Alémais Shirts and Shirtdresses: Linen, Silk and How They Fit

An Alémais shirt is usually an oversized, print-led button-down in linen, organic cotton or silk, often finished with embroidery or beading, and the shirtdress is the same idea taken to the knee or the calf. Alémais, the Sydney label founded by Lesleigh Jermanus in 2020, cuts most of its shirts generous on purpose, so take your usual size for the look as photographed and the size below for a neater line. This guide covers the shirts, shirtdresses, blouses and tees worth knowing, and how each one fits.

The brand is often searched as “Alemais”, without the accent, and both spellings point to the same house. If you are new to it, start with the Alémais brand page for the full range, then come back here to narrow it down.

What makes an Alémais shirt different

Most designer shirts are about the cut. An Alémais shirt is about the surface. Jermanus trained in fine art, and each collection begins with an artwork or a colour, which is why the shirts read almost like canvases: placement prints, patchwork panels, hand-finished embroidery and, on the dressier pieces, beads. The shape underneath is kept simple, usually a dropped shoulder, a deep sleeve and a boxy body that sits well over a swimsuit or tucked loosely into trousers.

Fabric decides how you wear it. The linen shirts crease and soften with every wash and suit the beach and the weekend. The silk shirts, in twill or sandwashed silk, hang closer and work for dinner. If you want to understand the differences between those silks before you buy, our Alémais silk guide explains each one and how to look after it.

Linen and cotton shirts for every day

The alemais shirt most people picture is a relaxed linen button-down, and the range is deep here. The Velma Oversized Linen Shirt and the Jude Oversized Linen Shirt are the easiest place to start: long in the body, roomy in the sleeve and plain enough to wear with denim. The Bungalow Oversized Linen Shirt has the same volume with more print.

For something with craft in it, the Sunset Broderie Shirt uses broderie anglaise, which gives a white or pale shirt texture without making it fussy. The Blue Marlin Embroidered Shirt carries the embroidered motifs the brand is known for, and it looks best worn open over a tank with the sleeves pushed up. These are the shirts that turn up in Alémais sets too, so if you like a matching trouser, see our guide to Alémais co-ords before you decide.

Silk shirts and embellished shirts for evening

An Alémais silk shirt is a different garment from the linen ones. It moves, it catches light, and it is the piece to buy if you want one shirt that can go out at night. The Bath House Silk Shirt and the Iris Silk Shirt are printed silks with a fluid hand. The Monkey Dance Silk Shirt is louder, and it is best treated as the whole outfit with a plain trouser underneath.

Where the brand moves into evening territory is embellishment. The Camelia Embellished Shirt and the Yasmeen Embellished Oversized Shirt are shirts in shape but jewellery in effect, and they pair well with the silk trousers covered in our Alémais pants and shorts guide. The Clemenza Spliced Silk Shirt uses patchwork panels of contrasting print, a signature Alémais technique.

Alémais shirtdresses and the shirt dress question

Searches for the alemais shirt dress and the one-word alemais shirtdress run at the same level, and they mean the same thing: a long shirt worn as a dress, usually with a belt or tie at the waist. Alémais makes a lot of them, and the cut is the main decision. The Ruthie Shirtdress is oversized, and at an AU 8 it measures 107 cm at the bust according to the brand’s own chart, so it is meant to blouse and swing. Take the size below if you want it closer.

For linen, the Oceane Linen Shirtdress and the Day Dream Linen Shirtdress are the travel choices: easy to wash, easy to throw over swimwear. For silk, the Bath House Silk Shirtdress and the Maxi Silk Ruched Shirtdress go longer and dressier, the second with ruching that pulls the volume in. The Willa Embroidered Shirtdress sits in between, a day dress with enough handwork for a lunch or a christening. If you are choosing by length, our Alémais mini, midi and maxi dress guide sorts the dresses that way.

Blouses, tops and the Alémais T-shirt

An Alémais blouse is softer than its shirts, with gathered sleeves, lace or corded detail and a shorter body. The Antoinette Blouse and the Giulia Embroidered Blouse are romantic and pair with a denim short. The Winifred Lace Blouse and the Donovan Corded Blouse are more textural and work under a blazer.

For a top rather than a blouse, the Rosemary Embroidered Top and the Sidi One Shoulder Top are the evening options. The Alémais T-shirt is the entry point to the brand for many people: the Banana Tee and the Toucan Tango Embroidered Pocket Tee put the house prints and embroidery on a relaxed cotton jersey. Tees use letter sizes from XXS to XXL rather than the numbered ladder.

How Alémais shirts fit

Every Alémais product page carries a fit line, and for shirts it is usually “oversized” or “relaxed”. Our Alémais size guide read the fit statement on 98 styles and found more than half were cut oversized or relaxed. That is design, not inconsistent sizing. The practical rule is simple: take your usual size for the shape in the photographs, and the size below if you want a regular shirt. The brand’s fit model is around 175 to 177 cm and wears an AU 6, so a shirtdress will sit longer on a shorter frame.

Linen has no stretch, so a shirtdress with a fitted bodice is the one exception where the larger size is the safer choice. For styling ideas beyond shirts, how to style Alémais covers whole outfits, and if you are comparing with another Australian label, our Aje shirts and blouses guide is a useful contrast: Aje cuts closer and more sculptural.

Alémais shirts around the world

Australia

Australia is the brand’s biggest search market, and the shirts are made for its summers: linen over swimwear, silk for a long lunch. Remember that the Alémais “Summer” collection lands in Australian spring, so the lightest linens arrive when Sydney is warming up.

United States

US shoppers search for Alémais almost as often as Australians. Convert by taking four off the number: an AU 8 is a US 4 and an AU 10 is a US 6, and the brand prints the US size on the label. The oversized linen shirts suit a Hamptons or Palm Beach summer, while the embellished silks work for resort evenings.

United Kingdom and Europe

UK sizes match Australian sizes number for number, so an AU 10 is a UK 10. In European sizing that AU 10 is an EU 38. Because the seasons are reversed, an Alémais summer drop arrives in the northern autumn, so British buyers tend to treat the linen shirts as holiday packing first and July dressing second. The silk shirts cross the seasons more easily, worn under a coat in winter. The where to buy Alémais guide covers stockists by country.

Alémais shirts: common questions

Do Alémais shirts run big?

Alémais shirts are usually cut oversized or relaxed by design, so they feel roomy. The brand recommends your usual size for the intended shape and suggests the size below if you want a regular fit.

What is the difference between an Alémais shirt dress and a shirtdress?

There is no difference. Alémais spells it as one word, shirtdress, and both spellings describe a long button-front shirt worn as a dress, usually with a belt or tie at the waist.

Are Alémais shirts linen or silk?

Both. Alémais makes everyday shirts in linen and organic cotton and dressier shirts in silk twill and sandwashed silk, and many of them carry embroidery, patchwork or beading.

What size is an Alémais AU 8 shirt in the US?

An Alémais AU 8 is a US 4 and a UK 8. The brand prints both the AU and US sizes on its labels, and tees use letter sizes from XXS to XXL.

How do you wear an oversized Alémais shirt?

Wear it open over a tank or swimsuit, half tucked into a straight trouser, or belted as a short dress. Pushing the sleeves up keeps the volume from swamping a smaller frame.

Do Alémais shirts come in matching sets?

Many do. Alémais often cuts a shirt and a trouser or short from the same print, so you can wear them together as a co-ord or separately with plainer pieces.