What Makes the Best Performance Dress Shirt?
Dress shirts are awesome. The button-down collar, the countless layering options, the way they look with chinos or khakis — these are all reasons why we love them.
Button-ups make us look and feel like our best selves. There are few feelings that rival the satisfaction of spending an extra few minutes getting ready to go somewhere cool.
Throw on some cologne, hair product, accessories, and a slim-fit stretch dress shirt, and you’ve got yourself one fun night ahead of you. Even if your style doesn’t necessarily include dressing up often, you can’t deny that great feeling you get looking at yourself in the mirror after you’ve gotten ready.
That being said, you need to get a performance dress shirt that’s just right for you.
11 Features That Make the Best Performance Dress Shirt
There are so many factors that go into making a quality performance dress shirt. We’ve taken the liberty of composing what we believe are the 11 most important things to look for. From the material to the versatility, there is no shortage of features that can upgrade an average dress shirt to elite status.
360-Degree Stretch Material
Your shirt needs to be able to move with you rather than against you. Whether it’s long sleeve or short sleeve, casual or formal, performance fabric is essential.
Parts of our best-sellingperformance dress shirts are made with spandex which helps to stretch the shirt out without leaving any damage or risking discomfort. Our material offers a complete 360-degree stretch, so no matter where you go or what you do, your shirt has your back (literally).
In addition to its unique stretchiness, our fabrics are also made with recycled polyester. Polyester is one of the worst fabrics for the environment. That’s why we use as much recycled polyester as possible so that less of it goes to waste (and pollutes the Earth in the process).
Combine eco-friendly materials with 360-degree stretch, and you’ve got one of the highest quality shirts a guy can wear.
Wrinkle-Free
Does anyone own an iron anymore?
If you do, you’re a better man than us. We think irons are an outdated and time-deficient method of making our clothes look good. Instead of wasting time and money ironing your shirts, you need a non-ironbutton-down shirt that doesn’t require any extra care.
Every All Citizens dress slim-fit shirt is wrinkle-resistant so that you can spend more time on yourself rather than your clothes.
We’ve all been excited to pull out our favorite nice shirt only to see its totally worn out, wrinkled, and shapeless. Since most of us don’t have an iron, we’re kinda stuck with a sub-par shirt. That’s just not right.
Wrinkle-free dress shirts are hard to come by, but All Citizens can proudly say our shirts never wrinkle.
Moisture-Wicking Fabric
Just like how wrinkles can ruin all of your excitement, pit stains might be even worse.
By the time you realize you’ve got stains, you’re likely going to already be out of the house and far away from any convenient clothes change. What can you do besides awkwardly avoid raising your arms at any point in time?
Well, one easy solution is to make sure your dress shirts have moisture-wicking properties like All Citizens does.
Sweat can’t evaporate without air. Our material pushes the sweat to the outermost layer so it comes into direct contact with air, eliminating any possibility of night-ruining pit stains.
If you’re planning on dancing the night away in your dress shirt, you’d better come prepared.
Machine-Washable
Nobody wants to spend more money when they could spend less.
Wearing apparel that can’t be washed in your own washer and dryer means you have to take it to the dry cleaners. You probably already own a few sweaters or blazers that are dry clean only. That means two extra trips out of your way to the cleaners on top of the cost of cleaning the clothes themselves.
So, why not buy a dress shirt you can clean and take care of in the comfort of your own home?
That’s exactly what All Citizens is offering. All of our performance dress shirts are not only washing machine-friendly but completely safe from any potential damage or stains that traditional dress shirts might attract.
Save the trips and the cash to the cleaners and go with something that will make your life a lot easier.
Better Color Retention
When you buy a new dress shirt, you want it to remain exactly that: new.
It’s like when you buy a car. Nothing beats that new car smell, and you go out of your way to avoid ruining it for months. The same thing goes for your new favorite shirt — you want to keep it as new as possible for as long as possible.
In cheap dress shirts, you’ll start to notice a few things after a while. The color will begin to fade after multiple washes, yellow sweat stains might begin to randomly appear, and the shirt will generally start to feel worn and old.
With All Citizens, you’ll never have to worry about wearing a shirt that you aren’t proud to take out on the town. Our light blue, light pink, and classic white shirts are guaranteed to still look brand-spankin' new after every wash.
Plus, they’ll keep their perfect fit after countless washes, thanks to its 360-degree stretch fabric.
Ultra-Durable
Piggybacking off color retention, every single one of our shirts is ultra-durable.
What does this mean? Well, while most brands use single-line stitching to save a few extra bucks, All Citizens uses reinforced stitching by double lining every inch of the shirt.
Don’t worry, this doesn’t make the shirt uncomfortable or heavier. All the extra stitching does is add some more protection to the shirt to fight any potential rips and tears.
When you combine this with the 360-degree stretch, you would actually have to try and rip our shirts to do any real damage. You can sleep safe and sound knowing your brand-new purchase won’t fade or rip so that you can stay looking as fresh as possible.
Tailored Fit
Fun fact: All of our shirts come with a tailored fit. Whether you’re shorter or in the “big & tall” category, we’ve got you covered.
Tailors are chill and all, but do you really need one when you can buy a regular-fit shirt that’s already done its job for you by the time you reach checkout?
The answer is a resounding no. Our tailored-fit dress shirts will allow you to strut your stuff anywhere and everywhere the minute they arrive at your doorstep.
There is a simmer on the arms with a narrow waist and broad shoulders, which allows your shirt flatter your figure. All Citizens offers off-the-rack unlike any other.
Hidden Collar Button and Perfect Button Placement
Two underappreciated aspects of dress shirts are collars and button placements. You may not think of either of these things as priorities, but luckily we’ve got you covered.
It actually makes a huge difference. The hidden buttons on the collar ensure it never falls flat and remains unseen to everyone. The built-in collar stays helps a ton, too.
The second and third buttons on our shirts are purposely placed lower to create a more modern collar and shape appearance. Again, these are minor details that make a big difference.
High-Set Back Yoke
If you’re hearing the word “yoke” in relation to a shirt for the first time, we’ve been there.
Our shirts have a high-set back yoke that helps to make the front and back pieces of the top of the shirt stay straight while broadening your shoulders. It’s important that our yoke is high-set so your fabric never gets wrinkled, and it gives a nice boost to your shoulders.
Once again, this is a very minor detail that can make all the difference. Some brands don’t even care about their yokes, but we do!
Versatile Length for Tucked or Untucked Wear
The length of your dress shirt has to be absolutely perfect.
If it’s too long, you’ll have an uncomfortable time keeping all of that fabric in place. If it’s too short, your shirt might not even tuck properly.
You want to be able to wear your shirt for multiple different occasions. Going to a bar with friends? Let your shirt hang loose for a more casual look. Job interview? Tuck that sucker in for a more presentable and professional vibe.
Whatever you’re doing — dressing up or down — your performance dress shirt needs to be able to accommodate you and your needs.
Affordable Price
At All Citizens, we pride ourselves on offering designer-quality apparel at half the price — and our dress shirts are no exception.
Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on one shirt, it’s best to go the cost-efficient route of owning an entire wardrobe with multiple colors rather than just one nice dress shirt.
That’s the thing — you can own way more than one dress shirt — you can own an entire army of dress shirts!
Maybe not that many, but you get the point. Stop spending your money where it doesn’t need to be spent, and go with the best brand: All Citizens.
Premium-Quality Dress Shirts for Every Man
No matter who you are or where you live, you deserve to live comfortably.
“Living comfortably” starts with one inexpensive dress shirt, t-shirt, or pair of pants, underwear, and socks. Again, you get the idea. Comfort shouldn’t be unaffordable.
All Citizens is dedicated to democratizing comfort for all. If our features and prices haven’t convinced you, you can check out our social mission here.
For now, keep on keepin’ on. We can’t wait to see you rock that new dress shirt.
Sources:
Can fashion ever be sustainable? | BBC
Back Yoke of a Shirt: Easy Tips to Make it Perfect | Sewing Is Cool
Why Do Stored Baby Clothes Turn Yellow? It's Not As Gross as It Sounds | Romper
