be a whole thing on shoes, but I want rubber soles on my shoes since I move around on them.

Have times changed on this? De-clutter to this, DS

**snafu** · 01-21-2015, 01:54 AM

DH rarely wears white dress shirts & tie as golf shirts, long sleeved in winter, short sleeved in summer are de rigueur. He has retained his 12, long sleeved dress shirts, two are light blue, two have small stripes, one is 'special' worn to formal events. He has a couple of short sleeved dress type shirts usually worn with chinos in summer or under a sweater, pale yellow and off white.

Doesn't it depend on when DW does laundry or how you use shirt service?

Our primary care MD no longer wears dress shirts but he was wearing a charcoal colour, long sleeved, knit shirt which is practical in our cold climate. He gave up on lab coats last century.

**disneysteve** · 01-21-2015, 05:19 AM

Originally posted by Scanner View Post

White shirts.
White shirts with maybe a light pinstripe of types.
1 yellow shirt.

Your pants should be:

1 black
1 navy
1 olive green
2 gray/slate

This doesn't describe my wardrobe at all. I have a wide variety of shirts. I'd hate wearing white every day. As I type this post, I'm wearing a light purplish shirt with black pants. I have plain blue, striped blue, burgundy, striped red, striped green, plain green, beige, brown, etc. That's part of why I'm having trouble narrowing down the number of shirts. It isn't like I have a closet filled with identical white shirts. I could see only owning 10 if I wore the same exact thing every day but I don't.

As for pants, that guide recommended owning 5 pairs? I suppose that's easier to get away with. People are less likely to notice if I wear the same pair of pants every week than if I wear the same shirt every week. That would mean they'd wear out faster and need to be replaced more often. Since I hate shopping for clothes, I'd rather have more clothes that last longer.

**HappySaver** · 01-21-2015, 05:52 AM

Ok, a quick closet check for DH reveals exactly 20 dress shirts (he only wears long-sleeved shirts to work, even in the summer). Only one is solid white. He has a lot of blue, some red/pink, a green, and a combo of stripes (most common), checked, and solids. A couple of these are really nice shirts he would wear to a wedding or dressier event.

Additional casual shirts (not for work, but button-down and not t-shirts either):
- 2 long sleeve (checked - one red, one blue)
- 3 short sleeved (combo of seersucker and linen/striped and solid/blue or green)

So, a total of 25. They fit fine in the walk-in closet and it doesn't feel overloaded. He has gotten rid of older shirts that he no longer wears as he has replaced them with newer ones, so this is current active inventory. He loves his shirts and is very particular about them. There is a current ban in the house on him buying new ones.

I also counted 6 dress pants (I think this includes suit pants, though, not sure of the ratio) and 2 nice jeans he can wear to work. Plus a 2 corduroys and an older pair of jeans for around the house.

**Leo** · 01-21-2015, 12:24 PM

In my previous job where I have to wear a dress shirt everyday, I have 5 for each weekday + 2 extra, just in case something happened and I can't do the laundry on the weekends or if I want to mix it up. Each is different color/pattern but mostly dark. I have 2 black pants. Only 1 black shoes. I do the laundry every week.

**johnlee** · 07-08-2015, 04:49 AM

T-shirt

I own almost more than 20 shirts. which i randomly wear.

**FrugalFish** · 07-08-2015, 06:38 AM

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

This doesn't describe my wardrobe at all. I have a wide variety of shirts. I'd hate wearing white every day. As I type this post, I'm wearing a light purplish shirt with black pants. I have plain blue, striped blue, burgundy, striped red, striped green, plain green, beige, brown, etc. That's part of why I'm having trouble narrowing down the number of shirts. It isn't like I have a closet filled with identical white shirts. I could see only owning 10 if I wore the same exact thing every day but I don't.

As for pants, that guide recommended owning 5 pairs? I suppose that's easier to get away with. People are less likely to notice if I wear the same pair of pants every week than if I wear the same shirt every week. That would mean they'd wear out faster and need to be replaced more often. Since I hate shopping for clothes, I'd rather have more clothes that last longer.

When DH switched jobs not too long back he thought he needed new long sleeved shirts. We culled out his long sleeve shirt collection and he had about 25-- I'm convinced this is how people end up with excessive clutter, because they fail to realize that they already have everything they need.

Anyhow, I wouldn't set a strict limit/number, but rather keep shirts that you wear and that you feel good wearing. If you have 20 shirts that you routinely wear, then keep all 20. You could always do that thing where you turn the hanger around on the rod, then you know which shirts you don't tend to pick, and those could be the ones to remove. Shirts wear out in time, and like you said, you hate clothes shopping- no better reason than that to keep what you already have, esp if you wear it. As natural attrition takes them, you will instinctively know when you don't have as many as you are comfortable with.

**jbjr12** · 12-18-2015, 08:58 AM

I probably have about 2 dozen dress shirts (all long sleeve). I wear a suit (without a tie) pretty much every day. I have a few in white and blue and the rest are a variety of colors and patterns.

I usually buy the best quality shirts I can afford, launder them myself, and always wear an undershirt so they last a long time.

I go through once a year and donate of anything I don't wear regularly.

Like you, I could probably get away with having less shirts if they were all the same color/pattern. But I like the variety.

**amastewa93** · 12-18-2015, 09:02 AM

My fianc� has five dress shirts and three pairs of dress pants for work. I think the key here is having different ties. If you have a different tie on, but you have the same "outfit," it's almost like a new outfit.

**Joan.of.the.Arch** · 12-18-2015, 09:15 AM

My husband has zero dress shirts. As a professor he dressed very casually. The last two times he wore a white shirt and tie was when he attended my grandmother's funeral in 1998, and when he interviewed for full time teaching in 1985. He is fond of 100% cotton (read 100% wrinkly) shirts. My estimate is that he owns fifty bazillion of these. Probably two thirds of them are plaid, yes 33.335 bazillion. plaid shirts.

He thinks wearing khakis with an ironed shirt is dressing up.

**LivingAlmostLarge** · 12-18-2015, 01:45 PM

10 polos and 10 dress shirts and 6 khakis. No more though and since he's doing a career shift I doubt he'll ever dress up again.

Men - How many dress shirts do you own?