Read Online Off the Cuff by Carson Kressley - Free Book Online Page B

worn with everything, your collar choice should go back to the dressiness of what you’re wearing with it. A spread collar, for example, is more of a dressy, suit look. The oxford button-down is more relaxed, and looks great with a blue blazer or a tweed jacket—or open with a great pair of pecs!
    Point collar. Dressier than a button-down, the point collar is the most common and versatile. You can wear it open without a tie if you want to, or pair with a sweater or a suit. It’s the switch-hitter of dress shirts. God, I love using sports lingo.
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    Spread collar. Calm down. Not that kind of spread. This is one you really have to wear with a tie. Because it’s a spread collar, without a tie there would be a big gap in the middle. And you would look like a nun. Never the right answer, people.
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    Tab collar. That little bridge of cotton that holds the collar in place behind your tie makes for a very, very neat and conservative, dressed-up and well-tailored look, meant to go with a dressier suit. Yes, you have to wear a tie with this one.
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    White contrast collar. This is where the body of the shirt is a color, but the collar is white. This is a very dressed-up, very English look. It’s really, really sharp—just think of Robert Redford in The Great Gatsby. Sigh. Maybe that doesn’t make you as happy as it makes me.

KNIT SHIRTS
    Polo-style knit shirts are comfortable classic standbys. If you have five of these in your closet—a black one, a white one, and a few fun colors, in a mix of short and long sleeves—you’ll never go wrong. This shirt is one of the most versatile pieces of clothing in your wardrobe. Everyone looks great in a polo, and it always has a certain preppy chic sophistication that works for most occasions, as well as the casual work environment. Pair it with denim, wear it to work with khakis and a blazer, or throw one on with shorts at the beach, and you’ll always look cool. I wouldn’t wear one to a wedding, but to a casual dinner in the Hamptons? Absotively!
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    The polo shirt is not to be confused with the Polo shirt, as in the Ralph Lauren brand.
    I bet you’re waiting for me to give the step-by-step on how to iron a shirt. Surprise! I’m not. Because unless you live in Cambodia, there is no reason for not sending your dress shirts to the cleaners. It costs a dollar, people. And if you can’t come up with that dollar, you have bigger issues than wrinkly shirts.
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    As for how much starch to use, it’s a very personal preference. When you heavily starch a shirt, it feels like you’re wearing cardboard. That’s a great way to get a full body dermabrasion without seeing a dermatologist, but I really can’t recommend it. Heavy starch only magnifies and intensifies wrinkling, because it makes the shirt too crisp and hard. The moment you sit, those wrinkles are also going to be permanently etched into your shirt. So follow your hearts, but if you’re committed to heavy starch, promise me you’ll at least give light starch a try. And maybe then you’ll see the light.
    It’s just any short-sleeve knit shirt in a style that was originally used for playing polo. It’s that heritage that makes the shirt comfortable, breathable, cool, sexy, and sophisticated. Just look at where it came from, and you’ll see why it’s so cool. While the design of the polo shirt was perfected by Lacoste and Ralph Lauren, your knit shirts don’t have to have a logo. It’s really a matter of personal preference. I don’t care if you’re sporting the Polo pony, the Lacoste crocodile, Le Tigre or Bozo the Clown. (Okay, maybe not so much Bozo the Clown.) As long as it fits and it looks good, it doesn’t matter where it’s from.
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    Now a lot of people think that a polo shirt and a golf shirt are the same. They’re not. The golf shirt looks like the polo shirt and is similarly constructed, but