Colour & Pattern
Wearing white, and the practical problems nobody warns you about
White is the most flattering neutral on a great many people and the most demanding garment in a wardrobe. Both of those are worth knowing before buying a white shirt.
White reflects light onto the face, which is why it flatters most complexions and why photographers use white reflectors. It is also the least forgiving colour in a wardrobe for reasons that have nothing to do with appearance.
Not one colour
The first thing to establish. Optic white is cool and blue-toned, frequently achieved with optical brighteners that fluoresce under UV. Off-white, ecru, cream, ivory and bone are progressively warmer.
Cool undertones are generally flattered by pure white; warm undertones by cream. Held against the face in daylight, the difference is obvious and it is invisible under shop lighting.
Wearing pure white and cream together looks like a laundry accident. Pick one register and stay in it.
Transparency
The problem people discover after buying.
White shows through more than any other colour, and the variables are fabric weight and weave density. Hold any white garment up to a window before buying — if you can see your hand clearly through it, it will be transparent when worn.
For white shirts, look for weights above about 120 GSM in a dense weave. Oxford cloth and twill are more opaque than poplin at the same weight. Two-ply yarn helps.
Under white, the correct underwear is not white — it is a shade close to your own skin tone, which disappears. White underwear under a white shirt is clearly visible.
White accumulates three kinds of discolouration, each requiring a different response.
Greying — from dirt redepositing during washing, and from washing whites with colours. Wash whites separately, do not overload, and use enough detergent.
Yellowing — from body oils, perspiration and, in storage, from age. This is oxidation and it is the hardest to reverse.
Stains — obvious, and immediately visible.
Keeping white white
Wash separately. Non-negotiable. A single coloured item in a white wash will transfer dye.
Wash promptly. Body oils and perspiration oxidise into yellow marks over time, and a white shirt left in a basket for two weeks may not recover.
Treat underarms before washing. Yellow underarm staining is a reaction between perspiration and the aluminium in antiperspirant, and it is largely permanent once set. Treating with an oxygen-based product or a paste of bicarbonate of soda before the stain sets is the practical answer.
Use oxygen bleach rather than chlorine on most fabrics. Chlorine bleach can actually yellow synthetic fibres and weakens cotton over time. It should never be used on wool, silk or elastane.
Sunlight. Drying white cotton and linen in direct sun is a genuine and free bleaching effect. It also weakens fibres over long exposure, so it is a tool rather than a routine.
Do not use fabric softener on whites, which leaves a residue that greys over time.
Store clean and away from light. Yellowing in storage is caused by residual body oils oxidising, and by acidic packaging materials. Never store white in plastic dry-cleaning bags.
The white shirt specifically
Worth its own note because it is the item most people own and most people struggle with.
A white shirt shows every construction flaw, because there is no colour or pattern to distract. Collar quality, stitch density, seam pucker and fabric transparency are all exposed.
Which makes it a good test garment for a maker: if their white shirt is good, the rest of the range probably is.
It also means a cheap white shirt looks cheap in a way a cheap navy one does not.
White in the rest of the wardrobe
White trousers and skirts are transparent more often than not and require care in the choice of underwear and in the fabric weight. A lining is worth checking for.
White shoes and trainers require ongoing maintenance and look poor the moment they do not receive it. Leather cleans; canvas does not clean well. If you will not maintain them, they will look worse than any other colour within a month.
White outerwear is impractical in most climates and beautiful in the right one.
The convention worth knowing
Do not wear white, cream, ivory or anything close to a wedding unless specifically invited to. The convention is still widely observed, it is noticed when broken, and the awkwardness falls on you rather than on anyone else.
Everything else about white — including the rule about not wearing it after a particular date in autumn, which was always a matter of social signalling rather than aesthetics — can reasonably be ignored.
