Shirts and Contrasts: 5 Key Looks for Back to School

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At every back-to-school season, the same equation arises: how to mark the return to structure without giving up on style? This season, the answer is clear — and it comes down to one piece: the men’s shirt. Clean or fluid, strict or deconstructed, it no longer just dresses; it composes, nuances, and asserts.

Through the runways and on the streets, it becomes a language. A subtle sign of elegance, a silent declaration of intent. Here are five of the most accurate ways to wear it today — for those who know that style is not shouted. It is cultivated.

Today’s Tailoring: The Graphic Allure of the White Shirt

Some pieces don’t need to make noise to assert themselves. The white shirt is one of them. But this season, it sheds its rigidity for a softer graphic allure. The lines remain bold, but the volumes soften, the collar lifts slightly, and the cut gains in amplitude.

It is paired with pleated trousers or a minimalist blazer, in stone or pearl gray tones. There is an obsession with just the right detail at Prada or Jil Sander, reflected in these silhouettes tailored for men who have nothing to prove — and everything to express.

A well-tailored men’s shirt then becomes much more than a uniform: a silent style declaration.

Sophisticated Minimalism: The Harmony of Tonal Dressing

True luxury, sometimes, is knowing when to stop. No effects, no emphasis: just a structured cotton shirt in an ivory or mastic hue, perfectly aligned with the rest of the silhouette.

The monochrome ensemble acts as a revealer of personality. Think of the wardrobes from The Row or Christophe Lemaire, where every fold, every material seems to breathe. This look is not about impressing. It’s for those who no longer need to.

Chic Utility: The Shirt in a Functional Register

There is something reassuring about functional pieces — as if their very utility gives them a form of elegance. Here, the shirt is adorned with patch pockets, technical poplin, and earthy tones. It evokes uniforms, but in a sophisticated version.

Under a safari jacket, or simply open over a white t-shirt, it composes a wardrobe for a man in motion. We think of the lines from Ami Paris or Hermès, where masculinity is reinvented, always grounded, never frozen.

Layering Games: The Shirt in Mastered Overlap

It is in the transition of seasons that style expresses itself best. A long, slightly oversized shirt then becomes a composition tool. Slide it over a fine turtleneck, or leave it open over a ribbed tank top. The whole plays out in a powdered, autumnal, almost mineral palette.

At Dries Van Noten or Jacquemus, these layering games tell the story of free silhouettes that know the rules — and gracefully subvert them.

Nocturnal Elegance: The Shirt, Between Sensuality and Sobriety

The evening shirt does not seek to seduce. It does so naturally. In washed silk, satin cotton, or deep black linen, it caresses more than it imposes. An open button, a dim light, and it’s all set.

One imagines it worn with impeccable raw denim or soft wool trousers. It is the detail — a sleeve a bit too long, a neckline slightly undone — that tells it all. Like Chalamet or Mescal, this shirt speaks to those who know that elegance is always a bit unruly.

The 2025 school year signifies less the return of a wardrobe than that of an attitude. By placing the men’s shirt at the center of their silhouette, men reaffirm an aesthetic of care, detail, and mastery of gesture. It is not a trend. It’s a way of being.

And in a world saturated with signs, it is sometimes essential to return to what does not lie: a precise cut, a noble material, an assumed outfit. To explore other trending masculine styles this year, between heritage and contemporary reinterpretations, dive into the retro heritage revisited, a narrative that accurately complements this quest for balance.