You may not always want to wear a shirt, but sometimes certain occasions call for more formal attire and every guy in the room shows up in a shirt and tie, blending into the crowds of beautiful cocktail dresses. Here are a few ways you can spruce up your formal attire and not look like every other guy in the room (and maybe even outshine the ladies).

#1 Wear a suit (that fits)

No – we don’t mean show up in your wedding suit. There’s a difference between that and the pick-up-artist suit that Barney Stinson wears in every episode of How I Met Your Mother. Choose the latter if you’re going to suit up – even if you’re not there to pick up!

#2 Lose the tie

A tie these days doesn’t automatically spruce up your whole look. A fitted shirt does. If you’re going to go tie-less, make sure you shirt fits you like a glove. If your shirt is swimming around you, you end up looking like you put in no effort and chose to look sloppy.

#3 Go for a tie bar & textured tie

A textured tie takes the formality out of wearing one and a tie bar ensures your tie doesn’t fly back into your face! Having that little tie bar streamlines your whole look because it straightens your tie and makes your torso appear longer.

#4 Do up all the buttons & wear a bow tie

As geek is the new chic, looking like a college professor isn’t always a bad thing. This button-up shirt and bow tie look is extremely popular especially if you’re on the slimmer side of things.

#5 Wear a vest

Don’t write it off before you consider that it slims down your waist and makes your arms look bigger. Enough said.

2011 is almost over and what a year it's been!! But before it's completely over, we just wanted to share with you some of our favourite things and memorable moments from this special year.

Best Fashion Trend of 2011 - The Peter Pan Collar because there's rarely a trend that both women and men can share and still look glamorous and dapper.

Best Movie of 2011 - Midnight in Paris: Late era Woody Allen may be a bit of a hit and miss but Midnight is a definite hit that's drenched in old school charm with the true artists of the past two centuries coming to life just as you would have imagined them.

Best Photo App of 2011 - We know you're thinking Instagram, but we're going to go with Camera+ because the filters are just a little bit more amazing.

Best Dressed Personality on TV in 2011 - Don Draper does not ever have a flawed moment. He is just perfection.

Best Fashion Blogger of 2011 - We're going to go with a local talent Nicole Warne, the young woman behind Gary Pepper Vintage whose fashion blog wows us every time. She shows us that style is not about how expensive your pieces are, but how well you put them together.

Best Youtube Vid of 2011 -No, not Rebecca Black although number of views would certainly have suggested otherwise. Our fave this year is Shit Girls Say - guys either roll their eyes or roll on the floor laughing because of how much they think this resembles their girlfriends...and girls laugh because they know it's ever so slightly true.

Most Popular Shirt Associated With Celebrity in 2011 - Jake Gyllenhaal and his blue chambray shirt. We have gotten so many requests to copy Jake's shirt so here is our version if you're one of the many seeking for it desperately.

Cutest Girl of 2011 - We know the world is obsessed with Miranda Kerr, but for us it's the quirky red haired Emma Stone!

We often have female customers telling us they don't know what goes best with their Joe Button shirts. They don't just want to do the shirt + pants thing because they think it might make them look too masculine - but that's clearly a bit of a misconception judging from the photo below. Last year, Creative Director of Celine, Phoebe Philo introduced the "Five Perfect Pants" as something that every girl needs to have in her wardrobe and she couldn't have been more right.

From left to right:

1. The Pleated Tapered Leg - aka the new skinny pant silhouette

2. The Men's Straight Leg - aka boys style fit for girls

3. The High-Waisted Wide-Leg - aka signature Phoebe Philo

4. The Cropped Tube Leg - aka the modern-day Audrey Hepburn

5. The Tapered leg - aka the classic slim fit

Looking at the photograph, you'll notice that there is nothing boring about the shirt and pants look. When you're designing your own shirt - mix it up a little! Show a bit more neck by giving yourself a mandarin collar or design a round white collar instead of your usual point collar; get a different coloured placket or contrasting cuffs. It adds a bit more character without taking away any class from this classic combo.

Image via Celine

1. Contrast the inner collar or cuff of your shirt. It shows you have a bit of creativity and personality.
2. If you're wearing a suit, make sure the shoulder line is well sculpted. You'll notice this feature on suits worn by most newsreaders - it immediately captures the viewers' attention.
   
3. Get different coloured stitching on your pearl coloured buttons.
4. Pay attention to the yoke at the back of your shirt. A split yoke is probably more formal whilst a single yoke is suited for more casual occasions.
5. Wear cufflinks - but not large bling ones that hurt the eye! Go for cufflinks made of good inlaid material like Mother-of-pearl or onyx.

1. Don't wear a belt with a flashy buckle. It makes you look like a bit of a try-hard!
2. Make sure you clean your shirts properly - inside your collar and the edges of your cuffs. Don't think people don't notice - they do!
3. Don't wear a white tie (especially not on a black shirt) - it looks tacky!
   
4. Make sure your clothes fit you. Oversized suits and pants that are too long just look plain bad.
5. Polish your shoes and make sure they're not dirty or scruffy!

Should you put a pocket / pockets on a dress shirt? We always tell our customers - put pockets on your shirt if you want pockets - that's the beauty of custom! With that being said, we still wanted to visit the arguments for and against pockets on dress shirts.

Dress shirts with no pockets - Generally preferred by the corporate Wall Street types. A dress shirt without pockets is often considered to be more formal, not in the rigid sense, but it's less distracting to the eye and makes for a sleeker look. Proponents of the no pocket look will say that it really stuffs up the clean lines that they're striving for with a dress shirt especially when worn with a tie. Off-the-rack shirts with pockets can also be a problem because the pockets are usually one size fit all and can look out of proportion especially if you're buying a slim fit shirt. You can also tell if the shirt is poorly made if the pattern on the pockets is not aligned to the rest of the shirt.

Dress shirts with pockets - Pockets are functional - cigarettes, business cards, pens (as long as they're not leaking) - and in the last few years, they've also become ultra trendy. A really popular look this season is the double pockets on chambray with a small collar - see Leonardo DiCaprio's spread in GQ yesterday. Pockets also add a bit of personality to a shirt and if you're not going to a black tie event, which is most of the time for us, why would you need to look so formal all the time?

What are your thoughts on the pockets vs no pockets?

We often get asked why our shirts are more expensive than other shirts available online and we always give people the same answer: we’re not that keen on comparisons because it’s like comparing apples to oranges. We can only guarantee that our shirts are made from 100% European cotton and our tailors go through a very intensive process that includes several rounds of quality control to ensure that our shirts are produced to the highest standards. So how do you even differentiate between a good and bad quality shirt? Here’s a list of the basics that will get you running to your wardrobe checking to see if your shirts tick all the boxes:

• 100% Cotton: None of those poly-whatevers, just pure 100% of the good stuff. 100% cotton shirts lets you breathe, it's more comfortable and it lasts a LOT longer.
• Wrinkle-Free = Poly-cotton blend / Easy-Iron = Treated with Chemicals: Even the best quality easy-iron shirt means it's been treated with chemicals, namely formaldehyde, which can cause skin irritation in certain people. Don't be fooled - you may think you're saving time by purchasing an easy-iron shirt but you're actually making a big compromise on quality.
• Two-ply Cotton: Good quality shirts are usually two-ply cotton which means two threads woven through the shirt, making it stronger, softer and less see-through!
• Thick Buttons: You don't notice the nice thick buttons on a good quality shirt until you get one where the buttons are thin, flimsy and snap off easily. Remember to always look for the small details.
• Pattern Matching: Your shirt is made of separate panels of fabric. On a well-tailored stripe or check shirt, the stripes and checks should be aligned at the seams as opposed to being messy and erratic.
• Tight Stitching: The best place to check the quality of the stitching on the shirt is the collar. There's no hiding bad tailoring here - the stitching should be even and tight, especially around the point of the collar.
• Removable Collar Stays: Removable collar stays are one of the classic signs of a good quality shirt. Collar stays stop the collars from rolling in at the points. Collar stays should be removed when you wash and iron your shirt, otherwise you will see shiny spots develop at the points of your collars.

Most women know how to dress for their body type – it was etched into our minds by those quintessential teen magazines that lined every girl’s bookshelf. Most men however, did not grow up reading Dolly or Cosmo so it’s no surprise when we see a man walking down the street wearing a fine dress shirt from the latest range of an expensive label, yet something just doesn’t look quite right. The reason? The collar of his shirt doesn't suit his features.

You may be one of the lucky ones who happen to be freakishly good looking and can pull off anything from a potato sack to a bed sheet, but there remain a fair few of us mere mortals who have to consider whether or not the latest fashion trends suit our body types and face shapes.

You’ll be happy to know that there’s a perfect collar style for everyone! Here’s a quick lesson on which collars will complement your features the best!

The point collar is a traditional collar and suits a man with a rounder or smaller face.		The cutaway collar is a widespread collar and most suited for those with a long / narrow face or a shorter neck.		The narrow collar is most suited to those with an oval or round face.
A spread collar is most suited to those with a more angular features on their face.		The button down collar is quite similar to the point collar. Avoid it if you have a square/angular face.		The small collar suits those with a smaller face and more delicate features. Avoid this collar if you have a larger face.