The Find: A Crisp Poplin Shirt
Feb 11, 2021
A crisp white shirt is timeless. It can be worn by a woman of any age, to nearly any occasion, in any season. What more could you want?
This Relaxed Fit Crisp Shirt from J.Crew is perfection. It’s a little bit oversized, tunic length, and crisp as could be. I bought two: one to wear for work or weekend, one to use as a swimsuit cover-up. It’s perfect for a Zoom call, even if you’re taking it poolside.
The shirt comes in petite and tall, and runs sizes 00-24. It’s a great shirt.
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I love the look of a crisp white shirt like this, but always dread the inevitable yellow pit stains that arise within single digit wears. And ain’t no way this girl can do a ~natural~ deoderant, I need the men’s extra strength. Any advice for wearing a crisp shirt like this but avoiding pit sweats or stains? I swear I’m a classy AF lady, but these logistics always bamboozle me.
Amen to the men’s deodorant…
Taking a cue from my husband (in addition to taking his deodorant) I wear an undershirt- mostly cotton, with short sleeves. Mine are from target, and I size down a little.
I loathe seeing undershirts under crisp tops, so I’ve gone the 50’s route and started making dress shields. Little fabric discs that pin in a take the sweat. Just pin them into the seam allowance so the pins don’t show on the outside. Also great for cutting down on dry cleaning. Pretty nerdy, but super effective. For non-sewists, these look like they’d do it.
https://www.amazon.com/KLEINERTS-UNDERARM-SHIELDS-SLEEVES-LIGHT-MODERATE/dp/B0057GT3J6?th=1
Other than that, soaking whites in Oxiclean helps, and the gel version is MAGIC for getting out stains and dirt. Leave it on overnight and wash the next day. Also amazing on cuffs and grotty necks, especially the ribbed fabric on things like bomber jackets.
Also, I wear men’s deodorant. I don’t know if it really makes a difference in terms of yellowing, but it might. Definitely helps with the darks as it doesn’t leave the white streaks. I have severe fragrance issues and weirdly one of the pit sticks that doesn’t make me die of headache is Old Spice Amber. It’s a nice sort of gender neutral scent, and comes in the sort of clear blue stick that doesn’t mark up darks. It’s also discontinued, which is a heartbreak.
White vinegar in your wash cycle.
Amazing tips – thanks all!!
Can you comment on the transparency / opacity of the shirt? The last two times I tried ordering white button-down shirts from J. Crew, I might as well have been wearing a Kleenex, they were so thin! Which was a shame, because they looked great otherwise.
They’re a little sheer, but I don’t mind that for this. If you need a thicker one, try BR or Talbot’s.
I love the look of a crisp shirt but I have found that my collars look a little sad after I wash. What do you do – starch the collars? Is there something I never learned?
In my work shirts, I sew in pockets for collar stays. In my relaxed shirts, I just iron with a little starch.