If you have time, and you have Netflix, you might want to check out the episode list for the show Queer Eye and watch the clothing segments. I say check out the episode list because you will want to look for episodes with men, and perhaps men more your age and profession (but actually, I think the suggestions for most men will work.) Tan France gives pretty practical tips, and explains why he’s making the choices for them. In fact the goal of the fashion segments isn’t to just buy a few outfits for the subjects, but to show them how to pick out their own outfits going forward.
Here’s a segment on YouTube of Tan giving fashion advice to several guys. Perhaps you can find some help from that, too.
& that’s the problem with Jos A. Bank. If you need three suits (or two suits & three shirts & a belt &…), they’re a great deal; however, if you need one suit, you’re still paying just as much as if you got all of the ‘freebies’ but then I feel like a sucker for getting one for the price of three.
One thing to consider is the collar. I personally prefer that they button down (like in the picture above) which stay neat with or without a tie, but some shirts have spread collars or require collar stays (plastic inserts) to avoid them rolling over time.
This is the route I’ve taken. (Helps that I always preferred a V-neck to most tees. And play golf.) Just find a retailer whose shirts fit you well - Land’s End, LL Bean, Eddie Bauer - and buy a few in different colors. For winter, you can get a long-sleeved version.
I’d imagine you are likely a large/tall - given your long torso. But you might prefer the feel/look of an XL and/or a regular length. It helps if you can go into a store for size comparisons, but if you order a L/T and a L/R, you’ll be able to gauge the length and decide if you want the extra room in an XL.
Once you find a size/style that fits you, if you go with a large retailer like the ones I mentioned, should a shirt wear out or fade, all you have to do is look inside the collar to order another one of the same size from the same seller.
Knit polos do not require any special laundering or ironing, and they pack well without wrinkling. I go with 100% cotton - as the “smart” fibers tend to retain odor.
A button up shirt, either long or short sleeved, probaby looks a tad nicer. But it didn’t sound as tho the OP really cared about making some sort of fashion statement other than neat/clean/professional. So I offered the lower maintenance option.
Yep. Land’s End (linked above) carries some good Polo-style shirts at reasonable cost, they last a long time, and they put up with abuse. They pack well, and if you hang them up overnight, any wrinkles go away. To fit your body type mentioned above, order the Tall version, or Big and Tall, and they fit nicely - If you stretch your arms up, they still cover your stomach
Polo shirts are fine; I have about a zillion of them, but OP mentions that this is a European company and his/her first time meeting his counterparts. My experience having worked in in either European-based companies or in orgs a European branch is that they tend to dress a little nicer than many of my USAan peers. If it were me, I’d want to do better than a polo.
I like that the Lands’ End shirts don’t normally have logos or other obvious branding, which I find tacky. And I agree that a polo shirt might be a little too casual for the environment.
Solid advice also. I would recommend them for both polo type and button up or down shirts though or that was my intention any way. For the first go round I would get button shirts until I’d seen whether the group he wants to fit in with casuals down to polo type shirts. Especially if there will be non-American colleagues in the group. That’s a better-to-be-over-dressed-than-underdressed situation.
Lands End has great sales in both styles of shirts so you can check them out without banking the bank.
Probably about 16-17 shirt size. I’m slimmer than you, about 175-180 and just bought two Calvin Klein long sleeve dress shirts, one 16 (perfect!) and one 16.5 (unsurprisingly, a little big).
I love CK for myself and especially love finding good stuff at Marshalls, TJMaxx, etc: the shirts were $20 & $16, respectively. The bargain forced me to buy the shirt I’ll have to grow into, lol. Those stores have easy in/out fitting rooms, too. Otherwise, it’s also at Macy’s.
It may help to get sized by a salesperson at a department store or men’s store, who can measure your neck size and sleeve length (the usual measures for men’s shirts) and whether you need regular, slim or whatever fit works for you. Once you have that, you can buy shirts of the right size from discount stores or online. (I did this and now have a note on my phone with my shirt and suit size.)
I second this. Lands’ End shirts have the best quality for the price that I’ve seen for business-casual shirts. I wear long-sleeve button-down shirts for the colder months.
In the summer, I wear Ralph Lauren polo shirts.
For pants, I wear khaki trousers, typically from Lands’ End, L.L. Bean, or Eddie Bauer.
Yeah, it’s a notoriously vague term. It encompasses anything from a patterned polo, khakis, and relatively casual shoes, to basically a suit without the jacket.
As far as men’s shirts go, there are two primary ways to size them. The easiest is the “S, M, L” sizing - just buy what you normally wear. Most dress shirts are sold based on two measurements - neck circumference and sleeve length.
I’d personally opt to split the difference and go with a long sleeve dress shirt in a pale blue along with khakis, and more dressy shoes than otherwise. Kind of like @doreen’s image, but tucked in and wearing a belt that matches your shoes.
I always used to think the belt should match the shoes, but some years ago I recall being told that is no longer considered a rule. Not that I’m any fashion maven whose opinion matters or anything.
Yeah, in Europe a polo is more for the service staff rather than the professionals. Business casual has a very wide range and you might want to try to find out better what is expected. The suggested chinos and a button-down collar are absolutely at the scruffiest end of the range. Even a normal collar and proper trousers would be a much safer choice. At the smart end of the range, professional politicians in their blue suits and white shirts are ‘casual’ when they take off their ties. Be prepared for everyone else to be in fashionable suits (it is a possibility not a certainty). The difference between formal business suits and ties and business casual can sometimes just be that the colours and patterns of the suits, shirts and ties are a bit more exuberant. You’re going to wear leather shoes, right?
Pro-tip 1: if you do get a shirt salesman to take your measurements, be prepared to over-rule them and go for a collar one inch bigger. Some people think shirt collars should be ludicrously tight. Obviously, you need to try it on buttoned all the way up.
Pro-tip 2: business casual is more about attitude than choice of clothes. If you wear a banker’s charcoal chalkstripe suit but with a patterned shirt and black and white sneakers then that’s casual if you act like you think it’s normal comfortable relaxed clothing. This is easier to do if you understand and fully accept the fundamental truth that lounge suits really are comfortable relaxed clothing (there’s a clue in the name). You can even wear a tie, if you leave it loose with the top button undone. No one can say you’re too formal “in this shirt, in these shoes?” nor too casual “in a lounge suit?”
I’d say consider the audience. If I remember correctly, @Reply works in IT. I worked in IT in both the UK and UK for 35 years. If it’s a group of peers then dress like you would in an office in the US. In Europe the techies will be in jeans and t-shirts or polos. The sales folks will be suited & booted when seeing customers. If you want to go up a notch go with a polo (company branded is always appropriate) and chinos.
