Teddy Stratford

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Owner, James Brooks, wearing Teddy Stratford's Athletic Fit Casual Button Down

Retailer: Teddy Stratford (www.teddystratford.com)

Products: Athletic Fit Dress Shirts

Price: $125 - $150

Material: %100 Egyptian Cotton

Details & Features:

• Each shirt is handmade (never mass produced)

• %100 Egyptian Cotton

• Single-needle lockstitched and flat-felled seams

• Larger drop from chest to waist

• No pulling/gaping around buttons

• Patented Stay-up collar

Current Promotion: $15 off when you sign up for their email subscription.

It's not often that clothing and accessories are redesigned in such a manner that it changes how we think of and use the products. The last such change that I can recall is the barefoot sneaker, where the sneaker has toes like a sock. Now that's just silly.

But, prior to that, Levi Jeans shattered the fashion zeitgeist with the 501 button fly way back when in 1853 eventually joining the Smithsonian's permanent collection in 1964. But they hit my world in the early 80s with the hugely popular "501 Blues" campaign launched during the Summer Olympics in 1984.

It took another four decades before my idea of clothing would be so shaken again. And it's Teddy Stratford's zipper button down shirts that has flipped fashion norms by replacing buttons with a zipper. Last year, Teddy Stratford introduced the zipper button down shirt where the two top and lower most buttons still function as buttons but the middle buttons are decorative only, being replaced with a zipper on the placket.

Teddy Stratford's patented zipper front button down shirt.

This change addresses a real problem I have with button down shirts -- the button gap that occurs as the torso moves out of prime posture position. (see image below). Teddy Stratford named this gap the Bratwurst Effect, calling to mind a sausage casing that has split open to allow the meat to peak through.

The dreaded button gap that occurs in traditional button down shirts.

Couple this revolutionary change with Stratford's also patented collar stays (the stay is placed in both the collar and the shirt, securely fastening the collar down and keeping it crisp and sharp) and you've changed how I wear, look and feel in button down shirts. In addition, Stratford's attention to detail, quality, durability and price point make their shirts a must in any wardrobe. I highly recommend them. Five out of five stars.

Teddy Stratford's patented collar stays.

Site owner, James Brooks, wearing Teddy Stratford's blue jean button down from their Athletic Fit Casual collection.