One Good Shirt That's Formal & Informal
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Every summer, I’m reminded of how difficult warm-weather dressing can actually be. Not because options are lacking, or because temperatures are consistently that harsh, but because summer has a tendency to encourage what I'd call specialty purchases: clothes for highly specific occasions, or even versions of oneself, that rarely outlast a string of events or single season...
... which is precisely why dependable staples feel almost hard to come by this time of year. And few pieces have earned that status in my wardrobe quite like The Frankie Shop’s shirting.
The cuts are generous, the silhouettes deliberately boxy but not baggy, landing them in a pleasantly ambiguous middle ground between airy and casual versus fitted and formal. They’re structured without feeling stiff, loose without reading as limp, with the the crisp cotton poplin fabric holding its shape throughout the day.
It all boils down to proportion: subtly elongated backs, dropped shoulders, and a volume that feels as exaggerated as it does precise. "Oversized," certainly, but intelligently so. Exhibit A, the here-pictured Sinclair model from the men’s line:
I cannot stress enough, however, how the very first Frankie Shop shirt I bought actually came out of the women’s store in Paris, directly opposite the men’s location. I mean, this practically begs for comparison, no? Despite entering with every intention of shopping at the menswear address, I’ve repeatedly found myself leaving with stuffed bags from across the street instead.
What I appreciate most is the way these shirts resist categorization. They sit somewhere between formal shirting and a lightweight outerwear even: polished enough to wear properly buttoned-up, yet roomy enough to throw over a turtle neck when it's chillier, like an overshirt.
So, come summer, the very same piece can work as a sort of lightweight jacket or as the standalone top, with cargo shorts and espadrilles or a nice pair of pleated slacks and leather loafers. Perhaps that’s the luxury in a genuinely good staple: when it escapes needing to be consciously styled and becomes mere instinct.
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