Boyfriend Shirt

Boyfriend shirt!  Well that is how Burda Style describes it anyway.  In all honesty it is quite some time since I had a boyfriend but hey, now I have the shirt.  I haven't had very positive outcomes from Burdastyle in the past finding the sizing off, so I didn't actually hold out great hope for this shirt.  I figured though, if it was a little on the large side, it really didn't matter.

According to my measurements, I drafted the shirt to size 36. I used some really nice quality georgette from one of my early op shop hauls and trimmed it with some mock leather type fabric that I picked up at Lincraft.  As I typed this post, I asked my 14 year old son whether it was mock lizard or crocodile and he very helpfully informed me it is lizardy crocodile, so I am going with that.  The lizardy crocodile fabric is actually a laminated knit fabric so was really easy to work with.  I have my doubts about durability but hey, it looks good so for now that is enough!

I did have one or two issues with the sleeve header and had to redraft it to remove some of the fullness.  I don't think I have found a shirt or jacket yet without excess sleeve header fullness, so this did not come as a huge surprise.  In all, I removed 1.5cm from the top of the sleeve, graduating out to nothing at the sides of the cap.  This reduced the cap to the extent that it required minimal ease to insert.  I did have to shorten the sleeves and found the sleeve band to be too big so actually lapped the band and added an extra pleat to the sleeve.  

Surprisingly, I love the fit of this shirt.  It offers a loose fit without being oversized and swamping my 160cm frame.  It looks equally good tucked into a skirt for a corporate look as it does left loose over a pair of skinny jeans for a casual look.  I have worn the shirt both ways, to work on a Friday tucked in and loose over jeans for a casual evening function.  I think I may well be a Burdastyle convert and there will definitely be more shirts made in this style.