wearing shirts under pullovers - YouLookFab Forum

Category

Dressing

wearing shirts under pullovers

always trying

Veteran

just figured out what my difficulty is with something so simple as putting something like a chambray shirt under a sweat shirt or such similar look. Always looks so cool on Pinterest, models, etc. Looks great if the shirt is like a size 2, and over a small sweater or sweatshirt. But with my size large shirt and a large sweatshirt, sweater, or such, I look like a football player. I am not too large, just have big shoulders and bust, so can not pull off this look.

Dressing

16 replies

Latest reply was from Lantana

JG

I often like this look in pictures but am never happy with it on myself. The pullover has to be substantial enough in weight to not show every bump and button of the shirt, the shirt has to be so well-fitted as to not have bumps and creases, and the necklines and shoulderlines have to lie correctly or I look shapeless and thick. What's more, the temperature has to be consistently cool so that I don't have to pull the pullover off, ruining the look and creating an electrical storm for my fine, thin hair. For me it's easier to wear a jacket, but I'd be curious to know who makes it work and how they do it.

Wendi1984

You know, I saw a blogger demonstrate how she does it: She puts on her button-down shirt, tucked in, then a tank top over it, then the pullover. The tank top keeps the shirt smooth and in place under the pullover, so it's not so bulky and bumpy. Worth a try.

AviaMariah

Veteran

I have trouble with this look too. I think part of it is I need a more fitted button up and a bigger pullover. Wendi1984 - I had never heard of this. It almost sounds like a little too much work for me but I might give it a try.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Hunh. I unwittingly tried Wendi's blogger's suggestion last year in a YLF Blogger copycat challenge. But I must say - it felt awful. Too many layers!

I think this is a combination of body type/ fabrication/ sizing and cut.

I have the easiest body type for this look -- almost no bust, square but not big shoulders. Longish neck. Short hair. (All of these contribute to its working).

But even I find I need to be careful. It's true -- the shirt has to fit very well. I must tuck it (and it needs to be able to stay tucked --- so sometimes low rise pants create a problem.) The pullover needs to be the right weight. And it needs to have some ease to it. Fluidity.

Still, I love the look of a crisp shirt under a sweater.

Having said that, try a silk shirt instead if it feels uncomfortable with a crisp one. The effect is quite different visually but I find it very comfortable and also very insulating.

unfrumped

Veteran

I hear you!
I love this look on others, but struggle with getting it right myself.
I always feel very fussy and cramped in the result.
A crisp shirt bunches. A silky shirt lies better, but the collar is often too limp.
The shirts that work have to be so fitted as to be less wearable on their own.And as Suz notes, it can be hard to keep the shirt tucked in. Not sure why that should be worse with the sweater, but perhaps it's just that it's harder to re-position all day long with the extra layer.
. With the least sweater fitting, I feel stuffed in. Also, the sweater no longer drapes, but flattens me out.
I have kept several blouses just for the way they would enhance such an outfit--pretty color or print in the material, to have near the face.

I haven't ruled it out, but I have come to the conclusion that it is not a mainstay look for me. Especially, it is not, for me, one of those great mix & match deals where you create lots of looks from a fewy pieces--instead I find a certain shirt works with certain sweater, etc.
The sweater deal has more potential now with oversizing, so probably now or never is when it will work.
Cardigans are another story--especially V cardigans. I think because there is more ease usually and because there is not as much bunchy, constricted feeling as with a crewneck pullover.

K. Period.

Veteran

For most of us, this type of layering is a challenge. Suz IS BRILLIANT at it. She always looks great. Angie also looks lovely with wovens layered under knits. Unlike either of them, I'm not such a natural body type for it. However, I've found a few work-arounds that let me get by. A sweater or top with some real structure to it, meaning one that isn't particularly stretchy, works best. Counter-intuitively, a fairly unstructured sweater can work well, if you don't mind seeing buttons and seams. Silk or silky shirts are a huge help because they compress down and don't bulk up. My main tip, though? I buy cheap (H&M) woven shirts with stretch that are slightly too small in the body and reserve them as dedicated layering shirts. That always looks best. It is a bit of a comfort compromise, though. An easy look to admire, but not an easy look to wear.

rachylou

Veteran

I just look bad in shirts. At least, they feel too binding and stumpifiying.

kkards

Veteran

i wore this look to death in the late 80's, now i can't seem to pull it off. maybe the shirt i am trying to wear is to big, maybe is too binding. i love the look on others...

Jules

Veteran

Thank god I'm not the only one I don't even like putting a woven shirt under a cardi. I don't need the bulk visually, it's not comfortable, and everything must fit and lay *just so*. I'm not into fussy dressing overall so...

DonnaF

Veteran

I noticed Nordie's layering shirts have reviews that say they're so soft and thin they need camis underneath, so maybe crisp shirts are no-nos? I'm waiting for the one I want to go on sale before I try it; it should be marked down in a month or two.

Anonymous

Oh brother, tell me about it! It's the shirt, really, that is at fault most of the time. Any detail like epaulets, breast pockets or those darned tab sleeves-- that are always too wide once you try to convert them to long sleeves-- just make them impossible to layer over (and it's a pity, because these are the things that make a solid shirt interesting once you take the sweater off). At the moment, I have two silk blouses that work well for layering over. The slipperiness of the fabric make all the difference in the world. I am constantly on the lookout for more, but just the right ones are very hard to find.

Aziraphale

Veteran

You know, I think there's a trick to this, and I think I stumbled upon it totally by accident.

First of all, I think what Suz says is true: this is easiest on slender individuals with long necks and not much in the way of a bosom. I don't fit this description exactly. I am slim and have small bone structure, which makes this look easier, but I also have very square shoulders, a short neck and not a tiny bust (although I would not really be described as buxom -- but still, they are there, you know?), which are all features that make this look more difficult.

First: shirt must be tailored, and fit well. I don't tuck mine, since I prefer the look of the shirt-tails hanging out below the sweater hem. The fabric can't be too soft or floppy, but rather fairly structured. A Crisp White Shirt.

Second: leave the top two buttons undone.

Third: the sweater must be the right weight, and should drape nicely. Elbow sleeves help. I stumbled across J. Crew's Tippi sweater -- fine-gauge merino wool with a round neck and 3/4 sleeves -- last year, and it's perfect. I can't imagine a cotton sweatshirt would work, as it would be too bulky and stiff.

Four: roll up the sleeves of both button-front shirt and sweater. Cuff the shirt over the sweater. Again, elbow sleeves help (functionally less bulk). There will also be visually less bulk with rolled-up sleeves, and it does something magical for proportions. (I roll or scrunch my blazer sleeves too, for the same reason).

Might be worth a try. It might work on your figure too!

Wendi1984

I think it looks really cute, but I doubt it will look good on me. But I did just find a really nice-fitting denim shirt yesterday, so maybe I'll give it a shot.

Von

Veteran

I think if you're more chesty, then the sweater over a non-fitted button up is going to look like a boxy sack, because your chest is going to make the button up top squared out, which the sweater will lay over. That being said, us chesty ladies are having problems because we're always told *don't dress bulky, show off the curves* and this look almost always makes a big square on me. I can do that on a bum Saturday, but not on a day I'd like to look neat and put together.

I now just do what does work, a fitted v-neck sweater + a cami. It looks cute...I get the layers without the bulk. It's not exactly the same, but it's about as good as it gets around here.

But, for you ladies who can work it and have issues with the bulk, Victoria's Secret has bodysuits that I always thought would work well with that look and keep things smooth. http://www.victoriassecret.com.....ctID=10433

catgirl

Veteran

Sweaters over woven shirts = close to my worst nightmare. Not the look but the feel - all the reasons mentioned. The bunching and sticking and tucking and fussing... I feel all twitchy just thinking about it.

Lantana

Veteran

Another vote for silk under and my vote for cashmere over. Both these fabrics know how to behave.