Celebrity style turns the button-down into summer’s chicest staple

The summer button-down is done pretending it belongs only in an office. Marie Claire’s Spring/Summer 2026 coverage treats the shirt like a wardrobe weapon again, with peplum, sheer layers, plaid, and oversize shapes taking it far from the stiff white default. Zendaya, Katie Holmes, and Jennifer Lawrence are the clearest templates for making shirting look undone, low-effort, and expensive.

The button-down got its summer reset

This is not a sudden obsession, and that is exactly why it works. Marie Claire was already calling airy linen button-downs the closet basics of every style maven in a May 2, 2024 shopping guide, which tells you the shirt was never really gone. What changed in 2026 is the styling language around it: the button-down stopped reading like a corporate uniform and started behaving like a celebrity piece, one that can do beach cover-up, off-duty streetwear, and polished city polish without changing its bones.

That shift has runway backing, not just celebrity momentum. Spring 2026 shows from Dries Van Noten, Khaite, Stella McCartney, and others pushed the peplum button-down back into the conversation, while Stella McCartney’s own Spring 2026 collection leaned into an expressive, easy wardrobe of timeless classics for every facet of life. That mood matters because it explains why the shirt now feels less pressed and procedural, more lived-in and directional.

Zendaya makes the shirt feel edited, not overworked

Zendaya is the cleanest example of how to make shirting look intentional without making it look fussy. In Marie Claire’s Spring/Summer 2026 framing, she sits in the “Oxford blueprint” lane, which means the shirt should feel considered but not precious, styled enough to register and relaxed enough to breathe. Her version of the look is about proportion first: let the shirt have room through the body, keep the shape sharp somewhere else, and avoid anything that feels too neatly buttoned to the throat.

That is why Zendaya’s influence reads as polish with tension. The shirt does not need extra tricks when the silhouette already does the work, and that is the whole point of the current turn away from basic shirting. The best Zendaya-coded button-down looks expensive because it is slightly undone, not because it is overloaded.

Katie Holmes is the master class in controlled ease

Katie Holmes is the opposite of precious, and that is exactly why her version lands. In New York City, she was seen in a sheer polka-dot top over a bralette, a look that captures the current shirting mood even when it is not a classic button-down in the strictest sense. The message is the same: transparency, ease, and a hint of skin do more for summer shirting than perfect symmetry ever could.

Holmes is the template for layering without bulk. The bralette gives the outfit structure, the sheer fabric keeps it light, and the overall effect is air instead of armor. If Zendaya makes the shirt feel edited, Holmes makes it feel spontaneous, which is exactly why the look reads so current.

Jennifer Lawrence keeps it stripped-back and expensive

Jennifer Lawrence is the most convincing argument for the low-effort side of the trend. Her recent summer street style leans minimalist, with wide-leg linen, silk sets, and understated pieces, which places her squarely in the realm of shirts that skim the body instead of clinging to it. She is the blueprint for anyone who wants the button-down to look relaxed but still pulled together.

Lawrence’s version is about restraint in every direction. Go too fitted and the shirt starts acting corporate again; go too oversized and it loses its line. The sweet spot is the one she keeps hitting in her wider summer wardrobe: soft fabric, calm proportions, and nothing so styled that it looks like you spent the whole afternoon getting dressed.

The new styling code: shape, layering, and a little restraint

The most useful part of this trend is how easy it is to copy without turning into costume. Taylor Swift’s Stella McCartney peplum button-down in New York City on May 14, 2026 gave the shirt a more sculpted waist, while Barbara Palvin’s plaid button-down with capri pants pushed it into a sharper, slightly retro lane. Together, those looks show how far the category has moved from the plain white office shirt.

Here is the real shift:

• Choose a peplum shape when you want the shirt to create its own waist, the way Taylor Swift did in Stella McCartney.

• Go sheer when you want the top to feel lighter than a standard shirt, then layer a bralette underneath like Katie Holmes.

• Try plaid with cropped or capri-length bottoms if you want the shirt to read more downtown than corporate, the way Barbara Palvin did.

• Reach for wide-leg linen or silk separates when you want the shirt to fall into the Jennifer Lawrence lane, where the silhouette does the talking.

• Leave the top more open than you think you should. The current mood favors air, movement, and a little collarbone, not rigid buttoning.

That is why the button-down suddenly feels like summer’s chicest staple again. It is still the same shirt, just loosened, rebalanced, and styled by women who know the difference between simple and plain.