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Universal Works

Overshirts

Long or short-sleeved, zipped or buttoned up, our overshirts are often the finishing touch to so many outfits. In different fabrics each season, there is an overshirt for the warmer days and the colder temperatures alike. Overshirts are a handy extra layer, ready to throw on over t-shirts and under jackets.

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Overshirts FAQs

It is a fair question. After all, any shirt worn over a T-shirt could claim to be an overshirt.

An overshirt is one of those garments that is easier to recognise than define. For us, an overshirt occupies the space between a shirt and a jacket, although it generally leans toward the jacket side. Our earliest versions were essentially chore jackets made from lighter-weight cloth, creating an uncomplicated layer. They offered the practicality and ease of a jacket without the structure.

Today, some of our overshirts still resemble simplified jackets, while others retain the details of traditional shirting but are made from fabrics with enough substance to be worn as outerwear. Since then, the category has expanded in two directions. Some of our overshirts remain distinctly jacket-like, with patch pockets and simple workwear styling. Others borrow more from classic shirting, but are cut from sturdier fabrics that make them ideal as an outer layer.

If "overshirt" feels a little vague, that's because it is. We simply think of them as versatile pieces that can be worn as either a shirt or a jacket, depending on the season, the fabric and how you choose to wear them.

There are no hard rules. The beauty of an overshirt is that it is one of the most adaptable pieces in a wardrobe, sitting somewhere between a shirt and a jacket and happily performing as either. Some of our overshirts lean closer to traditional shirting. Worn open over a T-shirt, they can feel a little more considered than a shirt with a two-piece collar.

Others take their cues from workwear and function more as a lightweight alternative to a jacket when the weather allows. Wear it open, wear it buttoned up, layer it under a coat or throw it on in place of a jacket. They all share the same useful quality of adaptability. Equally comfortable with a T-shirt, knitwear or tailoring, an overshirt tends to find its own place in your wardrobe.

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