006: UNIFORM STUDY
Jeans and a t-shirt
This week I’m going to try something different. Instead of speaking to someone about their personal uniform, I am going to take an in-depth look at one of the most iconic, and one of my favorite, uniforms of all time - jeans and a white t-shirt. It’s a classic and quintessentially American pairing that people have been wearing for nearly a century and yet, somehow, it still feels current. The combination exudes an air of cool and a sense of ease, but I think it’s actually one of the trickiest pairings to get just right.
It takes effort to look effortless. I spend a lot of time on photoshoots for my job, and hair and makeup artists always tell me that natural, just-rolled-out-of-bed-but-I-still-look-fabulous beauty is the most challenging and time-consuming look to perfect. It’s complicated when one tries to imitate what (society tells us) should come naturally. It can take hours and many products to achieve clean, fresh skin and easy, undone hair. In my mind, jeans and a t-shirt are effortless beauty’s sartorial equivalent. It’s excellent if you get it right, but just a little sloppy if you miss.
Now to be clear, just about anyone can throw on jeans and a tee to run to the bodega in the morning and look just fine, the same way we can throw our hair into a messy ponytail and run out the door. It might accidentally look good, it might look messy, but who cares? Certainly not me (and hopefully not my neighborhood barista). Today we’re not going to talk about coffee or bodega runs, instead we’ll be talking about how to make jeans and a t-shirt look intentional. For times when you don’t want to look underdressed, but you want to have a clean, simple canvas. This is going look slightly different for everyone, of course. I’ll get a little bit into my personal preferences here but my aim is to outline some universal guidelines.
Let’s begin.
Perfect T-Shirts
Everybody has their own version of the perfect tee. Here are a few criteria that make a good one.
Cut and Proportions. The cut of your t-shirt, meaning the shape of the body, sleeves, and neck, and the proportion, meaning its size and shape in proportion to you and the rest of your outfit, are important factors here. This is going to depend on your body type and what you want to emphasize or conceal. Personally, I have narrow shoulders and a slight upper body, with wider hips. I either like to emphasize this difference with a tiny “baby” tee (short, cap sleeves, tight body and cropped length), or I like to “even myself out” with a blousier, tucked-in tee that makes my upper body appear more equal in size with my lower.
There are a few things you’ll want to think about here.
Sleeves. The eye is going to be drawn to the line where your sleeve ends. If you don’t like your arms, you may prefer a longer, looser sleeve, especially one that ends at a narrow part of the arm (I think this style looks really elegant on just about anyone). Those who like to show arm may like a cap sleeve (that cuts off just past the shoulder). Drop sleeves, where the shoulder seam lands past the shoulder line, as opposed to right on top of it, also have the effect of making a t-shirt look more effortless. You can also roll the sleeves, which can look quite cool. My old boss, Samira Nasr, is the queen of this look.
Longer sleeve options from The Row (this is a good example of a drop sleeve), 90 Percent, and Anine Bing 
Shorter and cap sleeve options from Reformation, Skims, and RE/DONE Here’s Hailey Bieber styled by Samira Nasr in a tee with the sleeves rolled just so…
Neckline. If we’re talking really classic (and we are) then crewnecks are the answer. V-necks are flattering because they extend the line of your neck but they can look a little too Jersey Shore in t-shirt form, without another layer underneath. (I’m from New Jersey, so I am allowed to make this statement). If you do want your neck to look longer, a wider crewneck or a slight scoop neck will accomplish this.
Length and Tucking In. Finding the right length in a t-shirt can be surprisingly challenging. I’m short, so tucking in is usually a good solution for me. If you’re going to tuck, the shirt should be long enough to really tuck it. You need at least an extra 2 inches to be left inside of the pants when you’re finished, otherwise the shirt is going to be popping out all day and it won’t look nice or be comfortable. If you want your waist to look smaller, let a little more fabric hang out over the top. If you’re tall, I recommend checking out the men’s section to achieve this. It’s harder to go way too long but if you do, all the extra fabric will look and feel too bulky when it’s tucked in.
Longer t-shirt options, great for tucking in or letting it hang, from Aritzia, Prada (these are sold in a pack of 3 and t-shirt fanatics tend to love them but they are $$$), and Nili Lotan A nice tucked situation courtesy of Homme Girls…
All this said, the kids these days are really not into tucking. As fashion continues to regress back into early 2000s style, the pants are getting lower and the shirt hems are out. I’m not one for crop tops, so there are two options that I like. Either its a t-shirt that hits just above or right at the top of my waistband - short enough to show a little sliver of skin but not a full exposure. (Again because I’m short, some cropped or baby tee styles actually do this for me, but it’s going to depend on your height and size.) Or I like a shirt thats totally oversized and hangs a little lower than my hips. If you’re going oversized, it looks best when the shirt is boxy and has a little structure to it. I say this all the time but do not be afraid of the tailor! It may seem excessive to tailor a t-shirt but if it’s going to be something you wear all the time, its worth the cost to make it fit perfectly. Personally, if the shirt is going to be shorter, I like it to be more form fitting, again because this lengthens the silhouette. I find a short, loose t-shirt to be false advertising, you think its going to be flattering but it rarely ever is.
Baby tees and (slight) crops from Pretties, Uniqlo, and Petit Bateau
Here is a nice, oversized situation seen on Sylvie Mus. The shirt has some weight so it drapes nicely.
I’ve always loved this image of a young Charlotte Gainsbourg in a baby tee.
Fabric. There are two good ways to go here - thick and opaque or soft and semi-sheer. I am not a fan of marled fabric, I don’t think it looks luxurious. If you’re going to go thick, look for fabric that has a nice weight to it. It shouldn’t be so stiff that you can’t move or tuck it in, and it shouldn’t have too much of a sheen (looks cheap). My favorite heavy weight t-shirt is a men’s style that comes from Uniqlo’s Lemaire-designed U collection (I linked it above as well). Semi-sheer or soft t-shirts can be really beautiful as well, and add a slouchy elegance to your look. My favorite sheer tee is from T by Alexander Wang (I don’t think they make it anymore but I linked a few options below). If you’re going to wear it to the office, you’ll probably want the right bra to go with it.
Zoe Kravitz in a nice, thick tee…
The Bras. Again, if you’re going to wear a bra (and I’m not saying you must, I often don’t) you want to be intentional about it. Either you specifically want a bra that blends in and disappears, or you want a bra that’s meant to show through. Both options can look great.
For the no-show, it’s obvious that it should blend in with your skin-tone, and it should probably be seamless. My perfect no-show bra is this one from Hanro. If you need something with cups, make sure they fit properly. Gaps and bumps show easily through a white tee. I’ve also heard the stylist trick that a red bra hides under white. I have no idea why this is, but I’ve tested it with this bra from Cuup and it seems to be true.
If you’re going to show your bra, I think a simple, triangle bra, like this one, looks really nice under a sheer white tee. Black lace and white lace can also be beautiful. I don’t like a fully lace bra for this purpose. It’s a little too much texture under the t-shirt and looks bumpy. It’s better if you can choose a bra with just a bit of lace detail.
Perfect Jeans
I’ve already written a bit about jeans on this newsletter and again, they’re going to be different for everyone. Here are a few factors I take into account when shopping for the perfect pair.
Style and Rise. Denim trends can be annoyingly cyclical. For a clothing item that’s considered classic, it sure does a lot of shape shifting. Over the past 30 years we’ve cycled through skinny, low-rise, high-rise, mom jeans, and kick flares (just off the top of my head). Right now, the “in” look is trending towards low-rise, either baggy and long or tight and flared. Whether or not you want to try trends or stick to what works for you is 100% a matter of opinion, and you can look great either way. Personally, I do like to feel current, but I usually try to find a version of a trendy style that works for my body type. For example, in baggy, long, low jeans, I nod at it but don’t take it to the extreme. Since I’m already short, and my hips are wider, I don’t need jeans that are hugely long or excessively baggy because they add bulk in both directions. I have had success with mens jeans, which are more narrow in the hips and still loose in the leg, tailored just a tiny bit to fit my waist and a touch longer than my inseam. That said, I don’t think I’ll ever abandon my high-waisted Levi’s 517s, which fit my body like a glove.
Mom jeans on Julia…
And low-rise on J.Lo…
Fit and Size. Fit is much more important than style when it comes to looking great in a pair of jeans. This is so personal that it’s tough for me to get too specific here but I’ll say a few things.
First, I’ll say my favorite thing, go to the tailor! The tailor is your friend. Humans come in so many different shapes and sizes that, frankly, it will never be possible to make glove-like jeans for everyone (without stretch, which we’ll get into). Get thee to the tailor and make your jeans fit you. If they fit your hips perfectly but gap at the waist, you can fix that at the tailor. If they fit your waist but you’re swimming around the thigh, you can fix that too.
Second, I want to say that size is just a number. This is something I learned later in life, after spending many years fixated on wanting to be a certain size. Sizes are a very broad guideline for how a jean will fit, and they can vary drastically based on the brand, the fabric, whether or not the jeans are vintage, and so many other factors. When my friend Rachel told me that she buys her jeans a size or two up, to give them a slouchier look, it damn-near changed my life. It sounds silly but I didn’t really realize that I could buy jeans that weren’t “my size”. Now, I buy lots of jeans in all different sizes, depending solely on how I want them to fit. I’ve even bought multiple pairs of jeans that I love in more than one size to achieve different looks and accommodate for natural body fluctuations. You’re not a slave to your size, your jeans should work for you.
Pockets. This one is a matter of personal preference, but the size of your butt is going to look different depending on the size and shape of your pockets. Large pockets can have a flattening effect, they also look a bit more tomboy. Small pockets, alternatively, can emphasize a round behind or perk up a flat one. Pocket placement is a factor as well. Far apart pockets can make the butt look wider and flatter.
Fabric. To stretch or not to stretch, that is the question. I like rigid, zero-stretch denim, which I mainly find in vintage styles. (I wrote about shopping for vintage denim here), though there are a number of brands that stick to 100% cotton (linked below). 100% cotton jeans last longer, wear better over time, and don’t sag or lose their shape as much. I also think that non-stretch denim looks a bit more authentic, like something my mom would have worn in the 60s (probably because she did). That said, many people prefer stretch denim and find it more comfortable. If you’re going to go stretch, you want really focus on quality. Cheap elastane and lycra look, well, cheap and don’t hold up as well to washing and wearing.
So, that’s my rant for the week. Thank you for reading! I would love to hear your feedback on this format, which I would like to mix in every once in a while. Next week we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming. A remember to share this with a friend if you enjoyed it!
🤍 this. Can you talk about tank tops and what’s flattering on different cuts and on body types?