As someone who loves playing around with traditional office wear, despite working in an office with a liberal dress code, button-up shirts are a wardrobe staple. My button-up shirt rotation contains multitudes—plaids, stripes, vintage, new, oversized, and just a few fitted silhouettes sprinkled throughout. Now, after fully digesting both Spring/Summer 2026 and Fall/Winter 2026 runways, I have the urge to add a fitted button-up shirt into my daily rotation.
We can attribute the fitted button-up shirt's popularity to a general '90s and early '00s resurgence. Designers have taken note of the early aughts craze, integrating the mininal style into their latest collections. Calvin Klein's Spring/Summer 2026 collection, for example, displayed Veronica Leoni's affinity for co-ords and precise tailoring with a shiny pink trouser and button-up top set. The top caught our attention because it wasn't overly fitted, as in it wasn't skin-tight, but instead, it was perfectly tailored.
Calvin Klein SS26 // Launchmetrics
Jil Sander FW26 // LaunchmetricsJil Sander is another brand that epitomizes office chic. Simone Belloti's love of modern, tailored pieces was showcased in the form of tops with structured shoulders, skirts with intriguing draping and, of course, fitted button-up shirts. A black button-up shirt tucked into a pair of gray tailored pants felt simultaneously modern and nostalgic.
Photo: BACKGRID
Photo: ShutterstockWhen the occasion is right, our favorite celebrities are setting their oversized button-up tops aside for more fitted and tailored silhouettes. For example, Monica Barbaro styled a fitted bib-style tuxedo shirt as she embarked on her One Night Only press tour while Zendaya styled a custom Louis Vuitton shirt dress with a fitted white button-down top and dramatic bubble skirt.
So, is the boyfriend shirt dead? Definitely not. But the fitted shirt is very much alive, too.
