LAST UPDATED ON March 29, 2024

How to Find The Perfect White Buttoned Shirt For Women

Written By

Suchibaksmita Sahoo

In this post I am sharing 4 steps that will help you find the best white buttoned shirt that flatters you and works for your personal style.

A white buttoned shirt is an essential for any woman’s closet, whether she has a desk job or she is stays at home to take care of the family. This is a closet must have that can easily give you the French effortless chic style without putting in a lot of effort in styling it.

Wear it with a blue jeans and you can create a smart casual look. Wear it with a maxi skirt and you can create a modern bohemian style. The styling choices with a white button down shirt is infinite, but its really important to also find the perfect white shirt that will enhance your style.

S, let’s get started.

Button Up Vs Button Down

We see these terms thrown around a lot, but what does this even mean. The difference is simple but changes how you can wear the shirt or where you can wear the shirt. Now, this does not mean you cannot interchange them, but one of them will always fit a bit different.

Button Up Shirt

A button up shirt is exactly what it says. You can button up the shirt all the way to close the collars. These type of shirts are perfect for Suits or tailored styling where you either need to wear a tie or a scarf. Or you are wearing something extremely formal and need to keep your shirt looking tidy.

These shirt styles have an extra button right below the collar button which keeps the collar secure.

If you are looking for a button up shirt for the above purpose, make sure that you trying buttoning the shirt and feel comfortable wearing it that way. Otherwise, you will feel really uncomfortable wearing it. Now, I am using a darker color shirt to show you the difference, but you will find the exact detail in a white one.

Button Down Shirt

A button down shirt on the other hand does not have that extra button around the collar area and is built in a more laid back way. And you can button down and wear the shirt.

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This style is mostly used for casual shirts like linen shirts for summer or satin shirts for special occasion. And these are the most common style you will see everywhere. They are also versatile because you don’t really need to button the collar all the time as a woman. If you want to add something to your neckline, you can add a scarf and still look put together with a button down shirt.

This is also my favorite style of shirt because they feel way more comfortable. The collars would most likely be a bit oversized and not so stiff like a button up shirt.

Material Of The Shirt

This is really key to a good white buttoned shirt. But you don’t have to read the label every time you shop, though if you are shopping online, you can check the description for the details.

But below are my top factors that determine whether the white shirt works for me or not.

Is It See Through?

This is the most important thing you need to see when picking out a white shirt. If you can see through the fabric the first time, it just gets worse after you wash it. This usually happens to non cotton fabric because, they might not have a higher thread count.

But nonetheless doing a hand slide test where you slide your hand in to check the opaqueness of the shirt. Its important to pay attention to this because you usually cannot wear a lot of layers underneath except a bra.

Material for The Weather

You need to pay attention to the fabric material depending on which weather you are shopping your white shirt. If you are shopping in winter you can easily wear satin or crepe white shirts because they are not at all breathable, so there is no chance for you to sweat. You can also opt for flannel material.

But if you are shopping for warmer weather its key to find shirts that are breathable. My favorites are cotton blend and linen. Cotton blend will help retain the shape of the shirt which might shrink after a wash if its 100% cotton. Both these fabric material are perfect for hot climate where you want your clothes to light weight and breathable.

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Cheap Vs Good Quality

There are few ways you can determine this and honestly the price tag does not matter. I have bought expensive shirt that look cheap and the other way around as well. Its important to pay attention to stitching details of the shirt. The seems are proportionate and look good. At the same time there are bad stitches visible. This makes the shirt look cheaper even though you are paying top dollars.

Also paying attention to button holes and buttons. With a white buttoned shirt, the buttons should either be clear or white and not too big. Big buttons on shirts make them look cheaper and not thoughtfully made. Also pay attention to button holes lining up properly with the buttons.

Fit Of the Shirt

No matter how great the shirt is if it does not fit you properly, it will not look good on you. There are a few more things to notice about a button up shirt than just the buying the right size of the button down shirt.

Making sure that the shirt shoulder seems fall at the right place. Even though you are wearing an oversized shirt, it should not look like its not meant for you. Pay attention to the shoulders to see how it falls on you.

Also pay attention to the sleeves and cuffs. It should not be too tight that you cannot button up the cuffs. or it should not be extremely loose that they fall off even if you have cuffed them.
Making sure that the buttons are not too tight. This is a big problem especially for women with fuller chest like myself. So for me I ensure that after buttoning the shirts I have enough room that if I sit down or move, I don’t see skin though the opening of the shirt. You know what I mean.
Lastly, the length of the shirt, which might not be a problem for most part, but it’s also important if you plan on tucking the shirt. If it’s too short you might not be able to.

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Purpose Of the Shirt

Often times we don’t pay attention to this part, but its key to having a great style with the white buttoned shirt. The key is to find the perfect white shirt that works for your lifestyle.

If you have a laidback or casual style, you should pick relaxed fit shirt styles that you can wear to move around and look comfortable. These casual shirts will work great with other casual clothing items in your wardrobe. A lot of these casual style of shirts come with sleeve bands which you can use to button the folded sleeves. This helps you to keep your fold intact and create a casual style with the buttoned shirt.

But this style of shirt might not work for your business casual work wear where you want to look polished. Usually the sleeve buttons are visible and do not show a put together look. If you need a good white buttoned shirt for work, you need to ensure that the its structured and not too oversized that looks frumpy for a business casual look.

If you are picking shirts for a feminine chic look, an oversized shirt that you can tuck in to create and effortless chic look will be perfect for you. You can easily style it with feminine pieces in your closet to create your desired style. You probably will not find much use of a button up shirt. Rather you might like short sleeve shirt or poplin shirts.

If you are picking the shirt for summer, you might want to choose a sleeveless or short sleeve compared to long sleeve for more comfort and wearability.