I love a crisp white button up and it should be part of every woman’s corporate wardrobe.  It’s a beautiful piece to have that looks elegant, sophisticated, and clean. Guess what?  I hate wearing it.  I feel so uncomfortable.  I don’t care what material, the cut, or the sizing.  I’ve tried them all and I still hate it.  It’s an exhausting piece of clothing.

Every time I wear one, I ask: How long can I keep this clean?  Why does it look wrinkled all the time?  Do I have to wear an undershirt?  Am I going to spill my coffee on it today?  Should I take it off to have lunch?  Should I bring a backup in my car?  Why do I look like a server?

So many questions…

I spend more time steaming the shirt or taking it to the dry cleaners than the amount of time it took to get wrinkled.  It’s not even on my body and it’s wrinkled.  Don’t get me started on sizing.  No matter how oversized the button up is, it always feels like the buttons are going to pop off.  I see a lot of women pulling off the beautiful button up in pictures.  Gorgeous simple outfits, not in real life.  Why is something so elegant and casual so difficult?

I’m at a point in my life where I don’t want to struggle or fight with my clothes.  I don’t want to wear strapless shirts because I don’t want a strapless bra.  I’m not in the 2000s when plastic straps were a thing.  So, I am boycotting all my white button ups.  I am placing them in the donation pile.  Sad, I know.  Will I regret my decision in 8 months, most definitely.  But hopefully I can come back to this post and say, “See I actually don’t need to buy any crisp white button ups.”

I am going to leave the crisp white button up to women in pictures.  Admire and move on.  Tomorrow I will turn the button up to Dark Mode.  I will wear a crisp black button up and see how that feels.  I have a feeling this will be my new interpretation of the crisp white button up.  Maybe I will stop feeling like I need to fight my way through the day.