Urban Outfitters chambray shirt, Marc by Marc Jacobs jeans, Frye “Lucy” boots, Chanel Rouge Allure in “Dazzling” on lips

I love chambray shirts for many reasons, but most of all, I love pairing and mixing them with different colors and textures of denim. Believe me; it wasn’t always so.

After the denim overload of the 90’s (I know I wasn’t the only middle schooler who owned a denim scrunchie), I rode the backlash into one-denim-at-a-time land. I eschewed denim on anything but jeans and cringed when I’d see farmers wearing head-to-toe denim, overalls and all. Living in rural Minnesota, this was a common enough sight.

The reinvented chambray shirts of last spring breathed new life into a classic that previously felt more Marlboro than Madison Avenue. Chambray is easy to wear, comfortable, and endlessly versatile. Paper-thin boyfriend styles like the one I’m wearing keep the trend feminine and unfussy.