Business on top.

[My first The Shirt by Rochelle Behrens. I get the deal now.]

There are a lot of questions you have to ask yourself concerning the issue of gainful employment. Lots of stress. For some of us, there’s some soul searching, too.

“I feel like… when I was out there, I had my shit figured out, you know? And now that I’m back, it’s like: ‘Can I get a job?’ you know, ‘Should I hit this party?’… ‘Can I afford DirectTV?'” – How to Make it in America

But, you know, one of these questions should not have to be “What in the Sam Hill do I wear?” And if you’re like me and have managed to dodge an office scenario for the last few years, thus replacing anything tailored or presentable with Humble Pie t-shirts purchased from dudes named Larry who, in their e-mail shipment confirmations say, “Carey, Carey, Carey… it’s outta here!”—this is a legitimate question.

And if you are busty—the #1 natural enemy of chic—button-up shirts have the same level of draw as, say, sweating ants.

Wait, wait, wait.

Dudes—I concede. [And no, no plans to be back in an office, that I know of.] While this is clearly borne of a place of continued professional ambivalence, I got you on the old bait-and-switch, cause see, we’re talking about clothes. Just for a minute.

In a weird twist, a friend who did PR for this brand asked me to wear/write about a shirt The Shirt a number of years ago, but I missed the boat. At that point, I think they only stocked white cotton? In any event, I was not in the market for anything other than cut-offs, and also completely naive to the presence of the tiny secret ninja buttons. (More on those later.) Fast-forward to an event at Ledbury in RVA featuring both an old friend/local artist, Lindsey Cowles, and a The Shirt trunkshow, and there I was fondling stunning muted pastel silk, sort of vaguely aware the name sounded familiar. Out of ye ole freelance price range, sadly.

Let’s check out these sneak attack buttons and wrap this up:

They live behind the placket, see? Amazing. And the prints (especially the silk with the leather-trimmed pocket) make these pretty frigging effortlessly cool. Did I just almost make a glossy subhead? Day to night? Work to play? Whatever; it’s true, and I’m a grunge-loving snob. So there.

Check them all out here. And Shirt ladies, bring back Le Petit Jet print! I beg.

-C.