Pretty White Tops do pretty much everything

2023-07-23

How to dress like a grown up with Shane Watson: Pretty White Tops do pretty much everything

Shane Watson looks to Naomi Watts, who just got married in NYC, for inspiration
READ MORE: Newlyweds Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup beam as they leave their hotel in Paris – weeks after their surprise wedding in NYC

Perhaps you noticed the pictures of actress Naomi Watts after her wedding to fellow actor Billy Crudup in New York last month.

Her white lace Oscar de la Renta dress was lovely, but it’s what she wore the next day — flatbed sandals and jeans and a white lace top — that made me sit up and pay attention.

It was hot and she wanted to look casual but also pretty and fresh (as you do the day after your wedding), so she chose a Pretty White Top (PWT), this summer’s answer to . . . almost everything.

We’re not talking about a white shirt (too corporate), or a T-shirt (too casual, although Watts was wearing her lace top over a white vest), or a prairie blouse with a high collar (too restricting and hot).

We’re talking about a top with the DNA of a floral frock that you can wear in the day with trousers or A-line skirts, and in the evening with flowing trousers or maxis.

Perhaps you noticed the pictures of actress Naomi Watts after her wedding to fellow actor Billy Crudup in New York last month

There is a PWT spectrum — from good enough to get married in (it’s possible Watts’s top was designed to throw over her strappy bridal dress in case the temperature dropped) to great for lunch at the beach, but the whole appeal of a PWT is you can wear it with anything anywhere and can’t overdo it.

So long as it’s plain white, light and airy (this is not a clingy, fitted top), you can go as puff-sleeved and frothy or as seersucker-simple as you like.

I would suggest following Watts’s example and going for the full ivory guipure lace with puff sleeves and an under-camisole (we definitely don’t want to see any underwear) such as Ba&sh’s Irkin top (£143.50, ba-sh.com).

This is at the ultra-pretty end of the PWT scale, but don’t worry about looking like mutton dressed as lamb: if you wear this with khaki trousers, loose-fit jeans or a denim skirt, it’s an every-age summer look. (Watts is 54 by the way).

That said, I would always choose lace over broderie anglaise, which is on the girly side and doesn’t have the lightness that a good PWT requires.

Those who feel happy going bare-armed (not me) might take a look at a sleeveless white lace top such as H&M’s (£5, hm.com) or Zara’s sleeveless guipure top (£35.99, zara.com), either of which would work with jeans or tailored trousers.

If you’re not a fan of short puff sleeves and are looking for something more low-key but still pretty, Wyse has just the top — a lightweight cotton voile shirt with ric-rac trim stripes on the body and sleeves, and an open V-neck (£165, wyselondon.com).

Wear it with any skirt or, if you’re looking for inspiration, Wyse’s navy A-line skirt with contrasting stitching (£90) and black or tan sandals.

You don’t want to go too peasanty with a PWT, so steer clear of dangling neck ties and embroidery. Penelope Cruz pictured last year

Shane would always choose lace over broderie anglaise, which is on the girly side and doesn’t have the lightness that a good PWT requires. Pictured, Aubrey Plaza last year

This particular PWT, plus a skirt and sandals, is the look you imagine that you’d wear every day if you lived in a village in France, in a house with shutters and a fig tree in the garden, so feel free to add a straw shopper (£21, hm.com) to finish it off.

PRETTY WHITE TOPS: THE RULES

Go for lace not broderie.

Avoid neck ties.

Wear with khakis and A-line skirts.

Add a tank top at night.

Navy, khaki and denim always look good with a PWT. There are endless varieties to wear loose over jeans this summer, but the best of the bunch are Oliver Bonas’s round-neck blouse in a spotty-print fine cotton with lace inserts and long balloon-sleeves (£30, oliverbonas.com) or Zara’s slot-collared, cutwork-embroidery top (£32.99).

For something similar but simpler, with a pintuck yoke and buttoned neckline — which is again perfect with jeans or khakis and a couple of gold chain necklaces — try Hush’s Eloise blouse (£35, hush-uk.com).

You don’t want to go too peasanty with a PWT, so steer clear of dangling neck ties and embroidery. I have at least two white tops with string neck ties that I never wear because the boho feel they instantly bring doesn’t feel right any more.

And don’t hesitate to wear your PWT with smarter tailoring — a pair of pinstripe or wide-leg navy trousers or a long black skirt.

Now that the temperature is warmer, my trusty smart tank tops aren’t getting the wear they were in early June, but that time will come back around, and a PWT goes perfectly underneath these. You could even try it with a waistcoat.