Can Men Wear Silk Shirts Without Looking Like Sleazeballs?

Though silk shirts have a seriously cheesy reputation, new solid-color, unshiny versions are more low-key than Key West. Is that enough to restore the fabric’s reputation? We argue both sides

No

This is not Studio 54. You are not 23-year-old John Travolta. So leave the shimmery silk shirts in the 1970s, along with the AMC Pacer and the baffling popularity of “Disco Duck.” “Really cheese-ball club rat,” is how Ian Bradley, a New York-based fashion stylist, described silk shirts. He associates them with contemporary rappers like Migos and 21 Savage who unbutton their blousy silk shirts practically to the navel (determined to exhibit an excess of gold chains) and pair them with hole-ridden jeans.

That louche look...