The Best White Dress Shirts for the Boardroom & Beyond

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission. Now that I’m nearing my mid-thirties, I can no longer coast on the handful of fast-fashion dress shirts I kept in rotation throughout my twenties. Between weddings, work functions, and the occasional date night, I’ve found that the cheaply made white button-downs with their yellowing collar just don’t cut it anymore, and more casual options (like linen shirts) can still make me feel underdressed. At a Glance: The Best White Dress Shirts for Men Editor’s Pick The Tie Bar Pinpoint Solid Long Point Collar Dress Shirt BUY NOW $68 Jump to Details Best Budget Pick Quince Organic Cotton Stretch Poplin Dress Shirt BUY NOW $39.90 Jump to Details Best Formal Pick J. Press Thomas Mason White French Cuff Dress Shirt BUY NOW $225 Jump to Details Best Wardrobe Staple Pick Wills Daily Driver Shirt BUY NOW $82 Jump to Details Best Oxford Pick Brooks Brothers Cotton Pinpoint Oxford English Collar Dress Shirt BUY NOW $228 Jump to Details Luckily, I think we’re in the golden age of buying off the rack. As customers have gotten savvier and brands work to bring some of the techniques and quality of high-end tailors to the masses, the result is a market filled with well-made white dress shirts in just about any style you can imagine. Whether you’re married to the Oxford or like to flirt with a French cuff, many brands are moving away from one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter silhouettes and leaning into traditional tailoring practices to offer more sophisticated alternatives to the department store giants that have traditionally dominated the space. How We Chose the Best White Dress Shirts The thing about white dress shirts is that they’re dictated by two complementary, and sometimes opposing, objectives: looking good and feeling good. Finding one that manages both comes down to fit, fabric, and style, along with how much you’re willing to spend. Fit: More often than not, you’re going to find terms like “traditional fit,” “modern fit,” or “slim fit” when shopping for white dress shirts. But what, in practice, do these actually mean? The definitions vary between brands, but they generally refer to how closely the shirt follows the body through the chest and torso. Depending on your body shape, a slimmer fit may be harder to pull off, while a traditional fit, with more room through the torso, won’t accentuate your stomach in the way a closely tailored shirt might. A modern fit usually falls somewhere between the two. The right silhouette ultimately depends on your personal taste, while still taking your proportions into consideration. It should follow your body without pulling across the buttons or leaving too much fabric beneath a jacket. Next, look at the arms and shoulders. The shoulder seam should sit at the natural curve of your shoulder rather than dropping down your upper arm. The cuff should finish just past your wrist bone, allowing a sliver of fabric to peek out from a jacket sleeve. Most dress shirts use neck and sleeve measurements as the guide by which the rest of the shirt is proportioned. The collar shouldn’t press against your Adam’s apple, but it should sit close enough that it doesn’t have a gap at the nape of the neck or dimple when buttoned. Together, these considerations should give the shirt shape while leaving enough room to move comfortably throughout the day. Fabric: Traditionally, dress shirts are made from cotton. It is durable for repeated wear, while lightweight enough to pair with a jacket. But what you may find is that cotton alone may not be enough, and these properties are often enhanced with a synthetic like Lycra or lyocell, which can add additional stretch or breathability for added comfort. Oxford cloth, which is my personal preference, has a slightly heavier feel and a visible basket-weave texture. It is softer and more casual than poplin, which has a smoother surface and crisper finish. Twill is another common option, with a softer hand and a subtle diagonal weave that tends to show fewer wrinkles. Linen, flannel, and other fabrics can also work, but they are more dependent on the weather and setting and not really considered as dressy as their more traditional counterparts. Style: Dressing up can be intimidating, as many rules from traditional tailoring still influence how we judge menswear. You don’t need to know all of them, but understanding a few key terms will make it easier to choose the right shirt. Start with the collar. A spread collar has wider points and a more formal appearance, especially when worn with a tie. A point collar is narrower and works across most business and formal settings. I personally opt for a button-down collar because I prefer the look, though its softer construction does tend to put it on the more casual end of the spectrum. From there, consider the cuffs. Barrel cuffs fasten with buttons and are the most versatile choice for regular wear. French cuffs fold back and require cufflinks, making them better suited to more formal settings. Price: Last but not least, budget comes into play. Like most things in life, dress shirts fall across a wide gradient of prices. More expensive doesn’t always mean better, but higher-priced options will usually offer more variety, more elements of traditional tailoring, or, at the very least, a wider range of sizing than Small, Medium, and Large. Once you have all of these factors in play, you’re set to find the right dress shirt for you. The following options hit those marks while covering a range of budgets, giving you plenty of choices for the next time you need to look – and feel – your best. The Best White Dress Shirts for Men Editor’s Pick The Tie Bar Pinpoint Solid Long Point Collar Dress Shirt ➤ 100% cotton➤ Pinpoint collar➤ Trim fit If you’re looking for an option that won’t break the bank and holds up after repeated wear, The Tie Bar’s selection of dress shirts is an all-around favorite in the Braley household. Its non-iron shirts punch well above their weight in terms of price-to-quality ratio, holding their shape through a full day of wear. They’ve also become my go-to when traveling through Europe, when I’m afraid my travel steamer will explode if I try to use it with a voltage converter. While I’m partial to a button-down collar, I like the extended point collar on this one, which gives it a slightly dramatic, elegant look at a sub-$100 price point. Best Budget Pick Quince Organic Cotton Stretch Poplin Dress Shirt ➤ 98% cotton, 2% lycra➤ Semi-spread collar➤ Classic or slim fit Quince’s domination of the closets of even the most steadfast menswear enthusiasts will undoubtedly be studied in textbooks one day. The brand often offers quality that exceeds expectations, and its organic cotton poplin dress shirt is no different. While I’m sometimes ambivalent about a synthetic blend, the 2% Lycra here helps the shirt keep its shape and adds a bit of stretch, making it a great option for long days at the office or even just looking fresh from your commute. The semi-spread collar and button cuffs keep it classic and fairly nondescript, while the sub-$40 price makes it possible to keep a few in rotation throughout the year. Best Formal Pick J. Press Thomas Mason White French Cuff Dress Shirt ➤ 100% cotton➤ Moderate spread collar➤ Classic fit➤ French cuffs There are a few milestones in a man’s life that really prove he’s growing up: the first time he shaves, his first beer, maybe learning to drive a stick. For me, it was the first time I had to wear cufflinks. It felt so grown up, so fancy, attaching these useless little things to my wrists for my cousin’s wedding. So, if you have a special occasion where cufflinks are in order, J. Press’ French Cuff Dress Shirt would be the perfect pairing. Best Wardrobe Staple Pick Wills Daily Driver Shirt ➤ 98% cotton, 2% spandex➤ Spread collar➤ Classic fit You may be familiar with Huckberry’s Flint and Tinder brand, but do you know about Wills? The retailer’s in-house label focuses more on tailoring and formalwear, making it easy to build out a wardrobe with a few key pieces in regular rotation. Its aptly named Daily Driver has many of the features you might want in a dress shirt if you’re not really a dressing-up kind of guy. First, it comes in a fairly inclusive size range, from extra-small to 3XL. The two-ply 80s cotton yarn is smoother and stronger than the average dress shirt, while the added Spandex gives it some stretch and helps it keep its shape throughout the day. Perhaps best of all, it’s machine washable, so you don’t have to be too precious with it or treat it with kid gloves. Best fit options Eton Signature Twill Shirt ➤ 100% cotton➤ Cut away collar➤ Super slim, slim, contemporary, or classic fit The thing is, even when traditional dress shirts are sized by your sleeve length and neck measurement, that only tells a fraction of the story. Taken in isolation, my measurements make me something of a sartorial circus freak: thick-necked, long-limbed, and slim-waisted. Luckily, brands like Eton offer a round hole for my otherwise square-pegged proportions. Eton has four fit options – Super Slim, Slim, Contemporary, and Classic – along with multiple sleeve lengths and the option to customize your measurements. Couple that flexibility with the simple fact that Eton makes some of the cleanest designed shirts on the market, and it’s one of the first brands I recommend to anyone who has never felt comfortable in anything off the rack. Best non-dressy pick Billy Reid Arnie Oxford Shirt ➤ 100% cotton➤ Oxford collar➤ Standard fit In my kitchen, I avoid gadgets that only have one job, like a garlic press or a cherry pitter. So shouldn’t the same rule apply to my closet? That’s the appeal of the Arnie Oxford by Billy Reid, which has all the merits of a proper dress shirt, but done in a more laid-back way. Part of that comes down to the fit, which leaves a little more room through the body, while the 100% cotton fabric makes it comfortable enough for all-day wear. But it’s the small details that Billy Reid does well, like the mother-of-pearl buttons and twill reinforcement at the neck and cuffs, elevating the Arnie above the run-of-the-mill button-down already in your closet. Perhaps the most eye-catching detail of all, though, is the chest pocket, which sits on the right-hand side in a nod to golfers who once stored their tees and scorecards on the right side when playing. Best Office pick Bonobos Weekday Warrior Dress Shirt ➤ 97% cotton, 3% elastane➤ Point collar➤ Slim, standard, or tailored fit If your Covid-era work-from-home days have long since passed, you’re probably all too familiar with the need for a few ol’ reliables for the work week. If you want something that’s wrinkle-resistant, has a little stretch, and has a clean silhouette to pair with a suit and tie, the Weekday Warrior is my personal go-to when I have to visit my company’s home office. And if after a while you’re tired of rotating through a few neutrals, Bonobos currently has a whopping seventeen colors available to choose from, giving you a few possibilities to try out when you want to flirt with your office crush by the water cooler. Best Oxford Pick Brooks Brothers Cotton Pinpoint Oxford English Collar Dress Shirt ➤ 100% cotton➤ English spread collar➤ Slim fit Holding the title of being America’s oldest continuously operating clothing brand, I think it’s safe to say that Brooks Brothers knows a thing or two about menswear. That’s also the reason many traditionalists consider Brooks Brothers to be the gold standard for dress shirts. Couple that heritage with Brooks Brothers’ use of Thomas Mason fabric, and you get what can only be described as the Platonic ideal of an Oxford shirt. Slightly lighter than traditional Oxford cloth, the pinpoint cotton has a smoother feel and sits better beneath a suit, while the English spread collar and signature six-pleat shirring at the cuffs really hammer home that, even two centuries on, Brooks Brothers isn’t phoning anything in.