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.

近几年来，随着经济的繁荣，男士们开始选择色彩大胆的衬衫。如今在经济萧条的市道下，一件式样简单的白色正装衬衫却可以传达出易于理解的资讯──一位男士 正准备投入工作，而不想哗众取宠、引人注目。Saks Fifth Avenue百货店的男士时尚顾问埃瑞克•詹宁斯(Eric Jennings)说：“在艰难的市道下，男士们对自己的形像更为谨慎。”

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.

但并不是所有的白衬衫都能带来同样的效果。意大利奢侈服装品牌Loro Piana联席董事长兼首席执行官皮埃尔•鲁吉•劳罗•皮埃纳(Pier Luigi Loro Piana)透露，他正是根据男士所穿的衬衫给他们打印象分，钮扣的厚度和领子的挺刮度都是打分的因素。皮埃纳说：“从一个人所穿服装的品质中， 你就能大致了解其人。”

问题是：要想拥有上档次的服装，需要花费多少钱呢？在Target百货买一件纯棉衬衫，并且是配有“可拆卸衣领插竹”这一高端功能的衬衫，只需要不到30 美元。不过男士们花掉400美元买一件白衬衫也不是新鲜事，而且还不是量身订做的衬衫。出自名师之手的基本款衬衫，价格自然比普通衬衫高得多。去年秋天， 在经济危机席卷全球的背景下，我开始探寻高端正装衬衫与众不同的秘密。

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.