Spotted on the Red Carpet in London: The Affordable Basic You Can Buy at M&S, Zara and H&M

Time to blast Lily Allen’s “West End Girl” as every stylish Londoner has descended in South Kensington this evening for the annual Fashion Awards. Hosted at the palatial Royal Albert Hall, the yearly festivity celebrates the best and brightest in British style, including nascent names like talent incubator and collective Fashion East and notable stalwarts like Simone Rocha and Sarah Burton.

And whilst the red carpet is always an opportunity to showcase the craftsmanship and creative imaginations of the industry’s finest, it’s also a moment to prove that simplicity and accessibility will always reap dividends, at least that is what it seems at the 2025 edition.

Indeed, Industry star Marisa Abela arrived on the pink carpet this evening wearing quite a pared-back ensemble compared to her fellow attendees in the form of a crisp white shirt, drop-diamond choker, textured fur trousers and cream pumps. Her devotion to wearing winter whites—especially as the actress is a newlywed after all—amid the freezing temperatures is commendable in its own right, but it was really her eschewing the lavish looks that these events often demand that really piqued my interest

In fact, her white shirt could easily be something her on-screen character, Yasmin Kara-Hanani, wears to the Pierpoint offices, showcasing that the best red carpet looks are usually the most effortless.

This is a detail levelled time and time again in Hollywood, with Abela joining an array of film starlets and fashion it-girls who’ve opted for this wardrobe staple for high-profile moments.

At the 2022 Academy Awards, Zendaya referenced a look by Sharon Stone to the 1998 Oscars by replicating the star’s satin lavender Vera Wang skirt with her own Valentino iteration. (Talk about a basic instinct.)

A few years earlier, in 1995, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy wore a tuxedo-style shirt and mermaid cut black pencil skirt by Yohji Yamamoto to a gala held at the Whitney Museum of American Art, starting this canon of stylish and aspirational ensembles.

Each of these looks are certainly covetable in its own right, but what’s most impressive is the fact that all it takes to emulate them is a piece you can easily pick up at the likes of M&S, Zara or H&M.

It’s true, one walk down the King's Road or scroll through these brands’ online stores, and you’ll be confronted with many well-made and Savile Row-inspired shirts that will cost you less than the average dinner out in London. It’s often the case that fashion is the great equaliser, with many luminaries even proudly showing up to these events wearing a high-street piece instead of something couture. And during a moment uplifting the best this city has to offer, I can’t think of something more fitting. Ahead, the best high-street white shirts to shop.

Shop the White Shirt Trend from the 2025 Fashion Awards