You need a tailored suit, tie, and white shirt to telegraph propriety and, depending on how you put your fit together, power. From paintings by Seurat and Magritte to episodes of Mad Men to congressional meetings televised on C-SPAN, visuals of men of stature and notoriety are seldom without the style. Since the Gilded Age-and perhaps even before then-gentlemen worth their salt were required to wear a white dress shirt, a button-up with a collar and cuffs. Sure, you can be subversive and throw the rules out the window (don’t let anyone deter you from what you feel is right at the moment), but if you’re a stickler for tradition, you’re going to want to reach for this tried-and-true topper. There are occasions that require ’em, scenarios where you need to keep up appearances, ones with prescribed dress codes. Even in this period when men are wearing suits shirtless, flaunting their chests with abandon on the red carpet, the dress shirt is still the base of any formal fit.

The white dress shirt: a staple, the foundation of any wardrobe.

Red button down dress shirt