What is a shirt sandwich you might (rightfully) be asking? And what does Victoria Beckham have to do with it? Well, it’s the neat trick of taking two tops (typically a light knit and a polo neck) and slotting a shirt between the two. Or substituting one knit for a blazer, and ordering as you wish. In other words, your shirt becomes the bacon in your sartorial BLT.
Coined by Leandra Medine Cohen, the author and blogger who pens the newsletter The Cereal Aisle, (you may remember her incredible blog Man Repeller, which detailed the trends women adored while men felt quite the opposite.) She’s been providing style inspiration for the masses for an impressive 14 years and where she goes, we follow.
While the humble shirt is nothing new, it is something we all have stashed in our wardrobes, and this new technique allows you to utilise it in more interesting ways. Victoria Beckham displayed delicious shirt sandwiches for her pre-Fall 24 collection. Meanwhile, Miu Miu’s scene-stealing SS24 show saw models wearing tightly checked shirts beneath polo tops and blazers. Style mavens The Row has been serving (stylish) sandwiches since 2022.
To add a bit of extra interest, why not slot a necklace between collars, or add a silk scarf to ramp up the preppiness. Or even toy with proportion by pairing with something scandalously minimal on your lower half (for the brave: see the no-trouser trend for inspiration).
MORE: How to Style an Oversized Shirt
RELATED: How to Style a Waistcoat
The benefits to shirt sandwiches? Well, for a start keeping warm, the importance of which can never be understated. Plus it’s a bonafide style aficionado-approved way of layering, perfect for unpredictable weather (British summertime, is that you?)
CORRECTION: In a previous version of this story we mistakenly said Leandra had been providing style inspiration for 24 years.