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The ultimate must-have and must-own, regardless of you're a fashionista or non-fashionista, is definitely the white shirt. A versatile piece of clothing, a timeless and effortlessly classic. One item that is known to dress you up to look formal, or can even dress you down to look casually cool. How many white shirts that one must own? Well, it depends on how many you wanna have them actually - at least a pair is a must.
Me, I have plenty of them coz I think white shirt is a very high maintenance item. Once it gets smudged with the dirt - your life is at peril. Too much washing with the bleach will tend to 'thin' the fabric and it shows coz white is the easiest to appear as 'sheer'. And the worst part, when the color darken with time - yup, something which I found quite interesting coz a perfect white shirt can turn slightly off-white or 'creamy' white as time goes by. Is it because of the chemical reaction out there in the atmosphere which allows redox to occur on the fabric? I dunno. It's a mystery waiting to prevail.
Just like any other shirts, I prefer the fabric not to be 100% cotton, otherwise it takes some effort to iron. Cotton mix is always my choice coz time is money. Nor it has to be too thin coz I don't like any vest underneath showing (except if I do go for sheer look). As of the fit, as you all already known by now, my fav is always the slimmer one to give the silhouette of skimming the body (by which sometimes by brother says, "It looks tight!"). I used to like the buttoned-down collar, but for more Brit's style the one without is much better. It's more mod! The best thing about white shirt is that though it may appear plain boring, it always make you look clean and chic no matter what bottom half you pair it with.
Anyway, Topman gives some of the selection of types of white shirts that you can find in their store. The key factor to me is always find the one that fit with the right kind of fabric - proven it'll last longer in your closet!
[pix from topman]
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