Looking for the perfect white summer shirt

[GreenNYC]

There's nothing quite as nice in the summer months as a crisp white cotton shirt. My problem is finding a shirt constructed of lightweight cloth (e.g., Egyptian cotton) that doesn't have some level of transparency allowing skin to show through when worn casually with an open collar and no undershirt. I dislike the look of visible skin tone apparent through the shirt and it darkens the overall effect. Can anybody recommend a shirt that would be both lightweight and opaque?

 

[Edward Appleby]

Linen might be a better bet.

 

[EL72]

Avoid poplin/broadcloth and go with something like a lightweight twill or herringbone weave. The tone on tone patterns won't be as transparent as the plain weaves.

 

[Jovan]

I agree with Ed. Linen shirts don't show skin too terribly, but as far as I'm concerned you should wear an undershirt too (a REAL t-shirt, not those tanks that don't absorb sweat from your armpits).

 

[Earthmover]

I found french oxfords (this is what Jantzen refers to their thin oxfords) to be good in the summer, because while not super-thin, the loose weave makes the shirt much cooler. And obviously, they are opaque, as it is thicker.

 

[gdl203]

I concur with the recommendation of a light oxford

 

[grimslade]

Today I'm wearing one of the Thomas Mason J. Crew white cotton shirts. 2-ply 100s, maybe? I'd have to take it off to double check. But it seems to me both light and opaque.

 

[kitonbrioni]

Kiton is the only maker that I've found which as super high quality thin weight cotton.

 

[mensimageconsultant]

What about Sea Island cotton?

 

[Carlo]

Hmmmmm..... well that gets tricky, the really lightweight fabrics are not as opaque as you might want in the summer and as you get into the more opaque ones it gets warmer and once they get damp and clingy with sweat they get more opaque.

Plus, sans undershirt you tend to get the shirt dirtier.

Worth considering would be finding an undershirt that doesn't bind or make you hot if I am guessing correctly and you don't like the undershirt for that reason.

My favorite white Summer shirt is a linen cotton blend like this one, but with a good quality undershirt..

 

[lcordaro]

I was out shopping yesteday and I was finding it difficult to find a casual white shirt that didn't show through. Does anyone else have any suggestions on what brand of white shirts would work. Will I have to go the MTM shirts.

Thanks
Larry

 

[grimslade]

Originally Posted by lcordaro

I was out shopping yesteday and I was finding it difficult to find a casual white shirt that didn't show through. Does anyone else have any suggestions on what brand of white shirts would work. Will I have to go the MTM shirts.

Thanks
Larry


Charles Tyrwhitt has a linen-silk blend button down that is going for all of $26.10 at the moment. It's pretty opaque and pretty comfortable temperature-wise.

 

[lcordaro]

Thanks. I will check it out.

LC