The shirts we show in this article are practically impossible to buy today. Their popularity is fading along with the casualization of business attire, but in custom made tailoring, they are still appreciated by enthusiasts and connoisseurs of classic elegance. The Winchester shirt is a unique shirt associated with business and big money—but where did it come from and how can it be worn today?
What Is a Winchester Shirt?
We talk about a Winchester shirt when the cuffs and collar of the shirt are made of white fabric, while the body has a different color. In the past, this was justified by pragmatism—keeping white clean was not as easy as it is today, so as soon as these elements were damaged, they could be replaced cheaply, leaving most of the shirt intact. The shirt itself was an item of underwear anyway, so the body was covered in most cases by high waistcoats and jackets.
The name Winchester appeared later, however, and comes from the surname of the entrepreneur who introduced this shirt to the salons. Oliver Winchester was a resourceful man, and later even an American politician, and he built a large part of his fortune precisely thanks to revolutionizing shirt sewing in the Winchester & Davies Shirt Manufacturing Company factory. It is said that Winchester heavily rewarded people who sewed efficiently on machines, unlike tailors who sewed everything by hand, because it reduced the time needed to make a shirt from over ten hours to one hour.
Despite this, we know Oliver Winchester more thanks to the rifle that was also created in one of his factories, and which brought him significantly greater fame and money.
What Does a Classic Winchester Shirt Look Like? The Stockbroker Shirt in Business and Movies
A classic Winchester shirt has white French cuffs and a turn-down collar, and its body is light blue or, alternatively, in light blue pinstripes. We most often see such a shirt in movies where the main characters are associated with the business world—bankers or lawyers. It is worth noting, however, that the Winchester is not just a shirt for a suit for work; it can even be worn with a morning coat, which is the most formal men’s daytime attire.
Over the years, this type of shirt has established itself in our minds as the shirt of ruthless financiers. It appeared as a costume element in movies like Wall Street, The Big Short, or The Wolf of Wall Street, always accompanied by huge money and high stress. In Poland, we call this shirt a “maklerka” (stockbroker shirt) precisely because of its association with people working on the stock exchange. The natural environment for such a shirt once would have been the New York Stock Exchange, but today, fortunately, the Winchester enjoys popularity among enthusiasts of classic men’s elegance as well.
A Modern Approach
Our Winchester shirts deviate from the standard. White collars and cuffs began to be used in various shirts, from pink to yellow and green, to interesting and much more diverse stripes than just classic light blue or navy blue. Many clients today order stockbroker shirts with button cuffs and wear them casually, without a tie, although for many enthusiasts this is certainly a line they would not want to cross.
In the Winchesters we are showing today, we decided to show two paths—classic and modern. The first is visible in the shirt with a light blue stripe, paired with a navy blue suit, while the second, represented by sage stripes, is paired with a grey suit. In both cases, we have a semi-spread collar with a high band and long points, and a smooth placket, while a seemingly hidden difference can be seen at the cuffs.
In the light blue pinstripe Winchester shirt, we have a cuff fastened with cufflinks, while in the sage shirt, there is a Portofino cuff, which is fastened with buttons but turned back. This is a very rare solution, but sometimes we use it as a replacement for a link cuff when someone is not a fan of additional jewelry.
Navy Pinstripe Suit for Summer
We could not choose ordinary suits having tailored such unique shirts. Although we decided on classic colors, we approached the choice of fabrics and cuts with a specific intention—we wanted to create outfits that are fashionable but function as a professional suit for work at the same time. For this reason, we opted for pinstripes on the suit fabrics and patterns on the ties, loosely referring to the style of business clothing, Wall Street, power suits, and stockbroker shirts.
A navy pinstripe suit is the essence of Italian style. From a distance, it looks like a standard suit for work, but up close you can see all the details—wide notch lapels decorated with pick stitching and a hand-sewn Milanese buttonhole, sleeves attached with Neapolitan shirring, as well as patch pockets, which are typical for sports jackets rather than a regular suit for work. We finished the trousers with a ring-fastening closure characteristic of our workshop, and a 5 cm cuff falls over the suede tassel loafers.
Grey Striped Suit in a Vintage Style
Unlike the navy suit, which is maintained in an Italian style, the grey one refers more to British tailoring. We achieved the vintage look by attaching the shoulders with a slight roping effect, a method called con rollino, raising the sleeve above the shoulder line, and by changing the line of the lapels. The jacket was cut like a three-button jacket, but the top button was pressed to remain invisible. The buttonhole on the other side was sewn in reverse so that its clean side is visible on the roll of the lapels.
Wider sleeves and trouser legs go hand in hand with this cut. However, this is not only a stylistic choice, but also a matter of comfort—in high temperatures, it is worth ensuring that clothes do not stick to our body, because then air has no room to circulate and regulate our body temperature. We kept the grey power suit in a subdued color palette, choosing a sage tie (which also looks great in combination with a black double-breasted suit) and black tassel loafers.
Pinstripe Suit for Work
Although in this article we mainly show fashionable and modern options, the pinstripe suit has a strong business heritage. In one of our guides, we approach this garment from a different angle, presenting a double-breasted flannel suit, as well as a more subdued version of a summer suit for work.
Wool, Linen, and Silk from the Loro Piana Mill: The Loro Piana Summertime Collection
The common denominator of the tailored suits and shirts is the fabrics. We made the jackets and trousers from a blend of wool, linen, and silk from the collection of the Italian brand Loro Piana. However, this is not their standard Summertime—the striped suits were tailored from a seasonal version, which features a noticeably higher weight. Loro Piana Summertime, which is available off the rack, weighs 250 grams per meter, while the Summertime from the Proposte Abiti collection weighs as much as 360 grams per meter.
Summertime is, of course, a collection suitable for spring and summer. As there is a blend of linen and silk in the material, slubs and thickening are visible in the fabric. However, more than 70% wool guarantees stabilization and increased resistance to creasing, which goes hand in hand with the increased weight of the fabric. The heavier the suit materials, the more durable they will be.
Thomas Mason Egyptian Cotton: What Are Sea Island and Giza 87 Cottons?
We made the shirts from cotton from the manufacturer Thomas Mason. In the world of shirt fabrics, it is hard to find higher quality—in the Thomas Mason collection, we find Sea Island and Giza 87 cottons, the so-called long-staple cottons. These are cottons whose single fiber is exceptionally long, which translates into a silky feel and durability.
Thomas Mason belongs to the same group as Cotonificio Albini. Despite this, the brand is available in a significantly smaller number of locations than Albini, because the Italians control which workshops have access to their best fabrics. In the Thomas Mason collection, there is an even higher line—David & John Anderson—but we will gladly talk about it another time.
We show an equally interesting shirt—seersucker cotton in a wide stripe—in another article: How did a linen suit perform in 35-degree heat?
Where to Tailor a Winchester Shirt and a Pinstripe Suit?
Such suits and shirts are practically impossible to buy in ready-to-wear stores. All the clothes we show in the articles were tailored at Buczyński showrooms in Warsaw and Poznań. We have thousands of fabrics and extensive experience, which is helpful when designing unusual and one-of-a-kind custom made clothes. Feel free to contact us!
