Tanya C Ellis, Freelance Fashion Writer

The form-fitting, stiff-collared version of the white shirt is the perfect complement for the corporate safari.

No woman can deny that she has more than a quarter of a dozen classic white shirts hanging in her closet. It is a bit like buying underwear or stockings; there is never a feeling that the debit card has been stretched enough to accommodate such purchases.

The white shirt has never really been the fuel that drives the shopping energy; at least not until now, and especially for those who are set in their ways and cannot imagine the shirt as anything other than a layering piece for a tailored suit, it really does present a challenge.

That small group must be ignored among the fashion-savvy because the colour of cool just got sexy. Unlike last year, the white shirt is what you wear with your jeans for day-time casual, but for it to look amazing, it has to be sharp and new. It is also a match for summer's essential office wear; the safari-cropped sleeve jacket, the safari skirt or the safari vest. This ultimately means that the smock top is going out the window for summer 2008.

New twist

With a little persuasion, the new twist on the somewhat vintage wardrobe staple will be the main evidence that you have your fashion wits about you and are, therefore, not stuck in a clichéd style rut. The new collections will include feminine tuxedo type pleat fronts, as well as crisp tunic styles, ideally worn with skinny pants, and in celebration of the Sex and the City movie out this month, the timing has never been more perfect to don a flawless mannish long sleeve, a visual masterpiece when worn oversized with the belt of the moment.

Smart investors know that the only profitable way to purchase fashion as an asset is to mix classic with incomparable modern basics. Still, there is no such thing as basic with colour's best friend, white. The secret is to do the unexpected; and with the many variations of wearable styles now available especially from Gap, it would be crazy not to stock up because it is not unusual to reserve more than half of the wardrobe space for the acceptable dozen in every length, and fit that is stylistically allowed.

A crinkled twist to the classic white shirt adds a casual flair for sporty styles.

Man-sized white shirt for a super sexy night out - do not forget the fishnets. - photos by Tanya Ellis