The Eight Linen Shirts Worth Buying This Summer
We bought sixteen. We kept eight. Here is the short list, with prices.
Linen is a category in which paying more does not reliably get you a better shirt. After two months of wear, washes, and one regrettable iron, this is what survived.
How we tested
Sixteen shirts across four price bands — under $80, $80 to $150, $150 to $250, and above $250 — worn in rotation, laundered per label, and photographed at week one, week four, and week eight. The eliminations were mostly for fit, occasionally for wrinkling that read as unkempt rather than as intended, and in two cases for the specific way a shirt held sweat.
Under $80: Uniqlo Premium Linen (long-sleeve)
Cut has been steadily improved over the last two summers. $49.90. The one to buy first if you have never owned linen.
$80 to $150: Alex Mill Standard Linen Shirt
The best combination of fit and fabric weight at this price. Their women's Jane shirt in linen is the equivalent recommendation. Around $128.
$150 to $250: Todd Snyder Portuguese Linen Point-Collar
Slightly heavier fabric than most competitors, which means it drapes rather than clings. $198.
Above $250: 100Hands Linen Popover
Hand-stitched in India, absurd in every important way. $340. Not the correct purchase, but the right one if you can afford it.
The three we would skip
Two direct-to-consumer brands that overpromised on fabric weight; one legacy brand whose current fit runs a full size larger than the label suggests. Named in the print edition; withheld here on the theory that the problem is fixable.
