To get the new year off to a good start, let's start with a blank slate: the white shirt.

    In recent years, men turned to shirt colors as vibrant as the booming economy. But we are now in an era of restraint, and a simple white dress shirt sends a savvy message. It says a man is ready for work and isn't vamping for attention. 'When times are tough, men want to be more serious about their look,' says Eric Jennings, men's fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue.

    But not all white shirts are equal. Pier Luigi Loro Piana, co-chairman and CEO of the Italian luxury clothes maker Loro Piana, says he sizes men up by their shirts, taking in the thickness of the buttons and the firmness of the collar. 'The quality of clothing tells you so much of what you need to know about a person,' Mr. Loro Piana says.

    The question is: How much must one spend to attain this level of quality? It's possible to buy a fitted cotton shirt -- with the higher-end feature of removable collar stays -- from Target for less than $30. Yet a man can easily spend $400 for a white shirt that isn't even custom-made. Buying a plain shirt from a famous designer can add a hefty surcharge to the price. So, just as the financial crisis was spreading around the globe last fall, I embarked on a mission to discover the ingredients of a distinguished dress shirt.

    For an expert's view, I consulted several knowledgeable men about their own shirt choices. Narrow-cut shirts are particularly popular today, says Mr. Jennings, who is filling Saks all over the country with fitted dress shirts. Think the TV series 'Mad Men' and the urban office environment of 1965. But there's more to a great dress shirt than style.

    Mr. Loro Piana, who sells some of the most expensive clothes on the planet, says he grew up in Brooks Brothers button-downs, though he wears Loro Piana today. In choosing shirts, he says he looks first at fabric quality and button thickness, and then at the cut of the shirt, and he insists on removable collar stays, as the sewn-in ones crumple over time.

    Francesco Trapani, the chatty chief executive of Bulgari, favors bespoke shirts from Italy's Micocci -- the same maker his father wore, he said. He cherishes each shirt; indeed, the one he was wearing when I chatted with him last fall had a rather frayed collar, and he conceded he needed to order some new shirts.

    Meanwhile, Steve Sadove, chief executive of Saks Fifth Avenue, told me he prefers Charvet shirts.

    A man can't go wrong with any of those choices. But most of these shirts, with the exception of Brooks Brothers', will set you back several hundred dollars apiece. Can quality be had for less?

    I headed to Paris and Milan -- centers for high-end menswear -- and consulted Colin Woodhead, an affable British gent who knows his buttons from his 'bones' （collar stays, to us Yanks） after decades of working as a fashion marketer. At the La Vallee luxury outlet mall outside Paris, we raced through the stores of more than a dozen shirtmakers （most of which are available in the U.S.） as Mr. Woodhead sought bargains. 'I'm from Yorkshire, and the definition of a Yorkshireman is a Scotsman with all the generosity squeezed out,' he announced.

    Mr. Woodhead liked the stitched placket and stiff collar of a Faconnable shirt he found, which cost about $86 at current exchange rates, but he found the logo stitched to the front left pocket to be tacky. An S.T. Dupont shirt looked 'good,' but a $103 Givenchy shirt had an 'unlovely' flimsy fabric. Dunhill's $73 shirts, made in Romania, were deemed 'good medium level' because of the single stitching at the shoulder where the seam had been doubled and rolled -- a sign of quality workmanship.

    Charles Tyrwhitt offered a solid 'workman's shirt,' with three levels of quality at prices ranging from $87 to $176. A $60 Cacharel had a 'rim-stitched' collar with the stitches close to the edge: This signals a cheaper make, according to Mr. Woodhead, though others I consulted said they don't make note of collar stitching.

    A Paul Smith shirt priced at $130 had loose threads in the buttonhole -- possibly the reason it was discounted at an outlet. Mr. Woodhead shook his head at Emporio Armani's shirts, priced at $113 -- too costly, in his estimation, for the workmanship. Alain Figaret won the afternoon, offering fine fabric for $74.

    My outing with Mr. Woodhead was enlightening, but to really test the shirts' capacity to impress those with discerning taste -- say, a boss or a future father-in-law -- I needed some laymen's opinions. I bought four shirts and made my husband, back in L.A., wear them for a month.

    The candidates included: a wrinkle-resistant shirt with removable collar stays from Target in Los Angeles, priced at $24.99; a simple, $105 Alain Figaret from a Paris boutique （Figaret is mostly sold online in the U.S.）; an Ermenegildo Zegna shirt purchased on the Avenue Georges V in Paris for $252; and a hand-sewn Borrelli shirt from Boule de Neige, a shop in Milan, for $329.

    My husband, James, isn't normally a white-shirt man. He leans toward blue and sage, and he often wears a casual, colored T-shirt under a dress shirt. So it may have skewed the results of our entirely unscientific experiment to have him suddenly look so Atomic Age. Rather than blending in, with his new white-shirt uniform, he drew compliments and felt that people gave him a new measure of respect.

    On the first day, James said, looking pleased, that when he retrieved our children from school, he had received a notable increase in attention from the other mothers. In fact, he drew a compliment from one mom who doesn't usually greet either of us. Enough said.

    'You're looking put-together today,' said a longtime friend one day when he wore the Target shirt. Indeed, Target won the value-for-price contest. It's hard to argue with $25 -- and the quality stood up to many of the shirts that Mr. Woodhead inspected. Still, the coarser fabric wouldn't fool a discriminating judge.

    The Figaret's shortcoming was its sewn-in collar stays, which might not hold up to long use. Yet, over our monthlong test, it offered terrific value: The fabric and stitching held up well against the pricier competition. Any Zegna shirt offers bragging rights among many businessmen and financiers. But the Zegna didn't draw more notice than the Figaret, which cost one-third as much.

    The Borrelli, even when still folded, drew the attention of a well-bred British friend, who touched the collar lovingly and said, 'Nice shirt. Look at those buttons.' In fact, of the four shirts, the Borrelli's soft-yet-substantial fabric, smooth collar and mother-of-pearl buttons made it James's favorite. He has been hinting wistfully about more.

    近幾年來，隨著經濟的繁榮，男士們開始選擇色彩大膽的襯衫。如今在經濟蕭條的市道下，一件式樣簡單的白色正裝襯衫卻可以傳達出易于理解的資訊──一位男士 正準備投入工作，而不想嘩眾取寵、引人注目。Saks Fifth Avenue百貨店的男士時尚顧問埃瑞克？詹寧斯（Eric Jennings）說："在艱難的市道下，男士們對自己的形像更為謹慎。"

    但并不是所有的白襯衫都能帶來同樣的效果。意大利奢侈服裝品牌Loro Piana聯席董事長兼首席執(zhí)行官皮埃爾？魯吉？勞羅？皮埃納（Pier Luigi Loro Piana）透露，他正是根據男士所穿的襯衫給他們打印象分，鈕扣的厚度和領子的挺刮度都是打分的因素。皮埃納說："從一個人所穿服裝的品質中， 你就能大致了解其人。"

    問題是：要想擁有上檔次的服裝，需要花費多少錢呢？在Target百貨買一件純棉襯衫，并且是配有"可拆卸衣領插竹"這一高端功能的襯衫，只需要不到30 美元。不過男士們花掉400美元買一件白襯衫也不是新鮮事，而且還不是量身訂做的襯衫。出自名師之手的基本款襯衫，價格自然比普通襯衫高得多。去年秋天， 在經濟危機席卷全球的背景下，我開始探尋高端正裝襯衫與眾不同的秘密。

    為獲得權威看法，我還咨詢了一些內行人士，請教他們如何為自己選擇襯衫。詹寧斯透露，貼身剪裁的襯衫如今特別流行，全美國的Saks百貨店都在銷售這種襯 衫。這種著裝風潮，就類似于電視劇《廣告狂人》（Mad Men）中1965年的都市職場。不過一件襯衫是否上檔次，除了款式以外還有其他決定因素。

    皮埃納所在品牌生產的某些襯衫，已經成為世界上最昂貴的襯衫之一。不過皮埃納卻是穿著Brooks Brothers牌襯衫長大的，雖然如今的他只穿自己品牌的襯衫。他說，在選擇襯衫時，自己首先看布料的品質和鈕扣的厚度，然后是剪裁，并且只穿帶有可拆 卸衣領插竹的襯衫，因為縫死在領子上的插竹經過一段時間就會變皺。

    待人隨和的寶格麗珠寶（Bulgari）首席執(zhí)行官法蘭西斯科？特拉帕尼（Francesco Trapani）喜歡從意大利的Micocci品牌定做襯衫，這個品牌也曾是他父親的選擇。他很珍愛每一件襯衫。去年秋天我采訪他時，他所穿襯衫的領角已 經有些磨毛了，他也承認，自己需要訂一些新襯衫了。

    而Saks百貨首席執(zhí)行官史蒂夫？薩道夫（Steve Sadove）告訴我，他偏愛巴黎Charvet的定制襯衫。

    上面提到的這些牌子，無論怎么穿，都不會丟丑。不過除了Brooks Brothers以外，其中大部分都需要幾百美元一件。能不能花較少的錢，買到同樣品質的襯衫呢？

    我決定前往高端男裝之都──巴黎和米蘭一探究竟，并且聘請柯林？沃德海德（Colin Woodhead）作為顧問。這位和藹可親的英國紳士已經從事時尚行銷數十年，對男士襯衫的一切了若指掌，從鈕扣到"骨頭"（英國人對插竹的叫法）都無所 不知。在巴黎城郊的La Vallee奢侈品減價直銷賣場，我們流覽了十多種品牌（其中大多數都可以在美國買到）,沃德海德一邊逛一邊討價還價。他說道："我可是從約克郡來的，所 謂約克郡人，就是吝嗇到極點的蘇格蘭人。"

    沃德海德對Faconnable襯衫的縫制口袋和硬挺的領子很認同，按照現行匯率，這件襯衫售價86美元，不過在沃德海德看來，左前胸口袋上的繡花商標有 點俗氣。一件都彭（S.T. Dupont）襯衫看上去"不錯",另一件售價103美元的紀梵希（Givenchy）襯衫的布料太薄了，"不討人喜歡".羅馬尼亞生產的登喜路 （Dunhill）襯衫售價73美元，看上去屬于"中上水準",因為肩部只是單線縫合，而這個接縫應該用雙線縫合并包邊，才是精細做工的標志。

    Charles Tyrwhitt提供三種檔次的堅固型"上班族襯衫",價格從87美元到176美元不等。價格為60美元的Cacharel襯衫采用"邊線縫合"的領子， 縫合部位靠近領子邊緣，沃德海德認為這是廉價的標志。但是我咨詢的其他人都表示自己并不在意領子的縫合方式。

    一件售價130美元的Paul Smith襯衫扣眼鎖線有點松，可能這正是其減價的原因吧。沃德海德在一件安普里奧？阿瑪尼（Emporio Armani）襯衫面前直搖頭。這件襯衫標價113美元。他認為，就其做工而言，這個標價實在太高了。這個下午的勝者是Alain Figaret的襯衫，以74美元的價格提供了優(yōu)質布料。

    與沃德海德的這次購物之旅對我很有啟發(fā)。不過，為了檢驗符合專家標準的襯衫是否能打動眼光敏銳的重要人士，比如老板或未來的岳父，我需要一些外行人的意見。所以，我買了四件襯衫，讓我在洛杉磯的丈夫各穿一個月。

    四件襯衫分別是：洛杉磯Target百貨出售的帶可拆卸插竹的防皺襯衫，售價24.99美元；一家巴黎時裝店出售的Alain Figaret簡單款襯衫，售價105美元（這個品牌在美國多為網上銷售）;在巴黎Avenue Georges V 百貨公司購買的Ermenegildo Zegna襯衫，售價252美元；以及在米蘭Boule de Neige商店購得的Borrelli手工縫制襯衫，售價329美元。

    我的丈夫詹姆斯（James）并不常穿白襯衫。他偏愛藍色和灰綠色，還喜歡在正裝襯衫下面穿一件彩色休閑T恤。讓他的形像忽然間變得如此富有"原子時代" 氣息，可能會使這個毫無科學性的實驗結果產生偏差。換上嶄新的白襯衫"制服"后，詹姆斯不但沒有泯然于眾人，反而贏得不少贊賞，他感覺人們更加尊重他了。

    換上新制服的第一天，詹姆斯高興地說，他去學校接孩子的時候，其他孩子的母親對他的關注明顯增加。還有一位并不經常和我們打招呼的媽媽也恭維了我的丈夫。這已經足夠說明問題了。

    還有一天，我丈夫穿的是Target襯衫。 一位老朋友說："你這一身搭配得真好啊。"而這件Target襯衫也贏得了最佳性價比獎。對于25美元的價格來說，它實在是無可挑剔，其品質甚至可以與沃 德海德考察過的很多其他襯衫相媲美。不過，這件襯衫的布料比較粗糙，這逃不過挑剔鑒賞家的眼光。

    Figaret的缺點是領子插竹是縫死的，因此可能不耐穿。不過在一個月的測試中，這件襯衫還是體現出不凡的價值：布料和縫制都與價格更貴的競爭對手不分 高下。穿上Zegna襯衫，很多企業(yè)家和金融家就有了吹牛的本錢。但是這件Zegna并沒有贏得比Figaret更多的關注，價格卻是后者的三倍。

    而Borrelli襯衫，即使是迭著的時候，也仍然引起一位頗有修養(yǎng)的英國朋友的注意。他用手輕撫著領子說："很不錯的襯衫，看看這些扣子！"在四件襯衫 中，這件Borrelli憑藉柔軟而富有質感的面料、平滑的領子和珍珠母鈕扣成為詹姆斯的最愛。他甚至一相情愿，暗示我再給他買幾件。