According to people in the fashion industry, currently, the “basic” which has totally taken over fashion is the classic White Button-Down Shirt. This shirt is a great rediscovery tool because that was once reserved for the very stiff office places or school uniforms. Women are buying the very best quality of this very simple piece because it acts as a “blank canvas” to create those very modern-looking styles, rather than a corporate-looking piece.
Read through these 9 points on why and how to style it better:
“Oversized” Transformation
The main difference is the way women are buying this basic: now their shirts are not tight and completely darted but designed to be “boyfriend” or oversized. With a looser shirt, it suddenly looks more relaxed, refreshing, effortless to wear one and seems very expensive or high fashion than being constricted.
The “Half-Tuck” Trick
French tuck or half-tuck gives you a little bit of definition to your waist without bulking it up when you’re wearing a big oversized shirt. You tuck the front hem into the jeans but leave the back free.
Layering Under Knits
Another way women are wearing the white shirt is under cropped sweaters or vests. The collar, cuffs, and a little hem stick out from underneath, which increases texture and visual interest to an otherwise simple look. This has been made modern, however, with chunky loafers and proportions that are updated to be “preppy” but not out of the 80s.
Wearing It As a “Shacket”
But its use has now gone quite far into the real realm of buttoning it over something else-a naked little crop top or a bodysuit-and probably recommending a more casual approach. This makes the shirt act as a very light jacket (“or shacket”) to cover a little bit of the arm for modesty and style without the coziness of a heavy coat.
Playing with Cuffs
Rather than buttoning the sleeves neatly at the wrist, now modern styling is done by a messy “scrunch:” rolled up to the elbows or even pushed with the help of a hair tie. It results in a ready-for-action, athletic feel on the classic look.
Texture Mixing
Forward fashion styling means taking the crisp cotton of your shirt and contrasting its textures against leather trousers, silk skirts, or denim; that pushes the combination of “hard-and-soft” or “matte-shiny” keeping it far from looking flat or boring.
Monochrome Styling
In terms of trends, it is one of the best: the “all-white.” White button-down plus white pants or white denim skirt made for a clean, sophisticated aesthetic look that really looks expensive when accessorized with gold jewelry.
Knots at the Waist
Tying the edges of the shirt into two ends at the natural waist for a feminine retro look and leaving the buttons at the bottom busted works seamlessly with high-waisted “mom” jeans or drapey floral skirts.
Backdrop for Statement Accessory
The shirt is so darn neutral that it makes for the perfect backdrop to hang an “out-there” accessory. If it were out there in the jungle of busy patterns, big chunky necklaces, crazy-colored scarves, or bold belts, it’d get noticed against a crisp white shirt.
