This month in shirts

The button down kind specifically.

I guess we are starting with shirts because it is a) the category I think I might have the most of and b) it feels like the most versatile item in my wardrobe with (in my experience) the lowest cost-per-wear, but also often acquisition cost (well, on the whole). You don’t necessarily have to spend big to get something special, hard wearing or comfortable. I also wear nearly all my shirts all year round - in the winter I do them mostly up with a turtle neck underneath and in the summer I leave them undone over swimwear. They are also the item I can wear the most when at home in Australia, but also living my everyday life in London - for a singular wardrobe item, this feels like quite the flex. Living in central London is just not the same as living in central Sydney, there is an air of casualness you can have in an office off Pitt Street that you just cannot have outside The Shard. Being able to wear the same item in both these very different geographical locations is the most impressed I can be at nearly anything.

Sorry for the thirst trap but my boobs might never look like this again. This was taken in December 2021 on a 40 degree day just off the beach in Adelaide, Australia and I still wear this combo. Technically the shirt is my husband’s but Uniqlo linen is gender neutral in my opinion. The one on the right is when I was recently 9 years pregnant. I’m showing you these two together because the shirt on the right is similar in weight to the one on the left, but obviously styled for a balmy 16 degree day in Marylebone, London. Both shirts identify as a ‘summer’ but down to styling are really proving that they can do the most.

Name a category that can do more? 

I have a lot of shirts. Probably too many to call a ‘capsule’, I could cull some more but I guess I make the rules and my current rules are: stop putting things on Vinted/eBay until you’ve stopped breastfeeding and/or had more sleep. So, below is a category breakdown of the ones I wear the most and why, along with some loose guidance on shopping this category. I’ve used current season stock as examples so that it’s shoppable for you - if you buy anything through these links, I will make a teeny tiny commission, so thank you very much. 

Arket and COS

In my opinion, it is hard to beat these two H&M owned brands on quality and price when it comes to their shirting. It also is consistently the only category I buy from these two brands. From my own extensive personal research/assumption, I think the fit model for both brands is clearly a gorgeous 8 feet tall beanpole - one whom doesn’t even have an outtie belly button to claim she has a curve. However, I do like an oversized and/or slightly longer shirt that covers the butt and these do this more often than not. I’ve included a couple of H&M shirts in this mix too because I do think the quality on their shirting is ‘ok’. The price point for Arket and COS does reflect the higher quality of make and fabrication when compared to their H&M counterpart where shirting is concerned. Generally a factory will be able to produce a shirt to an ok standard because it’s something they’ll be asked to do often for many clients, and they tend to differ not so much between brands, as it’s something they are used to doing. Therefore, I think if you are looking for a lower price point, as long as the materiality of the garment is ok (see below) you should be able to get a lot of wear out of an H&M shirt - not something I would say about their dresses for example.

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Uniqlo

Uniqlo linen is like the summer version of the well known and appreciated Uniqlo cashmere. It’s well priced and very decent quality, yet I do think it’s under-recognised as a whole - probably down to their sub-par styling (sorry Uniqlo but do better). Their online merchandising is so boring that what I’ve shown below are not even the best colours, the imagery was just so offensive I couldn’t bare myself to screengrab, so do bother clicking through the link to my LTK. Linen is supposed to look wrinkled, these are shirts you do not HAVE to iron. I tie them up over skirts, leave them open with sleeves rolled up over swimmers or layer them over dresses or anything else sleeveless - because showing off our arms is a life-long skill I am still working on acquiring (IYKYK). Also, as previously mentioned, don’t assume these are beach only - I have a chocolate brown linen one I wear all the time in London January weather. 

I typically wear both the L and XL (in womens) depending on the level of baggage I’m feeling. I have the white in XL because I’m more likely to wear that one on the beach, but the other shades I have are an L just to give me more flexibility under jumpers etc etc.

My husband, whom we affectionately and publicly call Ken (thank you TikTok team) wears the XL in mens, so if you want really oversized that size works for me too. Plus if you like a stripe, I often think the men’s stripes are better, not always but worth a look none the less.

There is a hot pink one in here I think I might be able to justify, shirts are good for breastfeeding (apparently).

Mens vintage/thrifted shirts 

I buy a shirt based on its quality, price, detail and/or colour/print. As I so often wear them undone, it really doesn’t often matter about the silhouette it creates done up so a lot of the best ones I have are mens, and cost me very little from the charity shop. Second-hand Ralph Lauren is always a win but Kiton - a brand whose shirts start at £500 are my personal favourite. No that is not a typo. The quality is insane. Their website literally has ‘you get what you pay for’ written at the bottom of the ‘Kiton quality’ page - I have alerts set for them on Vinted/eBay etc. I discovered them when I once found one for £30 in a charity shop on High Street Ken. I didn’t realise it’s true value and immediately added a ribbon trim. I don’t regret it because I still wear it 8 years later but I’m not sure I would have GLUED it on had I known, I would have bothered to do a nice hand stitch…

I appreciate you can’t feel through your device but these shirts are made of the softest cotton, you almost don’t need to iron them. The structure in the shoulder seam is so clearly done by hand - nothing else hangs off the shoulder quite so well.

Notes on fibre composition

In all the above (with the exception being the linen shirts) I want the fabric contents to be 100% cotton in all my shirts. Cotton is breathable, very machine washable, durable and is a ‘natural fibre’ meaning it ain’t sweaaatyyy. The only difference between cotton and linen here really is in texture - linen is a slubby fibre, not always smooth like cotton. It often dries very crinkly which is why it looks more ‘intentional’ if you cbf with ironing.

If something says 100% cotton but then polyester trims, this often means the thread itself is polyester. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing unless you want to recycle the item or want to dye it. At present, textile recycling most often requires the garment to be 100% natural or 100% manmade in order for it to go through the recycling process. Also if you want to dye something, the reason this matters is because manmade fibres (like polyester) and natural fibres (like cotton and linen) absorb dye differently so they won’t necessarily match if you dye the garment as a whole. I talk more about this in the video here if you haven’t already seen it.

Notes on details

There are a lot of clothes in this world. Obviously too many, we know this. I get asked a lot about how to ‘choose’ pieces and often these questions are framed around ‘how do I know what will be timeless’ or ‘how do I know if something is of quality’. Obviously my background in fashion and still to an extent working within the realm of the industry, culture and beauty means it’s part of my job to understand the trend cycle. This partly answers that first question but mostly I genuinely just go by ‘do I like it?’ I know that sounds airy and isn’t the soundbite or hard and fast rule some of us need and want, but genuinely ask yourself this question: ‘why do I like this?’ and just back yourself. It feels very ‘Parisian Style Guide’ -esque of the mid 2010s but honestly confidence will always reign supreme. That might be the most consistent and global element of personal style there is. The quality question I have hopefully touched upon throughout this short essay, but mostly what I look for is great design details - things I don’t see everywhere or that feel unique. The uniqueness of something is to me what gives it longevity as a piece, it means it’s less likely to be a core part of the current zeitgeist or something I will get bored of because I’m seeing it everywhere else. I value individualism over uniformity. Maybe I’m a wallflower but I hate feeling like a sheep.

Notes on styling 

Maybe you’ve seen some of the viral TikTok’s on this, specifically of the girl that says she doesn’t understand how the ‘cool girls’ make button downs look ‘cool’ and not office-y. We’ve already talked about confidence and honestly, that’s most of it - but I do find there are some consistent elements in my shirts that mean I don’t have to ‘think’ too hard outside just putting the shirt on. Like I do love rolling a sleeve up but if it’s 6.30 am and my call time is at 8, I only care about coffee. If the cuff is ‘longer’ than usual I often think even if I don’t want to wake my husband to do them up, it still feels like a ‘look’ if I leave them undone. Also, if the button placement down the front is ‘interesting’ and it’s too early to think about layering, it’s a ‘as long as it’s already been ironed’ we can chuck it on and go moment.

That’s it! I hope you enjoyed my first ‘proper’ newsletter’. I’ll be back next month with another category. I’d love for this to be a two-way conversation so please leave a comment, chat to me on Instagram or catch up with me on TikTok.

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