Let’s be honest, there’s nothing new about a standard cotton shirt. But the way you wear yours can take it away from first-jobber cliche to something really fashion. Deconstruct the shirt as you know it and put it back together in these four ways. Hey presto, you’ll turn into street-style blogger catnip.
Wear something over it
Prada put corsets over Hawaiian shirts for the autumn/winter show, and Kim Kardashian wore one over a long T-shirt dress this month, so things over things are a thing at both the catwalk and celebrity ends of fashion. A camisole over a shirt is a more grungy version of this idea, and fits with slacker-friendly new brands including Jacquemus and Marques Almeida. Add a lackadaisical stroll for the full effect.
Wear it backwards
When this trend hit last year, it was filed with other outlandish style tics such as shoulder-robing and pretending to talk on the phone because it looks good in a picture. But, actually, this is an easy way to change up your shirt-wearing, and one that encourages the kind of dressing we can all do before coffee enters our system. Take any “Your shirt is the wrong way round” comments on the chin: it’s a life hack that we can all (pun intended) get behind.
Add a ruffle
Alexa Chung’s ruffled blouse was the big-hitter of her Marks & Spencer collection from earlier this year. The reason? Those ruffles, which are exaggaratedly feminine (lol) and retro (lol again). The ruffled blouse also has a fan in social media’s recent crush, Barb from Stranger Things. Therefore, this is the shirt to wear if you’re in pursuit of Instagram likes.
Do the half-tuck
This is a classic of the fashion shirt world, one that is now pretty standard frow-wear, and has lots and lots of online tutorials devoted to getting it right (really, people? How hard can it be?). Looks good worn with skinny jeans with just the right amount of ankle, as seen on Vogue editors including Sarah Harris and Emmanuelle Alt. Think of it as the Louis Vuitton Speedy of shirt styling tricks: timeless, classy and always alpha.
