I own 'wrinkle-resistant' shirts from Pink and Brooks Brothers. When I travel I MUST pull out an iron with those shirts, but that is not necessary with wrinkle-resistant Oxford shirts from LLBean. Simply hang the shirt in a steamy shower and let set overnight and in the morning one will have a perfect shirt. I just returned from a 19 day business trip to Europe. I brought with me two LLBean Oxford shirts, and I wore each shirt for 3 days (at different clients, so I could get away with doing that!). I've owned these LLBean shirts for nearly two years and I've worn them twice a month over that time. Not only do they perform well, they are extremely durable.
I think the overall fit is nice. I hope LLBean takes into consideration adding some length to the shirt front/tail. When tucked in I noticed it is just barely beneath the belt line. If you're wearing low rise pants you'll have issues keeping the shirt neatly tucked. The back of the collar is quite short, so keeping the bottom of a tie from showing takes some convincing. Overall the quality is nice. After the first wash/dry the shirt came out looking nicely pressed which I liked. The fabric is a bit stiff, however, the Land's End no-iron Supima Oxford Dress shirts are much softer. This shirt has a nice collar roll for those who notice small details like that, and I would be a continued buyer if the shirt was lengthened so that it is easier to keep the shirt under the belt line.
Great shirt, but the two blues are virtually the same shade...what you call "french blue" is what every other color scheme calls plain-old, button-down oxford blue. A real french blue would be nice, or another color other than blue and slightly paler blue.
I have been a loyal follower of the LLBean shirts for the past 15 years. Practically every dress shirt in my closet came from LL Bean. The fabrics are high quality and so is how they are sewn together.
For me, one of key advantages of an LL Bean shirt is also they have sleeves that is exactly 32 inches, rather than the 32-33 inches from other manufacturers. Let's face it, 32-33 inches means 33 inches.
The new cut of the Slightly Fitted seems to have changed. When I order the same size as before, now the sleeves seems to be one inch longer, and the upper body (shoulder and chest area# seems to be bigger. It looks like a bubble has been added and looks awkward.
Puzzled, I put the Slightly Fitted over the former Trimmed one #which fitted me perfect for the past 15 years). The length of the sleeves are exactly the same! The sleeves on the Slightly Fitted is more narrow. The shoulder area seems to have added an inch or so. This allowed the sleeves to drop further and become too long.
I think the new cut will be okay for someone who fits the new mold. The materials are still good. For me, sadly, I will have to look for another brand as the new cut won't fit me anymore.
