Linen shirt men: how to wear one over swim shorts
Open on the beach, sleeves up at the bar, tucked in at the table: how to wear linen over your swim short, with photos of our ambassadors in Aruba and Valencia.
In this article
How to wear it
The linen shirt men wear on holiday is a layer over the swim short, not a shirt on chinos. On the beach it hangs open. On the terrace you roll the sleeves up. At dinner you tuck it into a short with a zip and buckles. Choose light linen with a soft collar.
A linen shirt is the only shirt that gets better when it creases. Creased cotton looks sloppy. Creased linen looks as if you have already spent a week by the sea. That is why it belongs with a swim short, and not on a hanger or over chinos, which is how you see it online almost every time. If you travel light, put it on when you leave: it takes no room in the suitcase, and the creases from the flight are part of the look.
Ambassador Jesus Sanchez Moreno, on the beach in Valencia on 24 March 2018. Between the first and the last photo of his series there are 3 minutes and 20 seconds. The shirt hangs open against a beach hut, slides off his shoulder and ends up in his hand as he walks to the water. Not one button opens or closes. That is the whole reason to wear a shirt over a swim short.
Can you wear a linen shirt with swim shorts?
Yes, and linen is the best fabric for it: it is light, lets air through and takes up moisture quickly, exactly what you want on skin that has just come out of the sea. A swim short also needs a shirt to go anywhere other than the beach.
The European trade body for flax and linen, the Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp, writes that linen lets more air through than other fabrics and takes up and spreads moisture straight away. At a destination of 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) you notice it: the shirt does not stick to your back. The second argument is style. An open shirt over a short turns a beach outfit into something you can wear until lunch. By the sea it does what a blazer does in the city.
How do you wear a linen shirt from the beach to dinner?
With the same shirt in three positions. You do not change, you only change how it hangs. Whether it makes the last position is decided by the short underneath.
On the beach: open. All buttons undone, the sleeves down or turned back once. That way you take it off for a swim and put it back on when you return, like Jesus above.
On the terrace: sleeves up. Turn them twice to just below the elbow and do up the lower buttons. That is how Christian, at the top of this article, sits at a beach bar in Aruba, in a dark blue shirt over the light Tampa Stripes Maya Blue. After an afternoon you see the first creases. Leave them.
At dinner: tucked in. Buttoned to the second button and into the short. That only works with a short with a zip and buckles, because a bow does not belong under a shirt. If you wear a model with a cord, like the Venice swim shorts, leave the shirt loose and button it to halfway up your chest.
- Tampa Solid Presidential Bluedark blue, zip and buckles
Christian by the pool in Aruba, 24 February 2018, at 11:38: striped shirt tucked in, sleeves turned twice, the top buttons open.
Look at the waist. The shirt sits snug in the short, so the waistband with its buckle stays in view. The Tampa has a tailored fit, a zip and adjustable buckles, and is made to be worn as a short on land too. Tucked in, it looks like a smart pair of shorts, and that is how you can sit at a table. All the colours of the model are in the Tampa swim shorts.
Six minutes after the photo above, Christian is at the bar. The same shirt, now out of the short and fully open, the sleeves still up. Going back to the beach is as quick as the way to the table: you pull the shirt out of the waistband and you are there.
How do you spot a good linen shirt?
By the weight, the blend and the collar. For a day by the sea you want light, one hundred per cent linen with a soft collar. The table shows what the rest does.
| Fabric | How it wears | When |
|---|---|---|
| 100% linen, 120 to 160 g/m² | Light and airy, creases the most | By the sea in the day, open over your short |
| 100% linen, 180 to 220 g/m² | Hangs heavier and calmer | The evening, or when it is windy |
| Linen with cotton, such as 55/45 | Itches less and creases less stubbornly, but is less airy | When you want a fabric that still looks neat after a flight |
| Linen with an easy-care finish | Recovers better from creases, but feels stiffer | Better not by the sea: the creasing is the charm |
You can check two things in the shop. Hold the shirt up to the light: if you see a little daylight between the threads, the cloth is woven more loosely and drapes more softly, writes Primer Magazine. A summer shirt weighs around 120 to 160 grams per square metre (about 3.5 to 4.7 ounces per square yard), according to the French spinner Safilin. And look at the collar. A stand-up collar, like Jesus wears, or a soft collar without stays falls nicely over your chest when open. A stiff button-down collar belongs to a cotton oxford, and on the beach you see it straight away.
Which colour linen shirt goes with which swim short?
The busier the short, the quieter the shirt. Jesus wears light blue over orange: two soft colours, and the shirt takes no attention from the short. Christian wears a blue and white stripe over plain blue: the stripe is the pattern, the short stays calm. At the beach bar he turns it around, with a dark blue shirt over the light Maya Blue. Sanwin Beachwear does not make shirts; the short is our part of the look.
If you pack only one shirt for a week by the sea, take white or light blue. Those go with any plain short, from orange to a plain blue. With a print, choose a shirt in one colour. For what the evening looks like in Ibiza, read the guide to the best beach clubs in Ibiza, and for how a short dries between the pool and the table, our piece on quick-dry swim trunks.
Questions about a linen shirt on holiday
How do you wash a linen shirt?
At 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) on a delicate programme with as little spinning as possible, advises the Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp. Let it dry in the shade and iron it on the inside while it is still slightly damp. The label in your shirt always comes first.
How do you get the creases out while travelling?
Hang it in the bathroom while you shower: the steam takes out the deepest folds. Hard spinning and wringing make the folds sharper. When you pack, put it on top in the suitcase so nothing heavy lies on it.
What size linen shirt do you wear over a swim short?
Your usual size. Worn loose, the hem falls just below the waistband of the short. Do not buy it tight: heat in the dryer can make linen shrink, and a roomy cut lets more air along your skin.
Which size Tampa goes with it, and can I exchange it?
You buy the Tampa by your waist in inches, as with jeans, and it runs small: if you are between two sizes, take the bigger one. The buckles let you tighten the waistband but not widen it. If it does not fit, you have 100 days after delivery to choose another size or a credit, as long as the short is unworn and has not been in the water, and the hygiene strip and labels are still attached. How that works is on returns and exchanges.
How long does delivery take?
Order on a working day before 2 p.m. and your parcel leaves the same day from the Netherlands. Within Europe delivery takes 3 to 7 working days, to the United States and Canada 6 to 14. Within Europe shipping is free from two items; for the United States and Canada the number of items does not count, and the free threshold is on the shipping page.
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