The ultimate Linen Shirt thread ... !

[Doc4]

Summer is close now (or several months in, depending on where you live; Winnipeg residents should check Wikipedia). So it's time for a paean to the wonderful Linen Shirt!

Cool & breezy, tucked or untucked, with all those wrinkles and creases and the like that give them their laid-back charm ... there's nothing finer to wear sitting under the sun or in the shade on a hot day!

Who's with me?!

[Austin]

I have several short sleeve linen shirts that I wear during the summer. I wear them untucked because they are finished nicely and don't look sloppy. Now I need a cool drink.

[Fnord5]

Can you use the sleeves as a strop?

[Austin]

[RichGem]

Like them in theory, but never know what to wear under them. I hate dressing in layers in general, but no undershirt can be a bit see through... crew neck tee defeats the ventilation factor... A-shirt/singlet/wifebeater makes for a strange show through as well. So... pretty much I stick with a regular button down (when getting that dressed up in warm weather) with the sleeves rolled up and tail untucked. Maybe a button (other than the collar) undone as well.

[Doc4]

Like them in theory, but never know what to wear under them. I hate dressing in layers in general, but no undershirt can be a bit see through... crew neck tee defeats the ventilation factor... A-shirt/singlet/wifebeater makes for a strange show through as well. So... pretty much I stick with a regular button down (when getting that dressed up in warm weather) with the sleeves rolled up and tail untucked. Maybe a button (other than the collar) undone as well.

light coloured linen, if made into a very lightweight/thin material, can have some see-through properties. But if you get the right colour and weight, you get a great shirt.

[stobes21]

Like them in theory, but never know what to wear under them. I hate dressing in layers in general, but no undershirt can be a bit see through... crew neck tee defeats the ventilation factor... A-shirt/singlet/wifebeater makes for a strange show through as well. So... pretty much I stick with a regular button down (when getting that dressed up in warm weather) with the sleeves rolled up and tail untucked. Maybe a button (other than the collar) undone as well.

You could go with a white compression t-shirt made of a moisture-wicking material (under armor is the best known brand for this). It'll be a lot cooler than a cotton undershirt but avoid the visual problems of show through.

[RichGem]

light coloured linen, if made into a very lightweight/thin material, can have some see-through properties. But if you get the right colour and weight, you get a great shirt.

You could go with a white compression t-shirt made of a moisture-wicking material (under armor is the best known brand for this). It'll be a lot cooler than a cotton undershirt but avoid the visual problems of show through.

thanks for the tips... I may have to do some shopping next time I'm in the Caribbean (linen shirts easily available there).

[perry]

Haven't tried linen yet, but I've purchased my first two madras shirts this year. Love them!

[Island Brian]

I have in my summer wardrobe rotation, 6 linen shirts in ecru/natural, navy, yellow and white. Love each of them and wear them from Memorial Day to Labor Day. I also have two linen suits (a rich blue and ecru/natural). One contains a small label: "Guaranteed to wrinkle."

A word for the wearer: Overwashing kills linen, particularly trousers and dark colors. I wash my linen shirts in cold water and with Woolite only. The suits go to the dry cleaner but once a year.

[Doc4]

I have in my summer wardrobe rotation, 6 linen shirts in ecru/natural, navy, yellow and white. Love each of them and wear them from Memorial Day to Labor Day. I also have two linen suits (a rich blue and ecru/natural). One contains a small label: "Guaranteed to wrinkle."

A word for the wearer: Overwashing kills linen, particularly trousers and dark colors. I wash my linen shirts in cold water and with Woolite only. The suits go to the dry cleaner but once a year.

All my suits go to the drycleaner as little as possible ... usually at the end of the season, unless need dictates otherwise.

As for overwashing killing linen, it'll certainy do a number on dark colours, but as for the feel of the fabric I find that linen improves with washings.

[homebrewer]

I'm another die hard linen fan here... I've got way too many shirts, that are worn tucked or untucked depending on the cut, and 3 or 4 pairs of linen pants that also get heavily used during the summer. All I really want to finish it off now are a pair of brown leather and linen spectator shoes that seem to be available recently (although they cost an arm and a leg)

[tsmba]

I have a green linen shirt from LLBean that I love. I also like seersucker in the summer. I'm a wash & wear kind of guy....we have an iron, but its a dust collector!

[Ceezer]

Can someone explain what a madras shirt is? I tried Google & Wikipedia and found people discussing how they should be worn, but I couldn't get a clear description of what they were.

It's hot as hell around here already and since my workplace is business casual I'm always looking for a way to dress myself a little "cooler" (not in the fashion sense). I have some shirts from Target that are polo/golf-style and are perforated, which help, but I feel like a kid when I wear them. In fact, my wife took me out for my Father's Day dinner this past Thursday and said, "You're not going to wear that shirt, are you?".

I think I know what the linen shirts are but we always called them "gauze" shirts. Is this the same thing? The material that looks like the decorative tissue paper you'd hang at parties and such?

[Doc4]

Can someone explain what a madras shirt is? I tried Google & Wikipedia and found people discussing how they should be worn, but I couldn't get a clear description of what they were.

It's hot as hell around here already and since my workplace is business casual I'm always looking for a way to dress myself a little "cooler" (not in the fashion sense). I have some shirts from Target that are polo/golf-style and are perforated, which help, but I feel like a kid when I wear them. In fact, my wife took me out for my Father's Day dinner this past Thursday and said, "You're not going to wear that shirt, are you?".

I think I know what the linen shirts are but we always called them "gauze" shirts. Is this the same thing? The material that looks like the decorative tissue paper you'd hang at parties and such?

Okay, Madras is a city in India (renamed now, I forget the new name) which has given its name to 'madras' cloth ... typically a lightly-woven cotton, usually with brightly-patterned plaid colouring.

I don't think that linen shirts are like the "gauze" shirts you mention. As for a business-casual setting, linen would be fine temperature-wise, but it does have a habit of wrinkling ... one of the main allures of linen is that laid-back rumpled look ... so that may or may not fit your office; but linen/cotton blend shirts would do quite well.

[Ceezer]

Thanks, Doc. Are the Madras shirts identifiable only by feel?

When the linen wrinkles, does it look sloppy? The business casual here is a little more on the casual side (we have jeans & tees day every Friday but some people will come in wearing jeans on normal days, some wear their collared shirts untucked, etc) but I don't want to look like a slob.

I hear seersucker is also popular in this region but I guess I haven't paid enough attention to really figure out what it is. Is it similar to these fabrics in it's heat dissipating properties?

Please pardon my ignorance... I'm just an old farmboy from the hills of Appalachia and don't know much about high-end clothing.

[Doc4]

Ceezer,

You'll detect Madras not only by its loose weave but more obviously by its typical boldly coloured checks and plaids.

The people who appreciate linen tend to think it looks better as it gets wrinkled. Unlike a standard cotton dress shirt, which looks best right off the iron, linen is meant to be worn a bit rumpled. Anyone who is obsessed with ironing out every crease and line will be chasing you around with an iron offering to iron your shirt, and will be completely missing the point. It's not a look for 'business' ... not a shirt to wear with a suit ... but it sounds like your place is more than casual enough for you to pull that off well.

Seersucker is cotton cloth that's woven in a way so that the cloth has a pattern of bumps in it so that the cloth has better air ventilation ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seersucker

[Ceezer]

Thanks again, Doc!

[Rorschuck]

Mmm... linen... I love my linen shirts. I've got all kinds: thick, thin, white, clay-colored, natural, orange; pure linen, linen/silk blends. Nothing better in the muggy Southern Illinois summers.

[Thebigspendur]

Linen is great in the summer but for shirts if you get pure linen after washing they look like rags they wrinkle so much. For business attire ironing is a must.