Wondering what's the one piece of clothing no guy should be without? Didn't think so. But I was, so I spoke to our friend Fred Reali, snappy dresser and chief style guru over at Hamilton Douglass Clothiers, and asked him.

He came back with an immediate answer: The White Shirt. (And the way he said it, I'm pretty sure all the words were capitalized.)

Season after season, year after year, it leads the list of wardrobe staples.

Why's the white shirt so essential? Reali backs it up with four good reasons:

1. Very few pieces have the level of versatility of a white shirt. It's a fresh canvas, that can be painted upon with any color or pattern of necktie and worn with everything. (Style gurus talk like that.)

2. The white shirt is the number one selling shirt color in the world, and is gaining ground in popularity. It's followed closely only by blue. Everything else, in the way of patterns, stripes, etc. is a distant third.

3. When times are tough men want to be serious about their look. In a vibrant booming economy many men turned to colorful dress shirts. Now, in an era of restraint and conservatism, a simple white dress shirt sends a savvy and timely message that a man is seriously ready for work.

4. Whether it's properly pressed and crisply accenting a pinstriped suit or worn wrinkled with a pair of faded jeans, the white shirt is about as classic of a fashion icon as they make.

And who doesn't want to be iconic?

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