My favourite white shirt

There was time when literally all I wore was white shirts with jeans. It was painless, saved time and I still managed to look somewhat pulled together. (This has started to be quite a pattern in my life. I had a quiche phase, a layered necklaces phase etc...)When I worked at Style in Singapore and Elle in New York, I wore this ensemble whenever I was just too lazy to think of a creative, fashion-y outfit to wear and when I worked at UBS last summer, it was ALL I wore, very single day. Even now, I still fall back on this outfit on particularly nasty weeks in school. Not surprisingly, I have amassed quite a substantial collection of white shirts.

For a white shirt to make it into heavy rotation in my closet, it has to fulfil several requirements. I like shirts that fall below my hip, have a relaxed fit and that is not made of starchy cotton. Linen is great for the summer but cotton shirts that are more malleable works for every day.

This shirt has grown to be my favourite out of the plethora of white shirts in my closet. My mom got it for me from a market in Florence about five years ago. The tag says that it's made by "Decolster" but even after extensive google searches, I've not found anything else by this label. I love how it has subtle nuances of a pirate's shirt with its ruffles and pleats down the front of the shirt and its slightly straggly collar. I've worn it so many times that the shirt's transluscent now and the material has become so worn-in I may need to start wearing a tank top underneath. I discovered a bright pink marker stain on the back of the shirt today, but I don't think that's going to stop me from wearing it even if it means looking like an extra from the Pirates of the Carribean movie.-Hairin