A simple, but different way to wear a button down shirt
Welcome to shacket season
Thesis: button-down shirts are a wardrobe staple that most people have in some form. They’re a comfort garment in that they work in many environments, look reasonably good of many body types and accommodate many different kinds of bottoms/jackets/dresses. They can be a chameleon in the way of an onion that’s cooked, sweetening a dish when caramelized well, or just giving it something it needs to taste better.
So, what’s the problem? The ways to wear a button-down are vast — you can turn it into a tube top, a skirt, an underlayer, or a dress. Which isn’t a problem, necessarily, but these ways aren’t the most conventional.
They take time and some skill to style and that misses the point of the button down, which, really, is supposed to be a convenient essential. But what if even as a convenient essential, you want to wear one in some way that projects more style? What if?
Yes, what if, or rather: what’s a good way to do this? Styling them mostly unbuttoned as shackets (shirt jackets) over crew-neck t-shirts is a more compelling proposition than it seems. You’re probably like why is this even a thing, but hear me out, because the pairing might refresh a lot of shit in your closet, making old button downs feel new again, changing the use cases for some of your t-shirts. Don’t sleep on simplicity!
You get a chance to do more w your look — combine colors and pair different fabrics, (which adds a level of dynamism to whatever you’re wearing on your bottom half).
It’s also a good way to leave your shirt untucked without feeling like Your Shirt is Untucked if you prefer to conceal the glory of your ass from the passersby in your periphery.
I specify crew-neck as opposed to something else, btw, for the simple reason that it’s the easiest shape to accommodate an over-collar. Below are three pairing ideas for you to consider:
Button-down with shorts
T-shirt tucked in. Call this a continuation of wearing spring jackets two at a time bc they’re also great with lightweight cardigans buttoned to the crew collar or a quilted vest a la:
But as the weather gets warmer it might make more sense to use tees or tanks or tube (tops, not socks) as the underlayers. With more formal shorts, like these satin ones, a grey tee (cotton jersey) offsets the fancy (satin) and the light blue button-down (fine poplin) keeps the colors within one family unit, so you can go ham on shoes.
You’ll notice that the socks, which hit mid-shin, add more balance to the look by creating an even ratio of outfit particles (tee-and-shirt to socks-and-flats) + a tangy zest of character because of the monochrome pairing. This is in the caption above, but you can do this with any flats and socks.
Button-down with jeans
Here’s a platter of colors from the white family spanning the optic to the ivory as an ivory button-down styled over a white t-shirt, paired with white jeans and an ivory belt. The button-down isn’t buttoned until the button closest to the waistline of the jeans, which is to deliberately and dramatically expose the undershirt. Also to clock how many times I can use the word button in a sentence.
Added structured black clutch to catch my sunglasses, which are black too, with gold lining around the bag to catch the belt buckle and add something slightly more formal to an otherwise casual look. Did you even realize we were at a baseball game? All this talk of catch is soring my arms up!
What?
I know it’s a tiny nuance, but I did also like how the red letters on the clutch (just under the word “Jaws”) looked against the light blue sneakers.
This would work well with a mini or knee-length skirt like this as a more masculine counterpart. And as the finale —
Button-down with trousers, t-shirt untucked
In the first shacket instance, the interior grey t-shirt was tucked into shorts. In this one, I deliberately left the purple t-shirt out for a more relaxed vibe that supports and promotes meals such as fondue and wine pairings, which are known to cause bloating. Although I’m not sure one would feel compelled to wear such an outfit to a fondue outing. In my mind, this was a more gently rebellious nod to getting dressed for an office environment.
The t-shirt color pairing works especially well because of the pants, which are a saturated shade of khaki. The particularity of their color supports the clashing of primaries on the shirts and as I finish this sentence, I start to notice that I am sounding a lot like museum wall text, which cannot be a good thing in a newsletter about shirts.
What I mean, basically, is that as a rule, shades of khaki-to-brown make for great base coats against bright colors. So with that, I offer you these final two pair of tortoise shell cat eye sunglasses from Etsy.
That concludes this edish. Stay real, take breaks from your e-mail and for the love of God, get outside and breathe today.
Signing off,
Leandra
In reference to this and the tiny thought. There is such comfort and beauty in a huge shirt, billowing like a sail, dropping past your fingertips like a baby blanket. I've been gravitating toward this coat-shirt! And also, in the scrum of grief (in my case, I tend to deny for a day and look to any outsider like I'm out of touch and careless, then fall apart, shaking with sobs and donate haphazardly), to open my email and find this was true solace. The world is so unexpected to me somehow even as it repeats and repeats. Just to have this comforting thing arrive as promised in my inbox - it was incredibly soothing. I didn't know how much I needed it until I had it. So thank you for writing about clothes. So few do.
Can I ask the name/brand of the black belt paired w jean shorts? Thank you! Such a great look