Two years ago, Rochelle Behrens, a former D.C. lobbyist, made headlines after designing a button-down shirt that did away with the puckering and gaping that frequently occurs in the bust area. Fast forward to today, and Behrens is now working to make a version of her famous shirt at half the price, turning to crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to make it happen.

The classic shirt — made from cotton fabric sourced in Italy — costs $132 at The Shirt's website and retailers such Bloomingdale's. The genius of the shirt's patented design lies in a hidden button placed strategically at the bust:







The shirts being offered through Kickstarter, which boast the same design, cost $68 and come in white, blue, pink, black and a white-and-navy horseshoe print. There are two reasons why they're less expensive: one: the fabric used, and two: because they're only being sold directly to consumers and not through third-party retailers.

Behrens sent two samples to Mashable's office — the $132 classic shirt (pictured below, left) and a prototype of the $68 shirt being offered through Kickstarter (right). The cut was identical, but there was a noticeable difference in quality. My colleague Stephanie Buck (pictured below), who tried the shirts on, noted that fabric of the more expensive shirt (72% cotton, 23% polyamide and 5% spandex) was more lightweight and breathed better. It also looked more expensive.

Fortunately, there wasn't a noticeable difference in thickness or opacity; both shirts provided stellar coverage in that area. The cheaper shirt, which is made out of 65% cotton, 32% polyester and 3% spandex, is also machine washable — a bonus. (Note that the sample color is not available through Kickstarter.)

Behrens aims to raise $25,000 to start the shirt line, and has collected $5,000 so far. If you're interested in pledging, check out her Kickstarter page (and the amusing video, above).

Images by Mashable and courtesy of The Shirt