5 Days, 5 Ways: What to Wear With a Blue Dress Shirt
More Ways to Wear this Wardrobe Staple
By Megan Collins | Jun 2 2018
The blue dress shirt remains an unsung hero of versatility. Whether you’re finally presenting those quarterly numbers to your boss, heading to a Tinder date right from the office, or packing for a destination wedding, this button-front beauty fits the bill.
Thankfully, dress shirts work harder for you than ever before. With performance materials that move with you and wick moisture better, there’s plenty of brands that make getting dressed up feel a little less soul-draining.
Below, what to wear with a blue dress shirt every day of the week:
MONDAY
SG Says: Incorporating texture via a cool tie or shoes is always a style slam-dunk.
TUESDAY
SG Says: Add a pop of color to keep a suit from seeming boring. A tie in light pink like the one above will look best on those with a cool skin tone (pink, red, bluish undertones).
WEDNESDAY
SG Says: Skip the suit entirely and wear your blue dress shirt with separates. This suede bomber jacket adds depth and interest to a seemingly simple piece. We could see Ryan Gosling wearing this look on his next press tour; why not pre-empt him and steal it for yourself?
THURSDAY
SG Says: Leather Chukkas…need we say more!
FRIDAY
SG Says: Get a little wild in the heat by pairing a dress shirt with “fancy” shorts to nail that casual-but-still-pulled-together vibe we all aspire to on the weekends.
Want to see your favorite essentials worn multiple ways? See how to get the most out of your crew neck sweater, denim jacket, and henley!
Wow hard to say – the blue dress shirt is the real workhorse of my wardrobe. Not as old school business as a white shirt and always appropriate. My favourite way has to be with a micro houndstooth sport coat and a really good quality pair of light grey dress pants with brown brogues. That is my default “talking to a customer” outfit.
Incidentally Megan you may push me over the edge into a khaki suit and loafers this summer – love all these looks but the first one is awesome although I would go tan with the shoes.
I’m all for pushing folks over the edge on investment pieces, Tod 🙂
Wow, I miss this series! Hope there’s more coming, like for espadrilles, or for some retro trainers, to name a few.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that suede bomber on the Wednesday outfit. It’s rather slim (which tends to not be the case with typical bombers) and waterproof (perfect for low-maintenance folks like me!). Not to mention, it makes the whole look casual without being too sloppy and cool with being too rebellious.
And the Thursday chukkas? Diamond! If you haven’t already, perhaps you could make a “5 Days, 5 Ways” article on that.
That bomber is amazing, right? And for the price they’re going to offer, a total steal.
And glad to hear the feedback on the “5 Days, 5 Ways” series..we definitely plan to keep it going, Joseph!
The solid blue shirt is a big time staple in my wardrobe (along with blue & white check, blue & white stripe, blue & white tattersall, etc). I agree with Tod that it gives you a nice foundation without being quite as blase as a plain white. I’m sad that I just got bleach on one of my favorites the other day. Definitely my favorite Friday shirt.
The more I think about it, I think I might go blue suit, blue shirt, light tie for my brother’s wedding in Sonoma next month. I was thinking more of a British-y plaid, summer shirt with a dark tie but I like this look. I could use help finding some nice brown single monks. I can’t find any that I particularly like.
That sounds great to me, Drew. A single monk is a tall order, but definitely doable. What about these? http://www.zappos.com/to-boot-new-york-richards-tan-berry
Those are pretty close to what I’m looking for. A little more than I’d like to spend, but thanks for coming back and giving me a suggestion.
Of course! If I find anything else, I’ll be sure to let you know
Meghan, after months of looking around and deciding that pretty much all of the monks out there are either ridiculous looking, cheap looking or outrageously expensive (or some combination thereof) I came back to your recommendation and picked up these (http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/to-boot-new-york-grant-double-monk-shoe/3743199?origin=category-personalizedsort&contextualcategoryid=0&fashionColor=&resultback=400#reviews-qa)
Thanks for the suggestion!
Glad to hear it, Drew!!
Megan these are really great choices, if I had to choose…
I’m all for the Monday look, perfect for walking through Madrid and Barcelona, the light suit and pale blue shirt are sure winners.
Tuesday’s look is going to work well in Chicago or New York, when even on a warm summer afternoon the power of navy can be depended upon. The pink tie ads just the right amount of personality to a tonal look.
Wednesday’s I’d skip the jacket, I’m not a fan of suede jackets and I just can’t go with a squared tie like that, otherwise this works well pretty much anywhere, I’m thinking Boston, last day of a short workweek before heading out to the Cape for a longer weekend.
Thursday, well of course you had me with the Zero-grands (you know they’re among my favorites) this is a great after work look, in the NuLu area of Louisville.
Friday, skip the sweater and this is a perfect look for early summer on the coast; if it gets cooler the sweater I’d choose would have a pop of color, but overall the rest works so well.
Now how do I wear a blue dress shirt? From now until Labor Day I usually won’t unless its for a board level meeting otherwise I do with something a little more summery. When I do wear a blue shirt you’ve actually hit my options pretty well here. I suppose you could say I wear each of the options you’ve laid out in the situations I mentioned.
That’s great that your workplace affords so much flexibility when it comes to your wardrobe, Paul. And glad to hear you liked the looks!
Monday!
Not really feeling most of the shoes, but love most of the outfits. Monday is pretty similar to my summer suit I like to wear on warm days. Always stands out in a sea of black/grey suits in my business. Tuesday is classic with just a pop from the tie which I totally dig. If I lived in a colder environment, perhaps I could get on board with the suede bomber on Wednesday, but it wouldn’t get enough play in Los Angeles. Thursday is similar to my go-to casual outfit although I don’t like wearing dress shirts with anything other than a suit or slacks. They seem too out of place with chinos or jeans. For that I’ll wear an oxford or washed blue button down. Friday would be great minus the sweater and hat, but they’d be perfect for a beach vacation.
Shame there’s not a discount for readers on the shirt. I may have to pick one up and try it out. I’ve been really big into technical fabrics lately with a number of pants/shorts/shirts from companies like Outlier and Proof NY as well as boxer briefs from Exofficio. The stuff these companies make are absolutely perfect for travel as they’re comfortable, breath, stretch, resist water and odor, and clean very easily. While I was already a minimalist traveler (being on the road 3 weeks a month for work teaches you this), I’ve found myself being able to pack even less while looking just as good. Yeah, they’re expensive, but hopefully some of these staples will last a long time.
I hear you on the bomber not making sense for LA residents – it’s just weighty enough that it doesn’t quite qualify as a “light jacket” for breezy evenings. A shame, because I love how it looks!
A blue dress shirt can easily be the workhorse of your wardrobe, even more than a white dress shirt. I usually wear mine with some trousers (linen, cotton, or wool depending on the season) to work.
Monday and Wednesday are my favorite of those looks. I like those shoes. Overall, it looks like something Ben Wyatt would wear, and he is my spirit animal.
I’ve been thinking about doing a similar post for a pink dress shirt, which I’ve noticed is also getting more play in guys’ wardrobe these days
Great selections!
Thanks Dennis! Happy to have you weigh in
awesome selections.only the shoes are “not me”.
Thanks Michael! What shoes would you wear with the looks instead?