La Signora — The Women's Journal
The Printed Shirt, Her Way
The complete guide to women's printed shirts, 2026
Satin-finish cotton · cut for women · printed like nothing else in Britain
There is a moment in every wardrobe's life when the safe white shirt stops being enough. Harper's Bazaar calls it the pivot piece; Vogue calls it the conversation starter. We simply call it the shirt. For twenty years Claudio Lugli has been known for putting art on menswear — but quietly, season after season, the women's atelier has been building something of its own: more than a hundred and forty designs of satin-finish cotton, cut for a woman's frame, printed with horses, peonies, leopards, butterflies and pure abstract colour. This is the definitive guide to wearing them.
“A printed shirt is the fastest route from a good outfit to a remembered one.”
What Makes Ours Different
Three things. First, the cloth: a satin-finish cotton with the weight and drape of something far more expensive, which holds saturated colour the way silk does but presses, packs and washes like a shirt should. Second, the cut: these are not men's shirts sized down — they are drafted for women, with a defined waist, a proper bust dart and sleeves that finish where they say they will. Third — and most importantly — the prints. Every design is drawn as a piece of art first and a repeat second, which is why the placement across a placket never looks accidental.
Know Your Print Families
The range divides into five houses, and knowing which one you are dressing from makes styling effortless. The Equestrian — snaffles, horseshoes, galloping horses — is the heritage seam, made for race days and country weekends (we dress it fully in The Equestrienne). The Floral runs from the painterly Magnolia to the Eternal Bloom peony stripe: romantic, but never twee. The Animal is leopard, butterfly and flamingo — the wild ones. The Art House is abstract swirls, paint splashes and houndstooth put through a kaleidoscope. And The Classics are plain satin-cotton shirts with a secret: printed cuffs and collar linings that only show when you want them to.
— The Edit: One From Each House —
How to Wear a Statement Print
The rule the stylists use: one soloist, everything else in the chorus. A bold print earns its place when the rest of the outfit is quiet — ecru wide-leg trousers, a black slip skirt, good denim. Tucked fully into high-waisted tailoring it reads boardroom; half-tucked into jeans with gold hoops it reads Saturday. Over a slip dress, worn open as a light jacket, it becomes resort wear. And under a black trouser suit, with only the collar and a flash of print showing, it is the single easiest evening look in this guide.
“One soloist. Everything else in the chorus.”
Fit Notes
Our women's shirts run UK 8 to 18 across most designs, cut with ease through the shoulder and a shaped waist. If you sit between sizes and intend to tuck, take the smaller; if you plan to layer over a cami, take the larger and let it drape. The satin cotton softens beautifully from the first wash — cool, gentle, hung to dry, and it will not need more than a warm iron on the reverse to protect the print.
Where to Go From Here
The wardrobe is deep and this journal is growing with it. Race-day dressing lives in Ladies' Day at Glorious Goodwood; vintage glamour in the Goodwood Revival women's guide; and the season's dresses in The Late-Summer Dress Edit. If you share a wardrobe philosophy with a man who likes his prints loud, our his-and-hers animal print guide settles who wears the leopard first.
143 designs · UK 8–18 · satin-finish cotton
Frequently Asked Questions
What fabric are Claudio Lugli women’s printed shirts made from?
What sizes do women’s printed shirts come in?
How do you style a bold printed shirt?
Are the shirts machine washable?
Where are Claudio Lugli women’s shirts designed?
