Nicholas Daley Oversize Shirt, Navy

A collar is the only part of a shirt anyone looks at directly. It sits at the height of the face, it is the first thing read across a table, and nearly every decision a shirtmaker makes about it is a decision about how formal the shirt will be. A small, stiff, high collar stands around a tie. A large, soft, open one cannot, and does not want to.

This shirt is the second kind, cut deliberately large so the collar has room to lie flat and open across the chest. The body is oversized to match, because a big collar on a close body reads as a mistake rather than as a decision. Flap pockets at the chest are the only other event. In plain navy cotton made in Japan, it is a shirt with one idea in it, executed properly.

We took this because an open collar cut this generously is difficult to buy and easy to get wrong, and because a plain navy shirt that is not quite a plain navy shirt is a useful thing to have.

Nicholas Daley's Japanese shirting is where his cutting can be judged on its own, without a check or a contrast panel doing any of the persuading.

One hundred percent cotton, made in Japan. Oversized cut, large open collar, flap chest pockets. Colour: Navy.

Cut oversized on purpose, sitting away from the body rather than following it, and meant to be worn untucked. Cotton of this weight softens across the first season. Take your usual size; the volume is drafted in, and sizing up will overwhelm the collar, which is the part worth protecting.

Over a plain tee with the Pleated Trouser in black. Worn open over the Waffle Crew Neck as a light overshirt. Navy will take almost anything except the tartans.

Wash cool and hang to dry. Press the collar on the reverse if you press it at all, because a hard press flattens the roll that makes an open collar sit properly. Our fabric care guidance covers the rest.

The Classic Two Pocket Shirt in black is the corduroy shirt in the same register. The Beach Shirt is the dyed cotton, the Raglan Embroidery Shirt the embroidered one, and the Lee Shirt the overshirt. Everything we carry from Nicholas Daley is listed together.