White shirts are the standard. They’re the go-to choice for dressing up in poplin, twill and herringbone, and they’re a popular choice for dressing down in oxford or linen. The white shirt always looks smart, crisp and modern, and it’s completely neutral, so it is easy to wear. The white shirt needs little explanation. The off-white shirt was once a popular alternative but has fallen out of favour. The off-white shirt is also a neutral, but it’s not as straightforward.
Off-white comes in numerous variations, including ivory, cream and ecru. Ivory is a pale, cool shade of off-white that describes the colour of ivory from tusks and teeth. Cream is a warmer off-white, sometimes bordering on pale yellow, that describes the colour of dairy cream. Ecru is a slightly darker and greyer shade that comes from the French word écru, meaning raw, and it refers to the colour of raw silk or linen. In practice, these names are used interchangeably. Ivory sounds more luxurious, cream sounds luscious, and ecru sounds earthy.
Compared to white, off-white has a warmer tone that looks especially good on people with warm complexions. On anyone, it can give a gentler, friendlier look than white, which can look very formal and serious. Off-white has a richness that white lacks. Off-white shirts are often a better pairing with warm-toned outfits than pure white shirts, looking more harmonious with clothes in brown, tan, or beige. However, when paired with lighter beige or ecru clothes, one must be conscious that the shirt contrasts enough with the rest of the outfit and that it doesn’t clash.
The off-white shirt also goes just as well with cool-toned clothes in blue, grey and black, ultimately making it a more versatile neutral than white. With a blue suit, it offers a pleasant contrast because it’s approximately opposite on the colour wheel. With a grey suit, the off-white shirt brings warmth to an otherwise neutral outfit. Off-white is arguably the only shirt colour that doesn’t look harsh against a black suit, which makes it an excellent choice with a black suit during the daytime.
Off-white has numerous negative connotations compared to white. It can look more old-fashioned or appear aged, even when brand new. While white looks crisp and clean (when it is clean), some people find that off-white can look dingy. It lacks the youthfulness of a white shirt.
Off-white can be worn as an alternative to white in almost any scenario, especially if it’s a paler off-white. It looks good both during the day and in the evening, though white is generally a more reliable choice for the evening. An off-white shirt is slightly less formal than a white shirt, but they are interchangeable in practice. While pure white is ideal for more formal modes of dress—like morning dress, white tie and black tie—off-white can also be worn for black tie, especially if the shirt is silk.
On camera, off-white is often chosen instead of pure white because it won’t get as blown out in bright, harsh lighting. Costumers sometimes dye whites with tea for an aged look, and it’s possible that some of Bond’s white shirts were darkened with tea either to show up better on screen or to show that they’ve been dirtied in action. On screen, off-white shirts can make grey suit look blue due to the warm-cool contrast, and for the same reason they can emphasise the blue of a blue suit.
Silk shirts are typically off-white rather than pure white. Bond wears several silk shirts between the 1960s and 1980s as an even more luxurious alternative to fine and silky cotton shirts that Bond usually wears. In real life, silk’s off-white colour is different from a similarly dyed cotton and has a uniquely luxurious look, but on screen the difference in colour doesn’t show. Off-white cotton can have a luxurious look because of the colour’s association with silk, but with silk shirts being a rarity today, this isn’t an association many people will have.
James Bond frequently wears off-white shirts in the films from the 1960s through the 1990s, on Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan. Part of this was due to contemporary fashions, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s when off-white shirts were trendy. Bond also wore more off-white shirts in his days of wearing English shirts, as it’s a traditional colour for English formal shirts alongside white and sky blue. It still is commonly found at traditional Jermyn Street shirtmakers, where ‘cream’ is the preferred term. The main reason that Bond wore so many off-white shirts was likely that these shirts look more defined on screen compared to white shirts. In Moore’s case, off-white is also highly flattering to his warm complexion, whereas white looks rather stark.
Off-white shirts have been out of fashion in the 21st century, and Bond has not worn one since Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997. In 2015’s Spectre, Bond’s white shirts look off-white on screen due to the film’s intense yellow colour grading. The off-white shirt is a useful tool that is still relevant, despite being less fashionable.
See also a former blog post on James Bond’s ecru and cream shirts.
Huge fan of cream shirts. My first and only made-to-measure shirt (itself a rather disappointing result) is cream and I’ve thrifted a few here and there, plus some darker ones in a shade I’ve known as “champagne” that sit halfway between white and beige.
In my experience, white looks better on me than blue, but I like a good cream to tone it down where appropriate. Though I never can tell the differences between cream, ivory, ecru, etc…
“Silk shirts are typically off-white rather than pure white” – a factor here may be that similar to wool, white silk will age and darken over time. Many years ago I would only wear white shirts for work and had a number of white silk pocket squares to match. Over time the squares have all become off-white or cream. Since a cream pocket square is very versatile for many warm-toned suits and jackets I’ve given a lot of these away.
I accept all the rationale that Matt has laid out here for off white shirts but I don’t like them for myself even on the admission that a stark white shirt could wash out a pasty Nordic like me! For some reason maybe I’m sensitive that they may be judged as originally white shirts that have become dingy. I follow in the footsteps of my Mam and always separate whites from any other colours when doing laundry as dingy whites was a sure sign of poor housekeeping skills when I was a youngun!
… and I know it’s been said before, probably by me and perhaps others, that Connery loos absolutely slaughtered in that pic above. This was only six years after looking so good in Thunderball.
I also have really enjoyed the cream shirts I have worn, although they seem very difficult to source nowadays. Let’s hope for a revival!
Hear, hear ! Being rather pale but with dark brown hair, I found the cream shirts look better on me than stark solid white, besides I like the old fashioned look it can have anyway. But besides Turnbull & Asser, Hilditch & Key and a few other shirtmakers, this shade seems to have disappeared completely. I had a mtm shirt made in a beautiful cream royal oxford, but they messed it up so much I asked for a refund. So far I have two, both thrifted from T&A. But really with a kind of revival of brown suits and sports coats atm, they are needed more than ever ! Even in a short sleeve version with a camp collar, a cream shirt looks great.
Yes I bought a plain brown suit this summer and a cream shirt would work well with it on
I cannot help but notice you seem to be on an off white themed series of posts Matt. Two on ivory dinner jackets, the one on the safari jacket, this post, and even the blue polo post with regard to the trousers, all include it. Pure white is the standard but it can be a bit harsh as you mentioned, so off white is very useful as an alternative; not just for clothing, but for a wide range of applications.
As to being out of fashion, I feel that’s only the case for having a noticeably off white shirt. It was always my understanding that you wore an off white shirt based on either skin tone or the rest of the outfit with the intent to achieve a neutral look. In other words, the effect should read as white and only be noticeable as off white on close study.
The trousers worn with the polo are tan which is too dark to be considered an off-white.
A really nice article with information I hadn’t known or considered before. I definitely think there’s a place for them in everyone’s wardrobe and I recommend them instead of pure white if somebody wants to wear a white shirt with warm colours.
Thanks for the interesting article.
Any ideas about current ( not bespoke) stores or online retailers that are producing cream/ecru shirts? Very hard to find ( at least in the UK).
Thanks again.
The traditional shirt brands in Jermyn Street carry cream shirts, in varying shades.
Turnbull & Asser: https://turnbullandasser.com/products/cream-cotton-shirt-with-t-a-collar-and-3-button-cuffs
Hilditch & Key: https://www.hilditchandkey.co.uk/products/classic-fit-classic-collar-double-cuff-shirt-in-plain-cream
Harvie & Hudson: https://www.harvieandhudson.com/shirts/cream-plain-poplin-double-cuff-shirt/
New & Lingwood: https://newandlingwood.com/collections/formal-shirts/products/cream-poplin-st-james-s-collar-classic-fit-double-cuff-shirt
Emma Willis: https://www.emmawillis.com/products/ivory-superior-cotton-shirt
Charles Tyrwhitt have an ivory shirt too: https://www.charlestyrwhitt.com/us/non-iron-twill-shirt—ivory/FON0409VRY.html