| By :
Mark Etinger
Believe it or not, I didn't come out of the womb wearing button down dress shirts. And for the first decade of my life, my closet and entire wardrobe for that matter, was completely void of any designer dress shirts. These days, I rarely wear anything else, but there was undoubtedly a time when the idea of wearing anything with the phrase "button down" in it seemed ridiculous and archaic. My earliest memory of wearing mens button down shirts was when I was, oh, twelve or thirteen. I'd been invited to celebrate my good friend becoming a Bar Mitzvah. He was having a party with food and dancing and everything. There'd even be girls there! For a twelve year old boy, that's a pretty exciting line-up. So the morning of, I went and picked out what I considered to be my ultimate T-shirt. Originally a shade of blue similar to what you'd see on a can of Sprite, the shirt had been worn so much the color had faded to that of the Carolina Tar Heels. And the shirt had been through the wash so many times, the cotton was softer than anything you could imagine. In my 12-year-old mind, it was the perfect shirt. I mean, I was twelve years old. The logic made sense to me. It was a party. Why not dress comfortably? I'm not embarrassed to say, my mother made sure I didn't leave the house that way. She dressed me up in one of my older brothers old striped dress shirts. I still remember, it was an ashy-black with big white buttons that matched the collar. And I was mad! Here I was, an excited 12-year-old ready to flirt with all the cute 12-year-old girls, and my mother was dressing me up in an old man shirt? Come on, Mom! So what did I do? Well, what any devious 12-year-old kid raised on Calvin & Hobbes and Dennis The Menace cartoons would do; I wore the awesome t-shirt under my button down. It was the perfect plan, leaving me free to change at the party. Well, I got to the party and what did I discover? A whole room full of 12-year-old boys dressed in button down dress shirts. I couldn't believe my eyes. And within moments, I'd totally forgotten that under my striped dress shirt was the worlds "awesome-est" t-shirt, and I started getting more concerned with the guys in the room whose button downs made them look better than I did. That was the turning point for me. I realized then, t-shirts were nice, but the best way to look as good as you feel, to look the way you truly deserve, is to dress right. Mens fashion shirts are all I wear now. Yes, I still wear the occasional-shirt for working out or yard work and stuff of that nature (and yes, that includes the classic blue t-shirt I "wore" to my buddy's party). But for the most part, you'll find me wrapped in a stylish, fashionable designer dress shirt, looking, smart, professional, and ready to roll all at once.
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