WHITE BUTTON- DOWN
There’s no need to swipe your husband’s dress shirt. Instead, pick up one of our favourite oversize button- downs to complete your borrowed-from-the- boys ensemble.
The classic oversize shirt gets a stylish update
a woman in a man’s dress shirt. Perhaps it’s the implication—sharing a bedroom and a closet is very intimate—but it likely has more to do with the feeling of strength and self-awareness that comes from wearing something smart, simple and streamlined. After all, confidence is key when it comes to sex appeal.
It’s hard to pinpoint when exactly the first woman decided she should ditch blouses and formfitting sheaths for her partner’s daily go-to, but early adopters include Lauren Bacall (think of the scene in Key Largo where Bacall and Humphrey Bogart are wearing virtually the same outfit: white button-downs, belts and dark bottoms, with hers being a skirt, and his, trousers), Diane Keaton (Annie Hall brought us a whole wardrobe of confident androgyny) and Katharine Hepburn (whose personal style included the men’s staple). They leaned in to the masculine nature of the piece—femininity be damned— to captivating effect.
Of course, the shirt isn’t always paired with menswear staples. Julia Roberts wears hers as a coverup in Pretty Woman to hide her revealing dress, and Jennifer Grey knots hers at the waist to dirty dance with Patrick Swayze. On the red carpet, recall Sharon Stone, who wore a Gap dress shirt with a Vera Wang ball skirt to the 1998 Oscars, and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, who paired hers in 1999 with a black maxi skirt.
The versatility of a great buttondown is its main selling point, followed closely by the fact that the piece wears as easily as your favourite tee yet adds classy polish to almost any outfit. This season, find the style sweet spot between boyish menswear and excessive femininity by channelling your inner Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman’s character in Pulp Fiction). Pair an untucked oversize white button-down with fitted denim or trousers and flats for an unfussy but clean look. You have no shortage of options—and you can shop them all in the ladies’ department, instead of your partner’s closet. LOOKING FOR FRESH WAYS TO WEAR YOUR FAVOURITE WHITE canadian BUTTON- DOWN? GO TO living.com/whitebuttondown.