The London Lounge

Without going bespoke, what options are out there for a shirt to be worn with morning dress?

I would like a white shirt with a detachable collar and linked cuffs (single or double). The best selection of collars I've seen online is at the Vintage Shirt Company. However, they only have one or two shirts that may be acceptable for this purpose.

In regards to the shirt itself, many of the shirts I've found online are from sites that seem to cater to the "historical" crowd. Most of these shirts have a bib front. Would that have been accurate? I thought bibbed fronts were only for evening wear.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

Mike

I'd say any shirt with a white, moderately spread collar (it needn't be detachable) with French cuffs (white or self fabric) will do fine for morning dress. No bib. The body may be white, pink, blue, champagne, striped...

Sound advice. You will only see regular double-cuffed shirts and ties during the English summer social calendar, no winged shirts or "cravats."

You can buy readymade shirts (white or finely striped), variously marketed as 'collarband' or 'tunic' shirts. They are not really tunic shirts as they open all the way down but they are collarless and you can just add a stiff, separate folded collar -the Cameron available at New & Lingwood is a nice spread. I think that a starched collar is much crisper than a soft one. Moreover, wing or arrow collars are still there for full evening dress or even black tie (if the shirt is stiff) but I think that they look a bit 'retro' in the daytime.
NJS

Thank you for the information. I will have to look at some of the options that are out there. I guess that one of my questions would have to be, is it acceptable to wear a shirt with a bibbed front (not stiffened)? An example would be this one found at Vintage Shirt Company.



Thanks,
Mike

Unless you plan to have the shirt made in voile and you fear your chest hair might show through a single layer, what would be the benefit of a bib (which only you and your wife would know about)? If the ceremony is to take place in the warmer months, that would be another argument against it. As far as "rules" are concerned, I don't recall any code still in force today that recommends bibbed shirts for morning dress. Why complicate things (spats etc.)? Your dress should be simple and elegant - let the bride be pretty!

Whatever you choose and I would go for a collar attached white shirt with plain gold chain link cufflinks, wear it at least once before your wedding day to make sure it fits you and you photograph well in it. My own shirt did not have enough tie space at the collar and though it was a minor thing if I had noticed it before I would have worn another one.

Costi wrote:Unless you plan to have the shirt made in voile and you fear your chest hair might show through a single layer, what would be the benefit of a bib (which only you and your wife would know about)? If the ceremony is to take place in the warmer months, that would be another argument against it. As far as "rules" are concerned, I don't recall any code still in force today that recommends bibbed shirts for morning dress. Why complicate things (spats etc.)? Your dress should be simple and elegant - let the bride be pretty!

That is interesting. I hate spats, except in parades with uniforms. What of the past to keep and what to let go? Spats, I don't even like to see them in history books. That is how ugly I think they are.

The bibed shirt looks nice.