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I love wearing linen. When the heat index rises, there really is no better fabric to put on than linen, a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Breathable and strong, linen is great at helping regulate your body temperature. Plus, it dries quickly and gets softer over time. When the sun is blazing, I can’t imagine wearing anything else.
For that reason, when I travel during the summer or to hot-weather destinations, I fill my suitcase up with mostly linen clothing: a couple of button-down shirts, pull-on drawstring pants, and maybe an unstructured blazer in case I want to elevate an outfit for a nice dinner or if I’m visiting for work. That’s the thing about linen—even the dressiest pieces never look stuffy; there is something inherently casual about them.
Ancient Egyptians used to wear linen as a sign of high class and even wrapped mummies in it. If it’s good enough for pharaohs, it’s good enough for me. But besides the historical context, linen, when harvested properly, is an incredibly sustainable material. To grow and farm flax, you don’t need to irrigate, fertilize, or use pesticides. And usually, every part of the plant can be used for something (textile, oil, paper, and much more), meaning making a linen shirt leads to far less waste.
But it’s not just funerary garbs that are fashioned out of linen now—from jackets to short and blazers, we’ve rounded up the best men's linen items you can buy now, whether they're for your next summer getaway or day-to-day staples to help beat the heat.
If you love the look of a classic jean jacket but want a lighter, more breathable version when it starts to heat up, go for the Billy Reid Trucker jacket. The linen construction softens it all up, giving the time-tested button-up silhouette a more relaxed, forever-summer quality that will easily transition into fall. It’s the kind of piece you can bring anywhere with you, in case you get cold.
You invest in this Alex Mill linen jacket (and the matching trousers) for peerless flexibility. Together, you get a wonderful dressy-but-easy set for all the fancy hangs you may find yourself in this summer—from vineyard weddings to happy hours with colleagues. Unlike more formal suits, you get more out of linen because it’s easier to wear the pieces separately. Toss the blazer over a white T-shirt and jeans, and wear the cuffed trousers with anything and everything all season long.
The short-sleeve linen button-up
Alexis Zambrano x Tombolo Martini Cabana shirt
Tombolo built its entire brand ethos around vacation dressing with a colorful collection of whimsical cabana shirts and matching shorts in a variety of patterns and prints. This short-sleeve linen cabana shirt was produced in partnership with Alexis Zambrano, Tombolo’s 2022 artist in residence. The medley of pastels here is great, but I love the use of martini imagery even more, including the embroidered coupe as the chest pocket. The concept was inspired by Zambrano’s painting titled “A Night at Bemelmans.”
In terms of summer wardrobe must-haves, very few items of clothing are as iconic as a long-sleeve linen shirt. You can get one anywhere, but Alex Crane’s linen is considered among the best in the biz, and its Playa shirt in the color snow is the white button-down of our dreams. Sustainable linen in a tailored but billowy shape? You can’t ask for much more than that. But if you’re feeling more adventurous than classic white, I love the chalk colorway, too. It’s a darker gray base with white pinstripes. And if you want to go for a matchy-matchy moment, complete the look with the Cham pants or Bo shorts. A coordinated pattern-on-pattern outfit is basically the suit of summer.
Take this as a sign to upgrade your summer T-shirt to a more breathable fabric like linen. And what’s particularly lovely about Hugo Boss’ linen T-shirts is that they come in so many different colors (I love classic all-season white), and it has a lightly slub-y texture that gives them a worn-in feeling as if you’ve had it forever.
The linen polo
COS Linen polo
A polo shirt is a dependable summertime staple, but consider upgrading your everyday look with this bright blue linen version from the minimalist maestros at COS. The boxier cut and open-collar construction make it casual enough for every imaginable water-adjacent activity this season. Wear it over your swim trunks when island hopping in Greece or under a linen suit for summer weddings.
A lightweight linen sweater, like this one from Todd Snyder, is something of a summer workhorse for me. It might be too heavy for the highest temps, but I love them for air travel when a T-shirt just isn’t warm enough, for cool seaside nights, and for whatever shoulder season brings. Todd Sydner’s Shore sweater comes with rugged details like the rolled edges on the neck and the pocket—a twist inspired by fisherman attire.
I love eye-catching shorts; they live up to the summer-of-fun vibe I strive for every year. This pair of PacSun elastic-waist pull-on shorts in khaki-and-black stripe is a fantastic choice if you want something in a print that’s subtle enough to complement everything in your wardrobe. The above-the-knee inseam is also a super flattering length for just about anyone.
French swimwear specialist Vilebrequin knows a thing or two about dressing for summer. High-quality linen treated with a chemical-free dye delivers the ideal wear-forever linen pants in this beautiful sky-blue hue. I’m all for every imaginable clothing item existing in linen, but for pants, I’m partial to ones with elastic waists and looser leg width. To me, they capture the easy-breezy energy of summer best. They would look just as great at a beach club in St. Tropez as they would be grabbing a long summer-Friday lunch in Brooklyn.
