After the Big Winter Sweater, we're tackling a new iconic piece in your wardrobe: the shirt.
Why the shirt?
It's the ultimate versatile piece, the chic and casual essential that adapts to all looks and all situations. It's a piece that seems simple to make. Yet, we know, it's not easy to find the ideal shirt, the one that fits us perfectly and that we'll never tire of.
In reality, it is a technical piece which - to be elegant, comfortable and easy to wear - requires a clever mix of talent and know-how.
With La Chemise en Poplin, we sought to create a timeless and practical shirt that you won't need to change for years.
And we're going to tell you exactly how we did it!
2/3 things Who make a Good shirt
We started by asking you what you think are the two or three important things that make a good shirt. And here are the top three:
1. The cutThe ideal shirt is neither too short nor too long, neither too loose nor too tight. It has a good sleeve length, a perfect fit without unsightly creases, and a collar that's not too wide, but not too tight. You should be comfortable in it, able to move and raise your arms... In short, it's a subtle balance to find!
2. A quality fabric with good hold, soft, fluid, resistant and comfortable. It must be sufficiently thick, not too transparent, iron itself and withstand washing.
3. Attention to detail : a feminine collar that holds its shape, that is neither too big nor too small, beautiful, solid and well-placed buttons, neat stitching, beautiful finishes, and as a bonus, a signature that makes the shirt recognizable among so many others.
The ideal shirt
Thanks to your 558 responses, Alice our stylist was able to quickly draw up a robot portrait of the perfect shirt.
- Color 83% white (spoiler: we still have a surprise in store for you...)
- Rather loose at 76% like that of your boyfriend, your brother, your father... In short, a guy!
- Who reaches mid-buttocks at 81%
- With a 57% French collar vs Italian at 32% and officer at 11%
- 64% pocket-free against 29% for one and 7% for two
- Made of 53% cotton poplin vs 29% for a twill and 18% for an Oxford fabric
After that, we organized a workshop with around fifteen of you.
During this evening, we identified together the details we liked on vintage shirts. This important step allowed us to refine the design and create an exceptional shirt.
If you don't want to miss the launch of La Chemise en Popline, sign up right here (we'll send you an alert)
There cloth
But who says exceptional shirt, says exceptional designer. That's good, we know one in the person of Michael Gunther, our former teacher at Studio Berçot, model maker for prominent luxury brands and in the business for over 25 years.
Michael's job is to transform the designer's 2D drawing into 3D. He creates volume from the drawing using pattern canvas and shapes the canvas on a mannequin to try to match the designer's wishes and desires as closely as possible. In this case, your desire and ours!
Michael himself cut, pinned, molded, sewed, and brought The Poplin Shirt to life. It's largely thanks to him and the magic of his hands that it's so accomplished.
After several back-and-forths with Alice to find the right proportions and perfect the piece down to the smallest details, Michael sent the canvas to our workshop to create the first prototype. But we'll tell you about that in the next article.
You can get to know Michael better by listening this recording belowHe speaks to us in simple words about his passion for his job and his collaboration with RÉUNI.
Okay, enough talking. Now let's see how it goes!
As a boy
A major trend emerged from your responses to the questionnaire: you were looking for a loose, comfortable shirt, like the one you stole from your boyfriend, brother, or dad, but more feminine.
So we were plunged back into the Roaring Twenties (1920-1930), the era of flapper fashion that saw women take over the men's white shirt, a sartorial symbol of women's emancipation and their fight for gender equality.
We went back in time and were mesmerized by the beauty and androgynous style of Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, and Marilyn Monroe. They greatly inspired us for this piece.
The result: a feminine men's shirt, suitable for everyday life, with an elegant collar and an original cut. — notably thanks to the details of the button placket, a real folding system, like origami (we’ll tell you more about it below).
At ease, Blaise
To add even more comfort, we have created a pleat in the back. So, you can move freely, whatever your activity.Yes, you can dance too!
For the length, we let Michael speak: “ We made a shirt that sits around the pelvis, which is the strongest part of the buttock, which seemed to us the most appropriate place to find the right balance between long, short, comfortable and so that the shirt can be worn with all types of pants ".
So you can:
-
either leave it outside your jeans, it covers your buttocks without being too long
-
either tuck it into your jeans without feeling embarrassed and without it giving a puffy effect. It also won't pop out every time you raise your arms. Ooh!
You'll also notice that the back panels are longer than the front panels, giving a nice boyfriend look. The bottom of the panels is rounded, making them look prettier and more feminine.
If you don't want to miss the launch of La Chemise en Popline, sign up right here (we'll send you an alert)
The rest is in the details...
THE details Who kill
Our purpose, as you know, is to make essentials, pieces timeless pieces made to be worn often and for a long time.
For that, you need sobriety. But to avoid getting tired of a piece after six months, you also need a little fantasy, a discreet detail that makes all the difference, that ensures it's not a basic piece.
For The Poplin Shirt, we created a somewhat special button placket with what is called a flat fold on the right front and the left front, which brings originality, a slight twist, the RÉUNI touch.
Another size detail: the buttonholes in front are both horizontal and vertical to prevent the buttons from moving and the shirt from sitting awkwardly on you. And above all, we placed them carefully. in order to have a beautiful neckline : neither too high nor too low.
The icing on the cake, beautiful, unbreakable buttons, 90% organic resin, a blend of bio-sourced natural resins. They have a beautiful pearlescent effect but remain discreet.
They are especially well hung: hand-sewn with 4 passes, a technique generally used for work clothes, such as the jackets of star chefs.
And of course, we made you a beautiful, balanced, feminine collar with a strong, durable hold.
Finally, we added a reinforcing gusset to prevent the seam from tearing or coming undone.A small triangle placed on the rounded hem of the shirt which will extend the life of your shirt even further!
And after ?
We hope you enjoyed this little behind-the-scenes tour. If so, Please let us know in the comments on our website or on our social networks.. Ask us your questions too, we will be happy to answer it!
Next week, we'll take you to our weaver and manufacturer. We'll tell you all about the incredible poplin we've unearthed and the sublime hand that will craft our Poplin Shirt.
We can already tell you without spoiling anything that the material we found, in addition to meeting all your criteria, is 100% natural.real, pesticide-free and woven not far away at all!
Until then, take good care of yourself.
Alice, Adrien & Julien
If you don't want to miss the launch of La Chemise en Popline, sign up right here (we'll send you an alert)