A white shirt and a pair of jeans is the power look of 2023. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth is what I think about this. It is not all that often that the statement look of the season, the outfit that signals the last word in zeitgeist-surfing, on-the-money chic, is an outfit that you not only already have in your wardrobe but have almost certainly worn a bunch of times before.
The joy of the white-shirt-and-jeans look is that it is inclusive. There is no nagging voice in the back of your head telling you that you are too old or too young, or even too short or too shy to pull this one off. This is for anyone. And it doesn’t need to cost a lot of money, if any at all.
And that’s not even the best part. I love that this is a killer style that does not make you feel remotely self-conscious. You get to be bang-on fashionable without making any kind of song or dance about it.
And bang-on fashionable it is. The most glamorous of this summer’s haute couture catwalks – a Valentino show on the terrace of the Château de Chantilly near Paris – opened at sunset on a July evening with a crisp collared white shirt tucked into a roomy pair of blue jeans.
The “jeans” were actually made of silk gazar rather than cotton denim, and model Kaia Gerber’s earrings were so giant they dipped below the points of the shirt collar, and the shoes peeking below the hem of her jeans had giant silver bows.
Nevertheless, it was a moment which announced, loud and clear, that a white shirt and a pair of jeans can be the ultimate in glamour.
It is the hero look of now because real-world dressing is where fashion is at. There is a kind of soul-baring honesty about this combination. It catches the eye because it makes a direct, this-is-who-I-am statement, despite showing hardly any skin.
In early August 1997, Princess Diana made a trip to Bosnia for her Red Cross landmines campaign. Photographs from that trip showed her in simple straight-leg faded-blue jeans and tobacco-brown driving shoes that riffed on the colour of her belt in a pleasing way. She had rolled the sleeves of her shirt up to show off her holiday tan.
These are pictures that make you catch your breath, now, because we know how that summer ended, just weeks later. But also because when you see someone in a white shirt and jeans, it feels like a window into their soul. This outfit – although with the jeans ripped and slim-cut, the shirt half-tucked – was the style formula which the then Meghan Markle chose 20 years later, for her first public appearance with new boyfriend Harry.
A white shirt and jeans is a friendly, open smile of an outfit: you are not trying to upstage, or to impress. You are just being yourself.
The best part about the white shirt and jeans formula is that you can choose the silhouette that works best for you. It looks super cool with both halves loose and breezy – as seen here. However, if that’s not within your comfort zone, you can play with volume and shape.
An oversized shirt with slim jeans, or a slinkier shirt with roomy denim. You can tuck the shirt in and cinch your waist with a belt, or you can just push the front tails of your shirt behind the fly of your jeans and let the rest sit outside.
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This is not just a power look, it is also a you-have-the-power look. Also known as a no-brainer, if you ask me.
Model: Priyanka at Milk Management. Hair and makeup: Sophie Higginson using Ouai Haircare and Medik8. Shirt, the Frankie Shop, and jeans by Raey, both from matchesfashion.com. Earrings, pilgrim.net; loafers, aeyde.com