Hello ladies!
Let’s take look at shirts worn back in the day, and check out if I’m still wearing the styles today.
The Crisp White Shirt
Amsterdam, 1973
In my work uniform of top hat, black ankle corduroy skirt and crisp white shirt.
And now.
The expanse of white needs to be broken up as we age.
I can no longer wear a CWS. As I am larger buster they make me look a bit sergeant major-ish.
I also believe that as we age the harshness of the CWS needs to be softened a tad.
A collarless more fluid style of shirt works for the more mature body.
A lower neckline in-filled with a pretty lace camisole reduces white’s harshness around the face.
Or seen below, adding a chunky statement necklace also diverts the attention away from the CWS’s expanse of whiteness.
And if you are on the chunkier side like me, drape a darker cardi over the shirt to reduce the boxiness of a CWS. Chunky necklace AND cardi? Well, belt and braces tactics are sometimes called for!
The Man’s Shirt
Feminise a man’s shirt
Copenhagen, 1978
Here I draped a fringed shawl over a man’s pink shirt.
And I still use the fringed shawl diversion tactic to this day, here softening the harshness of a black linen shift (and hiding bingo wings!)
The Working Man’s Shirt
Guernsey, 1969
A man’s shirt makes an ideal casual beach cover.
Guernsey, 1967
Back then, the only way to get hold of a loose fitting working shirt was to steal if off your boyfriend!
Today we can buy “manly” lumberjack shirts cut for the feminine form.
Above is a selection of loose but more curvy shirts.
The plaid pattern brings brightness to the face.
The Denim Shirt
Paris, 1974
(There were no fashion police back then - we freely double denim’ed!)
And now.
Shackets aren’t just for jeans
I had just the one loose denim shirt back in the day. Today I have two.
This is a more fitted style from H&M (Y2K - it was probably Hennes & Mauritz back then!).
I wear this shirt as a layering shacket through most of the year.
Worn above with a suede skirt - shackets aren’t an exclusive pairing with jeans, they work with skirts and dresses too.
And here buttoned up as a shirt.
Denim shirts work well with white jeans - and here I’m double-shirting too!
My other denim shirt is a loose Levi shirt (1997), here worn under a black v-neck.
And here again worn over jeans and a white T. Classic!
So my loveies, I think this little post shows that those shirts worn when younger can still look absolutely fine as we line ourselves up for dotage, subject to maybe a few tweaks along the way.
And in summary, shirt tweaks for today’s wear:
The crisp white fitted shirt - wear a looser softer style and break up the neckline with lace or jewellery; and add a dark cardi if on the chunky side like moi.
The Man’s shirt - feminise it with a pretty shawl.
The Working Man’s Shirt - no need to steal from your man these days, buy a more fitted women’s version.
The Denim Shirt - no tweaking required, these beauts still work well as we age, but maybe drop the double denim!
A la perchoine,
Mary xxx.
