It probably goes without saying that shirts with short-sleeves are pretty good in summer – but we’ll say it anyway… shirts with short-sleeves are pretty good in summer.
Here’s some that you might be into…
The Engineered Garments Camp Shirt
Up first, we’ve got this mellow yellow beauty from Engineered Garments. This breezy number is what shirt scholars might refer to as a ‘Cuban shirt’ due to that fairly inventive ‘two-tiered collar system’. This is kind of hard to describe in words, but basically these type of shirts have a nifty collar that can be worn either up, or with the top-button undone (for Mafioso cook-offs). That breezy fishtail hem adds to the casual flavour.
And for those anyone who can’t make it to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year… there’s this.
In a parallel world where Brian Wilson never bothered writing music and instead drove an ice-cream van up and down Blackpool promenade flogging Fabs, Feasts and Screwballs, he’d probably wear something like this corker from Battenwear.
Dead light poplin fabric… ultra-tasty candy stripes… nifty chest pocket… raspberry sauce… Cadbury’s Flake… what more could you ever want?
Whilst we’re on the subject of sweet treats, does anyone remember those Marble chocolate bars that Cadbury’s used to make? They were milk chocolate, white chocolate and smooth and sultry praline, all combined into one majestic slab of ‘unashamed luxury’, and they might have been the finest chocolate bar ever made.
Anyway, this shirt from Boardies has nothing to do with the aforementioned chocolate bar. It does look a bit like the centre of a marble though.
The Ralph Lauren Checked Slim Fit Linen Shirt
Ralph Lauren is the true master of the button-down shirt, and this one here shows exactly why. A little sharper than the other shirts on this here list, it’s got a real Ivy League flavour to it that we’re big fans of.
It’s made of linen too, meaning it’ll keep you nice and cool on those humid days strolling around some picturesque tree-lined campus discussing Charlie Parker, and doing whatever it is people used to do at those places.
The Tender Short Sleeve Raglan Shirt
We’ve sold these Tender shirts for a good few years now, and we’ve still yet to find anything quite like ‘em. These things are quite literally ‘cut from a different cloth’ — the cloth in question being some really crinkly calico stuff that feels ace.
Come to think of it, these shirts are ‘dyed with a different dye’ too. Next time you’re lying in bed at five in the morning, struggling to get to sleep as your manic mind rapidly races, try and answer this question... who else is dying their shirts with rich blue pigments produced by the oxidation of ferrous ferrocyanide salts?