Your Smart Summer Look, Sorted

Sure, conceptually we’d all love to be basking, shirtless, the moment the sun’s out. But there are some warm-weather events that could really do with a tidy shirt. You know: countryside weddings, BBQs at the in-laws, or just a few drinks after a sun-dappled vacation bike ride... While some summer shirts might vaguely look the part, most of them will have you sweating buckets in five minutes flat - which really undermines that whole refined summer shirt aesthetic you were going for.

If only there was a summer shirt that could actually do the job when it comes to both upping those sophistication levels and keeping that lower back sweat in check... Well, now there is, because we designed it. Available in ten colours in pure French linen or 100% cotton seersucker, the Summer Shirt’s perfected cut and hot-weather-ready materials are the answer to your sweaty prayers.

What’s key to this life-changing, soon-to-be-summer-staple, you ask? Well, let us get into that.

See for yourselves.

We don’t want to get all Botany Weekly here, but flax is a pretty nifty plant. You can pop the seeds on your porridge and make ropes from the plant’s sturdy stem fibres - try doing that with cashmere. You can also use those same fibres to make linen - a material with impeccable warm-weather credentials.

The long fibres give linen a ‘high conductivity’, which is pub quiz champion-speak for ‘feels cool to the touch’. The material is also ultra breezy, wicking away 20% of its weight in water without starting to feel sticky or clingy.

Luckily for us, France is the traditional hub of linen production. The chaps at Emanuel Lang are our linen partners, and they’ve been making it since 1856. As if that isn’t impressive enough, they’re pursuing increasingly sustainable practices, focusing on local sourcing, environmentally friendly agriculture, and GMO-free output. This linen’s produced to keep you — and the planet — as cool as possible, a nice bonus.

Linen’s a hard act to follow when it comes to suave, breezy materials, but if anyone’s got a counter-claim to the crown, it’d be seersucker. So, spreading our bets, we lined up the Summer Shirt in 100% cotton seersucker too, made by our longstanding partners at TMG, the Italian cotton wizards we keep going back to. While linen’s got that tousled, just-rolled-out-of-my-beachside-mansion’s-hammock air about it, seersuckers a little dressier... Far from stuffy, we like think of it as the fabric equivalent of an assuredly slick Le Carré character: attentive yet relaxed, G+T in hand, waiting for his rendezvous by the Hotel pool.

All that work sourcing impeccable linen and sumptuous seersucker would have been wasted if the shirt’s cut wasn’t up to scratch. And we don’t like waste, as you probably know by now.

The Summer Shirt is in fact the same design as our aptly-named Ideal Shirt, which should tell you all you need to know. It’s fine-tuned, tidy and classic in shape, sleeves optimised for an easy roll, and with two discreet pleats in the back to give you a little extra wiggle room. It’s thoughtfully cut to a length that allows you to wear it tucked in, or not - depending on just how carefree you want your summer to be. It’ll sit just right with shorts, jeans, or a suit - so you can cross pairing off your worry list ahead of the next al fresco dinner.

As well as being cool and breathable materials, linen and seersucker are also both very easy on the eye. Particularly in the creasing department. Now, in winter having a shirt that creases like a rhino’s ankle the moment you sit down’s not something to shout about, but the crease factor is what makes both linen and seersucker aesthetes’ faves. The crinkle’s where the character’s at, particularly in linen’s case.

But don’t fret, things won’t get out of hand, we asked the bods at Emanuel Lang to work on a linen that’s just dense enough to avoid crossing the line into potato sack territory. 165g/m2 turned out to be the perfect weight.

If you’ve read this far, we’re going to assume you aren’t going for a glam-phase David Bowie sheer tee feel with your summer shirt. Which is lucky, because we carefully picked material weights that’ll avoid the unwanted light shirt see-through saga.

That 165 g/m2 linen’s not only perfect for creasing, it’s density means you can keep your chest hair, tats, dodgy necklaces and who-knows-what-else to yourself. At least as long as you want to - that should be your call. As for the seersucker, sat at a stately 120g/m2, it won’t be giving up your goods any time soon either.

Quick word association round… What wilts in summer? We bet you thought flowers. And you wouldn’t have been wrong, but in this case, we were more worried about collars. Nothing lets down a good summer shirt like a shapeless, wrung-out collar limping its way over a lapel. That’s why we added lightweight fusing to the collar to protect your neck and ensure it can stand the heat. We also popped in some extra stitching on the collar ridge, giving a neat finish and upping the durability. On the topic of durability, we reinforced the button placket too, so the lovely natural corozo buttons won’t be getting shown up.

Are pit stains ever going to be in style? How should one dress for a high-temperature work do? Does seersucker look better by a BBQ than linen? Are socks ever OK with sandals?

So many questions, but there’s only one answer that matters: The Summer Shirt. Saving you from summer meltdowns with its tried and tested cut, lightweight summer-ready materials, and flawless detailing.

The Summer Shirt will be available in a flurry of colours to preorder for 79€ from the 14th of March. If you want first dibs, you can hit this link below and we’ll be sure to notify you when you can grab them.

Need to know anything else? Ask away via the comments below, or alternatively, you can check our international Instagram page for more info.

Cheers,

The Asphalte Team