As others have said above, a button down shirt implies that you have put some thought into your appearance.
There is also the opinion of some that successful people wear button shirts when it would be more convenient to just pull on a polo. Certainly everyone can come up with a dozen examples where this isn’t true, but there is a significant percentage of the population that does share the opinion, even if just subconsciously.
Then there is the datum that wearing a well fitting button shirt is the exception rather than the rule, thus making you more noticeable to those whom are noticing.
While I don’t disagree with anyone here, I do want to add that I’ve noticed a tendency for people to describe their own preferences (especially if shared amongst their friends) as universal, especially when flirting. So to this particular woman it might be as sexy as lingerie, but that other women don’t just see it as slightly dressy.
It’s also quite possible that the shirt in question happened to look really good on you. I definitely know people who give BS explanations when flirting, too. Granted, they usually are being more discrete than it sounds like these women were being.
Is there a difference between a dress shirt and a business shirt?
I wear a business shirt with suit and tie every day for work, none of my mostly female staff have tried to jump my bones yet. Does that mean i have the wrong kind of shirt or I’m just fugly?
[QUOTE=Wikipedia]
French, or double, cuffs, are twice as long and worn folded back on themselves. French cuffs were once considered to be more formal than button cuffs, although they are seeing a resurgence in the business environment, particularly in Europe. Even though traditionally French cuffs could only be worn with a lounge suit or more formal clothing (and not a sports jacket), this is now not followed by most, while some even wear these cuffs without a tie or jacket. They remain the preferred choice for semi-formal, black tie events.
[/QUOTE]
One of my HS classmates was on the heavy side and usually wore too-small clothing which gave him muffin-top. The one day he came in a well-fitting suit, he got so many compliments that he eventually asked us girls “so… all this just for wearing a suit?” “No, not really… the suit is nice, but the compliments are for wearing the right size!”
The key word is “well fitted”, more than anything else.
ETA: does “French cuffs” refer to the end of the sleeve? I’d always thought it referred to the piece of jewelry. What do you call the piece of jewelry? re-ETA: oh, cufflinks, I guess… well, lots of European ESL jewelers wouldn’t know.
My old joke about getting my wrists pierced to wear cufflinks with short-sleeved shirts is not as funny today as it was in the '80s. Because, back then, very few people had anything other than their ears pierced. That’s why it was funny.
Was it a business trip or a convention? That can play a big role in how some people act, you know the typical get crazy at the convention thing. Or were you a visiting manager or something, like a new authority?
[QUOTE=sparky!]
Shame on me for not trying the shirts on first. It’s getting to the point now where a “fitted” shirt today is almost a “slim” shirt a few years ago.
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We were shopping for shirts a couple of days ago. I think it was the Van Heusen shirts that had this helpful set of icons on the tag to indicate their “fitted” shirts are snugger than “slim” ones:
Yep! My husband gets bonus hotness points when he wears a pair of the subtly geeky cuff links I’ve gotten for him (The White Tree of Gondor, Imperial Cog. etc.).
Yes to buttoned shirt, preferably with collar, but even a decent thermal with a few buttons at the top. A crisp denim button down does it, too; it doesn’t have to be a dress shirt. Pair one of those with a pair of Levis, some sensible shoes (not dress shoes), throw on a suit jacket or blazer… oh yah. Tucked or untucked? Only untucked if the shirt isn’t longer than the jacket.
But, as others have said, it’s all about the fit. Not too tight, not too baggy.
I don’t know if it’s the contrast between dressy and casual that does it or what, but this is a look that has always turned my head (even now that I’m semi-old…)
I greatly prefer a dress shirt to a polo shirt. I hate polo shirts almost as much as I hate men wearing athletic shoes on a date or to work. Buy some real shoes for god’s sake!
