How to wear a classic white shirt

Hi guys,
You may remember that a couple of months ago I wrote a little post about how I would style a white shirt, for shirting company TM Lewin. I choose to dress my shirt up with a little sparkle: shirting in the daytime has never really fitted in with my lifestyle. Well back in February, as part of the same TM Lewin campaign, I was invited to a photoshoot where I got to style my classic white shirt again. Here are the results:

Now I'm not much of a white shirt wearer (for me they're a rare piece in my wardrobe, rather than an everyday occurence) but here are a few tips from my point of view on how to wear a classic white shirt:

1. Make sure you get the fit right. A good shirt should sit on your shoulders, have room for two fingers inside your collar (any more and its too big, any less and its too small) and not gape at the bust. It's hard to find the shirt that fits right - like finding the perfect pair of jeans. But when you find it you'll know!

2. Don't make the mistake of thinking white shirts are only good for office wear. I would never wear a shirt during the daytime: it's too formal. Instead, my favourite way of wearing a white shirt is to team it with a sequinned mini skirt or fuller A line skirt and killer heels for a super-sexy evening look.

3.Acessorize, accessorize, accessorize! See your white shirt as a blank canvas: a wardrobe basic that needs some personality injecting into it to make it your own. It's amazing the difference a nice pair of cufflinks, oversized chunky necklace, or even a little ribbon bow like mine, can make to the look and feel of what is fundementally a really simple outfit.

Are you a white shirt wearer? How do you style yours? I'd love to here your ideas and tips!

Love Tor xx

Daily Wear: The white shirt challenge

Hi guys,

I was presented with quite a challenge when TM Lewin asked me to style one of their classic white shirts. Because of my heavy bust, I'm not much of a shirt wearer, and I almost never wear white because I think it makes me look (much) wider. In fact, I've had the shirt in my wardrobe for more than a week without any idea how I was going to wear it. I'd tried it on with a pleated skirt (and looked like a pensioner) and with jeans (and looked like a chubby American mom).

Then yesterday morning inspiration struck. I ended up throwing this outfit together in less than 10 minutes, and being really rather happy with it:

OK so I cheated and hid half the shirt, but I maintain that the outfit wouldn't work without it!

I wanted an outfit that would look great for a dinner and cocktails after work, but also work for a busy day of reasonably formal meetings. So I put the shirt on underneath my black shift dress from River Island, which has a slightly sparkly sheen. I then added a statement necklace from Oasis and my Marc by Marc Jacobs watch. I finished the look off fairly simply with my black satchel and black ankle boots.

The dress and the necklace are technically pieces I would only wear in the evening, but the crisp white shirt and sensible ankle boots made them look smarter and more appropriate for something semi formal. Like I said, I loved this look!

Do you own a white shirt, and how do you wear it? Let me know, because this shirt fits like a dream, I'm just not sure how to wear it. I could really use the inspiration!

Love Tor xx