The collar buttons are sewn too high to the collar making buttoning the collar difficult and the collar looks almost folded under after its buttoned. I will more than likely have to wear the shirt with the collar unbuttoned and under a sweater. I would have sent the shirt back but I had LL Bean my initials put on the cuff.
I would say that 80% of the button-front shirts I have owned over the past 20 years were from L.L. Bean and typically 100% cotton. This newer wrinkle-resistant line was to be an improvement, obviously to save ironing.
At first, the shirts held to their promise, but after several wearings, the collars and to a lesser extent the cuffs, began wearing and fraying. The pattern is what I would call "point fraying", almost evenly spaced points of small tears around the collar at the top of the fold. Also, near the front, more conventional wear one might see after several years. The shirt in the photo was worn and washed perhaps a dozen times.
In all candor, while I do not have a heavy beard, I do shave daily including my neck and it is understood that a bristly neck can wear the shirts more rapidly, especially at the contact points. But the point fraying especially remains an enigma. My conjecture is that the fabric sizing or whatever is used to make the fabric wrinkle-resistant makes the fabric fibers somewhat brittle at these fold stress points.
I have not yet gathered these for return but intend to. The concept is good, but for approaching $45-50 per shirt, I would expect to get at least a couple of years out of them, not a couple of months. This is a QA/QC issue, not a price-point issue, to be clear.
A very well-made shirt and a great value for the price. I wish this shirt was made in more colors and styles--much, much better quality than the TA251423 shirt.
I got one of these shirts as an Xmas present last December; and whenever my shirts come out of the dryer, it's the only one that's not still wrinkled. The weight of the fabric and the workmanship are the best. Just received my 2nd one, and intend to buy several more, eventually replacing my entire inventory of button down shirts with these. Something you might not consider, but should: If you work in an office that's air conditioned or a little drafty, the heavier weight of these shirts is a definite plus. I can easily see wearing one of these shirts and a LL sweater during a Winter day at the office.
