Elegant style icon wardrobe essentials: The white shirt

Nothing is like a white shirt in a woman's wardrobe.

From Audrey Hepburn to Katharine Hepburn, From Monica Bellucci to Isabella Rossallini, from Grace Kelly to Gong Li, from queen to first lady to model to actress, they have all worn white shirts, to interpret elegance, beauty, nonchalance, naughtiness, to hide or accentuate their sensuality and sexuality, to send a message, to make a statement, or look for refuge when they do not know what to wear, like Carolina Herrera.

For the women who have been called a styled icon, the white shirt is a universal language, a connection, a weapon, even creative outlets.

In the world of fashion, everything can become a trend, but the white shirt always stay, in different fabrics, in different cuts, in different lengths and weights, and in years and decades to come, it will very likely still be here, on the new bodies who will be anointed "style icons".

Carla Bruni in film Midnight Paris

Carla Bruni with her husband Nicolas Sarkozy, France's ex-president

Giorgio Armani 2016 Sprin ad campaign