From Wardrobe Staple to Closet Centrepiece 


Synonymous with everything from school uniforms and workwear, to men’s suiting and occasionwear, white shirts have risen through the ranks to appear on red carpets and Fashion Week runways, becoming an egalitarian staple.

Originally designed as a men’s undergarment to complement waistcoats and blazers, the classic white shirt was popularised in women’s fashion in the ‘40s by silver-screen style icons like Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner. When Audrey Hepburn starred in classics such as Roman Holiday she changed the game by favouring the masculine style over traditional women’s blouses. For its 100th Anniversary in 1992, Vogue paid homage to the staple on its cover with the decade’s supers all sporting the same white shirt with matching jeans. The style has been belted, knotted, layered, and buttoned to the top to become a cornerstone of women’s wardrobes. 

Perennially on-trend, this gender-neutral staple champions perfect simplicity and - when crafted from a quality fabric - needs little-to-no additions to hold its own alongside casual staples and formal pieces.



Even Elizabeth Taylor once said that “every woman should have a great white shirt in her wardrobe.”
 

Reinventing the White Shirt


While the truth of the matter is that you can’t go wrong with a classic white shirt, we’ve familiarised ourselves enough with the traditional long-sleeved silhouette and cotton fabrication. Expanding our shirting repertoire only bolsters our sartorial arsenal, elevating more of our looks and cementing this classic’s role in every aspect of our wardrobe.


2022 has taken a pair of (not so) metaphorical scissors to the style. It has made debuts on red carpets in ever-shorter silhouettes and has been celebrated with deep, naval-gazing V-necklines. Designers have celebrated the shirt's origins, styling them with bold ties that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a trading floor in the ‘80s and hip-hugging pencil skirts.

Our approach to reinventing the white shirt centres on luxury fabrics, intelligent design details, sculptural silhouettes and considered details that grant it unexpected qualities. These are styles you’ll want to build a look around; your outfit’s protagonist as opposed to the supporting role.

Take our Forever shirts: they come crafted from pure, breathable cotton and luxuriously soft silk. The former is home to thoughtful details that add a luxe touch, such as deep cuffs that can be turned up to accommodate different arm lengths or to create a more casual aesthetic. It also brings together a combination of cotton with a slight sheen on the body and textured dobby cotton on the cuffs and collar. 


The matte silk iteration is home to patches on either side of the buttoned front that create the illusion of chest pockets, cleverly avoiding transparency and retaining the fabric’s fluid drape.

Playing with proportions and sculptural detailing, our Balloon Sleeve Cotton Shirt rebels against the classic shirt rule book by embracing statement sleeves. It falls to deep cuffs stitched with a trio of faux-pearl buttons that are mirrored in the button below the neat collar. 

Other details we always consider when designing our shirts are vented hems that create a more flattering drape over your trousers and lend your look a leg-lengthening effect, and oversized silhouettes that cement the style’s place in your year-round wardrobe as they allow for long-sleeved base layers.

21st Century Styling 


The white shirt is a true sartorial chameleon. The aesthetic of the same shirt can completely change depending on how you style it, whether you leave it loose or tuck it in, leave it open or button it to the top. It’s strayed so far from being exclusive to tailoring, that it’s now become a stand-alone piece in its own right.


While styling a white shirt buttoned to the top with tailoring is a classic sartorial pairing for both work and event dressing, there are a plethora of additional roles for it in your wardrobe. In the summer, swap jackets for an open shirt layered over a cami or classic T-shirt. Not only adding an extra layer of warmth, it also protects your shoulders and arms from the sun and can double as an easy beach cover-up.

Styling a white shirt throughout the rest of the year can take the same layered approach, but this time as a supporting role below a V or round-neck knit and a longline trench or cargo jacket. We’ve layered it with everything from our sleeveless knitted vests to leather blazers and neatly cut shift dresses to perfect casual everyday looks and elevated evening ones.