WNU Wear: How to style the white shirt

 

 

It’s the unofficial uniform for cool girls. The work shirt, out for drinks shirt, throwing on everyday shirt. Pulling on for a morning meeting or morning-after-the-night-before shirt. To meet your boss, the in-laws, your girlfriends. For when you don’t know what to wear, or know exactly what you want to wear, or when there’s no dress code so I guess I’ll have to guess what to wear.  

There isn’t a blog post, magazine article or YouTube video that wouldn’t include this in their ‘top 5 basics everyone must have in their wardrobe’. It’s the versatility; the tailoring that keeps you looking put together, but the loose fit of a thrown-on shirt that makes it effortless. It’s how you wear it. Unbuttoned, fully buttoned, collar open or even just one button.

A white shirt is classic. It’s timeless. It’s malleable to whoever you are and how you want to wear it. It gets better with each wear, like a good pair of jeans, you never want to take it off. But neither will your friend or your daughter or your sister, so be careful who you lend it to. The piece for transitional styling in all seasons, it’s synonymous with Spring, but then it’s the must-have for Summer, perfect for Autumn… and did we mention layering for Winter?

It’s when Carolyn Bessette wore it. Romy Schneider. Lauren Hutton. Jane Birkin. Sade. Julia Roberts. The Olsen twins. Sienna Miller. My mum in her dad’s shirt. Me in my mum’s shirt from her dad. It’s called borrowing. (It’s stealing). It’s easy. With nothing underneath or with something underneath. A bra, a bikini, a vest, a t-shirt, a roll neck. Or maybe it’s the shirt that’s underneath. Under a jumper or a trench coat. You can’t help but reach for it, because once you’ve found the perfect item why stray away from it? It starts hung in the wardrobe but then you wear it. And wash it. Iron it. Wear it again. It doesn’t spend much time in the wardrobe after all. Pull it on for the school run, that board meeting or that date. Maybe you’re doing all three in one day. It’s for any and every occasion you want to wear it to. It’s smart and sexy and elegant and practical all at the same time. 

The white shirt is a staple. It’s been searched for on Google 75,880 times alone last month, so we know you want one. If you don’t have one, trust us, you need one. And if you need to get one you may as well get one from the company who makes the best one, sustainably too. (That’s us btw). We promised you it’s the perfect shirt and we’re here to prove it, so here’s how we like to wear it.

 

 

Rosie Huntington Whitely, Mathilde Gohler, Kendall Jenner, Leia Sfez, Elsa Hosk, Pernille Teisbaek

The classic white shirt, open and flowing over a neutral top. A tailored pair of wide leg trousers – preferably in a neutral shade – dressed up or down depending on your sandal choice.

Our Boyfriend Poplin White is best for this. For a top we like this company, or this one’s pretty good too. We get our trousers from here but would also recommend this place. If you’re dressing this up these sandals would be perfect. We’ll be wearing this casual though and will grab a pair of these sandals.

 

Amelie Moosgaard, Jeanette Madsen, Anouk Yve, Camille Charriere, Monica Ainley, Leia Sfez

Sometimes the best way to go is monochromatic: just white shirts and just white trousers please! (and maybe a black accessory if you can't commit to the full look). 

We reckon this look goes best with our Boyfriend Linen White, to keep it casual and light, perfect for Summer weather. For bottoms if you're going long then go for these linen trousers or these white denim jeans; if you're going short, then these are all you need. Most of you may prefer a sandal (like this one!) but it's a trusty pair of trainers for us.

 

Joanne Hegarty, Catarine Mira, Darja Barannik, Andi Singer,  Jeanette Mardsen

Remember those articles that are written all the time and are published everywhere about the basics we all need in our wardrobes? Well, the classic white shirt goes hand in hand with the classic blue jean.

Any of our white shirts would suit this style, but I always grab for the Boyfriend Weave White. The key to this is finding your perfect fitting basic pieces as it's this that makes the simple look look so polished yet effortless at the same time. If you still haven't found the right jeans for you why not try this place. Or have you heard of these? If not, you can never go wrong with a pair of Levi's 501.