Good Travel shirt for business??

Skip....here's a thread on another board that should answer your question:

Mens' Travel Shirts

I had a couple of non-iron dress shirts in cotton blends that I was experimenting with. I was looking for something to take on a cruise to wear on formal nights. I was most happy with a Calvin Klein no iron shirt, it seemed to have the fewest wrinkles after line drying or ironed up easily.

I just moved to a new home and accidentally gave more than half my shirts to charity so I'm back to square one.

The other shirts I like for business travel I got from Nordstrom rack, they are washable silk in solid colors and do well once ironed to stay looking good. They can be worn without ironing for casual but for business, I would want to iron them.

If you're travelling between continents on business it's very important that the shirt looks good with a jacket and tie.

For what it's worth this is what I do.

I buy two reasonably priced white business shirts from a supermarket in the UK called ASDA ( wall-mart is it's American name ).

I travel in one. Usually the clients meet me at the airport or send a car for me. If I go straight to the hotel I just change my shirt and trash the old one. Sink washing and laundry is no part of business travel - there's enough business to conduct without bothering about wash day hands. If I go straight to the office I just walk into the rest room change shirts and have a quick spray and get on with business. Again the old shirt gets trashed.

I then buy as many shirts as I will need when I get to the hotel and I put everything on my expences claim form.

Business is business and laundry is laundry - never mix the two.

In the US, you can't expense the purchase of business shirts.....what I do on business is take enough shirts up to 3-4 for my trip and if need be, have the hotel launder a shirt or two. That can be expensed.

However, I also travel with button down shirts for pleasure and find sink washing is no problem. I used to have a bunch of Van Heusen travel shirts. No wrinkles but sometimes didn't dry overnight.

Best shirts I ever had were from The Gap but they stopped making them years ago.

Thanks for all the thoughts and advice so far. I have been traveling with 2 to 4 shirts, and having them laundered can work well...IF there's a laundry available! Some of my trips require staying to smaller towns, and on a fair number of occasions there simply isn't a laundry around.

As to casual wear I agree, there are some really great shirts out there. I've had great luck with the clothing from Duluth Trading Co, they have great prices as well.

UPDATE: A friend just recommended this to me:

http://www.travelsmith.com/jump.jsp?itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&itemID=1563&fromNewSearch=true&mercadoResultId=0

It's a "dress oxford" made of Coolmax. Pricy, but my friend swears it looks and feels like a great cotton dress shirt! He also insists it can be sink-washed and will hang dry and end up very presentable. I've just ordered two, and I guess I'll know in a few days!

Skip

Keep us posted, Skip. My husband is anxiously awaiting your report.

Oddly, this is one area where women come out ahead in the clothing game. I can wear silk or microfibre or acrylic blend shells with a nice jacket for business and be fine.

Will do JER!

Yes, dress shirts is probably the only area where I have wardrobe issues. On top of everything else I have 'shape' issues. I played football through college, and still work out 5 days a week. So finding well fitting formal dress clothing (especially shirts!) for a 17-1/2" neck, 47" chest and 34" waist is bit challenging.

Let me know too....always looking for a button-down shirt that can be both for casual and business travel (looks good with a sport jacket), can be sink washed and dries quickly with minimal wrinkles.

Skip,

You might have a look at the website for the Tilley line of travel clothing. I use their products extensively when travelling, and it's been great!

Cheers!

I received my two shirts yesterday. My first impression? Wow!

The shirts really do feel like good cotton dress shirts, and the sizing information on the website is pretty much spot on. They look like standard business oxford botton downs for the world to see.

I wear oxfords quite often for business, and these feel really good. The material resembles a light to medium weight cotton to my fingers, are wrinkle and stain resistant, but are made of a Coolmax blend.

Now for the good part. I sink washed them twice, and they have air dried overnight on inflatable hangers...and they look great! Not exactly like they were freshly dry cleaned, but no noticable wrinkles or creases. I've just folded them in a bundle wrap, and I'm going to leave them there for 24 hours before I remove them and see how they look.

I'll follow up, but so far...impressive!!

Skip

Thanks, Skip. Now I know what to order as a Christmas present for my other half...

Ok, one more followup. I bundle-wrapped the shirts with a few other items and left them in my bag for 3 days. Took them out and hung them up. They looked remarkably presentable. The next morning I hung them in my bathroom while I showered, and after about 15 minutes in the steam they looked great.

So at this point, they seem to be a good solution to my search for good dress shirts for business. I'm still not thrilled about the price, but I think they're going to do the job quite well!

Skip