Looking to drape yourself in linen from head to toe this summer? Be sure to check out our other linen style guides:
The Best Linen Suits for Men | The Best Linen Pants for Men | The Best Linen Shorts for Men | The Best Linen Sheets
Want even more fit inspo? Check out our summer clothing essentials roundup, where we breakdown the wardrobe staples you need to beat the heat, from breezy knit polos to sturdy leather sandals, and sign up for the GQ Recommends newsletter, which delivers top-shelf styling advice and a fresh crop of menswear picks straight to your inbox, seven days a week.
The Everyday Pick
Made from sustainably farmed French linen, washed with biodegradable softeners, and featuring naturally luxurious corozo nut buttons, the Alex Crane Playa shirt is great on paper. In real life, it’s even better thanks to the dialed-in straight-not-sloppy fit.
The Office-Ready Pick
Summer’s hot enough and if you’ve got a high-stakes situation like an important work presentation or meeting the in-laws, your shirt shouldn’t be the thing that’s causing you to break a sweat. This handcrafted button-up from the dapper folks at Drake’s is the perfect solution to keep you cool in stressful situations where you really need to impress.
The OOO-Ready Pick
The mid-July heat generally means our outfits are stripped back, but who said your shirt has to be minimal? Harago highlights India’s deep history of textiles and craft through hand-blocked prints and painstaking embroidery. If you’re tired of the usual unadorned linen shirt, Harago’s garden of a shirt will make your summer style bloom.
The Budget Pick
Producing linen is a laborious and slow process, which makes it a premium product with the price tag to match. That said, there are options on the market that feel just as luxe without beating your bank account into oblivion. Uniqlo’s option is made from long fiber linen, and this wrinkle-resistant shirt has the faintest sheen to give you a little extra star power as you go about your day. And for just $40, it’ll leave your wallet full while you stay cool.
The Links Pick
Straight from the Jordan Belfort mood board, Vilebrequin’s polo will have you feeling like you just closed a multi-million dollar deal before your lunch break. It’s got a precisely tailored fit for ensuring your biceps really pop and looks just as great with a pair of billowy shorts and sandals as it does layered under a suit.
The SoHo Brunch Pick
The summer’s hottest shirt has got to be a vertical stripe button-up. Sure, the natural beauty of linen is on full display with a plain, solid shirt, unfettered by prints or flourishes of embroidery. But a classic-yet-trendy broad stripe like this one from Everlane is a great balance that gives linen its due diligence without forcing you into a pattern-less box.
The Weekend Upstate Pick
The great part about living in a big city is that you can leave it for more tranquil locales and always come back to its buzzy metropolitan pace of life. This cotton-linen blend shirt is kinda like that. It’s got linen’s ultra-cooling properties and textural intrigue as well as the airy softness of cotton. Add to that a warm rusty orange and a handsome tripe and you’ve got a shirt that fits right in with the cabin upstate and the clubs in SoHo.
The Boardwalk Pick
You’ve probably got a few beach trips queued up this summer, right? Stuffing your duffel with nothing but tees is a rookie mistake. You’ll need a breezy coverup like this one when taking a break from the waves—and to make sure you meet the dress code at the rooftop party at the end of the day. If you look closely enough you’ll see a stripe detailing on this A&F pick that adds some nice texture to an already solid button-up without being distracting.
