There once was a time I could go to LL Bean or Lands End online, have several choices of fabric, any color I wanted and every size was in stock. But that was 10 or 15 years ago. Before the Internet going back to the 70's, I would buy from their paper catalogs. About the only change I have made over the years has been in the fabric, opting for no-iron over 100% cotton. I don't want business dress shirts, nor to pay excessively. Beyond Bean and Lands End, I have checked Brooks Brothers, J. Crew, Jos. A Bank, Duluth Trading, Orvis and several other places. I have even gone as far as looking on Amazon. Amazon has their own brand now and it appears from the reviews that they are junk - thin fabric and people complain that they are semi-transparent. I want a shirt that is going to hold up for 10, 15 years or until I die.
Maybe I am picky, but I didn't have this issue in the past. I don't want some untrusted brand and I don't want to go to a bespoke tailor to buy a casual button down that fits.
This country is looking more and more like the former Soviet Union. Back at the height of the food and paper product shortages, I explained to my daughter how the grocery store shelves compared to the old soviet days. I did that while standing in line for the meat counter, and of course loud enough for other shoppers wearing useless face diapers to hear.
I do not want too buy using S/M/L etc., which seems to be the norm.
EXACTLY how I feel. I also do not wish to only deal with made to order just so I get something that fits properly rather than looking like the guy at the middle of the prisoner line.
If you’re not proud you might with luck find some in a thrift shop. I know it’s long odds, but it might be worth a try. I lucked onto a pair of very nice Jos. Bank button-down oxford cloth dress shirts in my size a few years ago. If they were used I couldn’t tell it.
It used to be that one could find some decent shirts cheap at places like T J Maxx or Ross, but nowadays it doesn’t seem so. I guess that’s at least partly because not many people wear nice stuff any more.
Now with the pandemic and all, nobody wears suits and ties anymore - not even in Manhattan. So the LL Bean clothing ended up being a good choice. I haven't bought a business suit in over 10 years which is fine by me as they were so incredibly expensive and if you did not get a bespoken suit, it was basically a waste of money.
Shortages will also include all chicken and pork. Beef will be unavailable thanks to Biden’s environmental BS. Get the Soylent Green scoop trucks ready.