The medium blue chambray shirt is one of those classic menswear staples that never seems to go out of style.

If you could only own 2-3 casual button up shirts, a blue chambray shirt should definitely be one of them.

It’s kind of like the light blue OCBD, but slightly less preppy and more rugged.

You can wear it with jeans, chinos or shorts. It looks great with dark blue, lighter blue, greys, browns and even greens.

There are so many ways to wear a chambray shirt. To give you some ideas, here are five examples from my own closet, featuring my very own creation, The Elijah:

#1: Under a Cardigan

I love a good shawl neck cardigan, especially during the colder seasons. This dark grey cardigan looks great over a medium blue chambray shirt.

cardigan (similar) | shirt | jeans | boots | glasses

You could wear any kind of boots with this outfit, but these chocolate suede Chelsea boots sure do look nice.

#2: With Shorts

Chambray is a casual fabric. It’s totally appropriate to wear with shorts, especially if you roll the sleeves up for a more laid back look.

shirt | shorts (similar) | shoes | sunglasses | watch

These Vans (for J. Crew) came with brown laces, but I replaced them with black leather laces so they’d look good with my black watch.

#3: With Blue Jeans

Yes, you can wear chambray with denim. It will look okay as long as there’s enough contrast between your shirt and pants.

jacket (old) | shirt | shoes | sunglasses

This is kind of a sporty, retro look. You could use almost any track jacket, varsity jacket or windbreaker, and you could wear whichever classic sneakers you prefer.

#4: Under a Sweater

A chambray button up is also great for layering. It works well with many different colored sweaters, especially neutrals like cream and oatmeal.

shirt | shoes | glasses

This outfit would also work well with brown leather boots, loafers or lace ups.