The white shirt effect is filtering down to the rest of us. On Depop, searches for button-up shirts have risen by 112 per cent this year and sales have shot up at labels including John Lewis. “I think the pace of fashion at the moment, and life in general, means that shirting has been at the forefront of people’s wardrobes and style choices,” says Durell, who sells 11 varieties of white shirt. “The right shirt looks good on absolutely everyone, and perhaps, most crucially, they can take you from work to the weekend and everything in between – the ultimate investment piece.”
It might be the item of 2023, but we can trace the way we’re wearing white shirts now back to the 1990s. “The white shirt’s enduring relevance is tied to its versatility,” says Durell. “Creating WNU, I was inspired by women like Princess Diana and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, who both mastered the art of classic style. Be it highlighting a charitable cause in Angola or a black-tie fundraiser dinner, nothing says elegance like a white shirt.”
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If Diana remains the modern muse for how to wear the white shirt in a nonchalantly casual way – just tuck into jeans, add ballet flats or loafers and some delicate jewellery and you’re done – then Bessette-Kennedy can be credited with underlining how it could be a transformative evening wear tool, too.
“The shirt was her magnum opus in simplicity,” writes Sunita Kumar Nair in her new book Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: A Life in Fashion. “Her friends spoke of her instinctive ability to style a shirt in multiple ways: folding both ends of the shirt or making a crisscross; tucking one shirt end into her trousers and leaving the other end out; or unbuttoning the top button down to show her décolletage. There was no end to how Carolyn made the shirt ‘hers’.”
It’s this detail that makes the white shirt so captivating, still. In the wrong hands, it can look dull, school uniform-like and boringly corporate. Done right – and there’s no exact formula for this, I’m afraid – it’s cool, compelling and exudes effortless glamour. Adjusting the cuffs just so, getting the tuck on point and popping the collar to perfection helps; teaming it with pieces which make it sing rather than skulk is essential too. After that, it’s all about carrying with confidence. “They are a canvas for one’s personality,” Durell concludes.
The Telegraph, London
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