The Perfect Shirt for Summer – Part I

As I am sure you would expect, those of us at BE have ordered some summer shirts.

And as they begin to trickle in, we thought that it would be fun to feature each one in its own blog post. This way, we can give you some insight into how we design our own shirts.

Summer is a fun time to start something like this. Because shirt style is a little less formal and a little more playful. For instance, the business stripes and plaids take a back seat to the prints and the more textured fabrics, like linen.

Since Brett’s shirt arrived first, we are going to kick off the Perfect Shirt for Summer series with a versatile print style. In my opinion, it has Mediterranean vacation written all over it.

Consequently, we’re calling it the Sorrento, after the peninsula located in Southern Italy.

But don’t think that you need to be zipping around the Italian coastline in your vintage Fiat in order to wear a shirt like this; Brett drives a 4Runner!

So, let’s break it down.

Fabric

Brett wanted something semi-casual. A shirt that he could wear to the office, but that would also pass for poolside style. What he ended up with was a white with blue print. The abstract design has coastal references and just looks downright cool.

To dress it up, Brett can carefully choose a bow tie or neck tie (this is tricky though, for any print design), and wear the sleeves down and cuffs buttoned. Or, he can loosen the collar and roll the sleeves up for happy hour on a patio.

Cuffs

Regarding the cuffs, Brett wanted to do something a little different and so he chose the envelope style. This is a unique cuff design and one that you don’t see very often.

I think it has an almost vintage appeal.

Collar

Depending on which day of the week it is, I sometimes feel that the button down collar is formal and then sometimes I say just the opposite. Today, I’m thinking it depends on the fabric. And with the more casual print fabric of the Sorrento, I think Brett really nailed it with the button down collar. I say this because the buttons help to add some structure and help the collar maintain its shape. After all, there are no collar stays, so this is important.

Accents

You probably already noticed the red button hole stitching on the cuff, didn’t you? The bright red looks great up against the white of the shirt and blue background. And when you wear the sleeves down and buttoned, it provides you with an opportunity to show off the detail of the shirt.

However, you may notice that Brett didn’t carry the accent theme across all of the button holes, as that would make for a potentially distracting shirt (especially on a predominately white background).

Wrap up

Want to be just like Brett?! The Sorrento is available today by scheduling an appointment with us.

And while we’re on the topic of dress shirts, what’s your opinion on wearing a tie in the summertime?