The London Lounge

I want to buy a pleated dress shirt. I have several marcella-fronted ones and always thought the pleated version was naff, dated and a bit 70's..very much the poor relation here . Typically and irrationally I now desire one. All the good Jermyn St shops ( a very small number in my opinion nowadays compared to a few years ago ) do them -so they can't be that bad..can they? Any advice will be gratefully received. Say the word and I'll be in Budd like a shot

They're fine. I would stick with fewer and deeper pleats. The shirts with dozens of micro pleats look rented.

For me, it's more of a spring/summer look, when a Marcella front might be uncomfortably heavy. In general, I prefer the Marcella.

It's fine go straight to Budd, just don't go all the way back to the 70's

A good check is to see whether or not the pleats are actually folded into the body of the shirt. Cheats will buy a roll of ready-rolled pleats and sew them onto the front whereas a good shirtmaker will hand-pleat the front of the shirt.

"Budd", and do give a "cheers" to A. Rowley there.

The man is unmatched when it comes to formalwear--and a
true wit, as well.

Way back in the 70's, a brand named Albert Nipon used to do exciting tucks and pleats on women's clothes. Tucks were this brand's trademark.

I use both Marcella and pleated, evening shirts. Depending on your build and on the tuxedo you're planning to wear . . . exact, smoothly pressed pleats can add crispness to your ensemble.

charles wrote:I want to buy a pleated dress shirt. . . .

I do hope that you'll wear it only with a shawl-collared dinner jacket. To the eyes of my imagination, at least (for I don't think that I've ever actually seen the combination), a pleated dress shirt wouldn't look well paired with a true "tuxedo" (double-breasted, peak-lapelled dinner jacket). And, of course, it shouldn't be worn with "white tie".

RWS wrote:

charles wrote:I want to buy a pleated dress shirt. . . .

I do hope that you'll wear it only with a shawl-collared dinner jacket. To the eyes of my imagination, at least (for I don't think that I've ever actually seen the combination), a pleated dress shirt wouldn't look well paired with a true "tuxedo" (double-breasted, peak-lapelled dinner jacket).

They are certainly a classic pair with shawl collar.

But pleated shirts were put on the map by the DOW, and I believe that his taste in dinner jackets ran to the double-breasted. With wide pleats and a sufficiently high crossover on the jacket, I don't see a problem.