The Best Way to Tie a Shirt Around Your Waist

Just like with our obsession with French style, we're always searching for ways to emulate our favorite models and their impeccable off-duty style. Specifically, we often find ourselves wondering how they make jeans and a T-shirt look so stylish and how they can wear leggings and still look polished. Today we're demystifying another staple styling move off-duty models love: tying a shirt around their waist.

Based on frequency alone, models Taylor Hill, Behati Prinsloo, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley seem to love wearing button-down shirts tied around their waists for a low-key going-out look or even to the airport (it's genius for layering). It's effortless, it's laid-back, but one thing it's not is sloppy. The best way to pull off the casual look like a model is by tying a shirt around your waist with a pair of dark skinny jeans or, if you're traveling, black leggings. This is the number one styling trick for your shirt, as a dark, streamlined silhouette will balance out the printed shirt. Be sure to keep it simple up top as well with a plain T-shirt or tank top.

It's confirmed: This is the model-approved way to tie a shirt around your waist. Click through the gallery below to see how they're styling the trend, and then shop our favorite button-downs—from plaid to camo and denim—to try it for yourself.

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

WHO: Taylor Hill

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(Image credit: Splash News)

WHO: Behati Prinsloo

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(Image credit: AKM-GSI)

WHO: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

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(Image credit: AKM-GSI)

WHO: Hailey Clauson

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

WHO: Diana Moldovan

Editor

Anna is an editor on the fashion team at Who What Wear and has been at the company for over five years, having begun her career in the Los Angeles office before relocating to New York, where she's currently based. Having always been passionate about pursuing a career in fashion, she built up her experience interning at the likes of Michael Kors, A.L.C., and College Fashionista before joining the team as a post-graduate assistant editor. Anna has penned a number of interviews with Who What Wear's cover stars over the years, including A-listers Megan Fox, Issa Rae, and Emma Chamberlain. She's earned a reputation for scouting new and emerging brands from across the globe and championing them to our audience of millions. While fashion is her main wheelhouse, Anna led the launch of WWW Travels last year, a new lifestyle vertical that highlights all things travel through a fashion-person lens. She is passionate about shopping vintage, whether it be at a favorite local outpost or an on-the-road discovery, and has amassed a wardrobe full of unique finds. When she's not writing, you can find her shooting street imagery on her film camera, attempting to learn a fourth or fifth language, or planning her next trip across the globe.