The Best Linen Shirts for Men Look Ice Cold in the Summertime
The best men's linen shirts are a refreshing summer treat, like an Aperol Spritz you can store in your closet. Here at GQ, we’ve long maintained that linen shirts aren’t exclusively seasonal—their texture-heavy vibe and breezy feel come in handy year-round in our age of terrifying, topsy-turvy weather turbulence—but when the mercury soars and layering opportunities are negligible, they’re no longer nice-to-haves: they’re essentials.
It’s not just linen’s physical properties that excel in the summer, either. The fabric’s preternaturally relaxed appearance—those telltale wrinkles very much included—compliments the season’s laid-back energy like a fresh orange wedge in your wine glass.
Nowadays, brands are rolling out entire collections focused on linen (why stop at shirts when there are also linen pants and linen suits?) and hardly a day goes by that we don’t spot a nubby linen shirt we’d do unspeakable things to get our hands on. So to help you flex your flax this season, we aggregated the very best of them below, each vetted, tested, and (barely) sweated in by us.
The Best Men’s Linen Shirts, According to GQ
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Best Linen Shirt Overall: Banana Republic Standard-Fit Linen Shirt
What we want out of a linen shirt isn’t crazy, yet it feels so difficult to find. We want a shirt that fits well, roomy enough to let a breeze blow through (not to mention a sultry billow), made in a quality linen. Banana Republic checks all the boxes and for a price we can really get behind. The fit is a classic, slightly roomy fit that looks great untucked. It’s got a great collar that’s not dinky like so many other shirts and the buttons feel and look premium. Despite all the positives, we do have one gripe and that’s that Banana’s shirt doesn’t come in multiple silhouettes.
| Materials | 100% European linen |
| Sizes | XS - XXL |
| Fit | Standard; tall sizes available |
If you’re on a budget, you’d do well to roll up to Uniqlo, the Japanese megabrand that’s made its bag on affordable and timeless basics. Its linen shirts are not an exception. They’re made of European linen, feature a nice spread collar, and are cut with a slightly tailored but classic silhouette. The length is great for tucking into some dress pants for the office or a wedding, but short enough to leave untucked without looking sloppy. Though Uniqlo’s linen does have a nice luster, it doesn’t feel nearly as nice as the other shirts we tested. But for less than fifty bucks, who’s complaining?
| Materials | 100% linen |
| Sizes | XS - XXXL |
| Fit | Classic, slightly tailored |
Best Casual Linen Shirt: J.Crew Baird McNutt Irish Linen Shirt
The best linen shirts should be as easy to wear as an oxford—and about twice as comfortable when the temps turn sinister. This one from J.Crew doesn’t just check every box, it adds a few more to the list. For starters, it’s made with an Irish linen fabric—said to be the finest linen in the world—sourced from the Baird McNutt mill, one the finest linen mills in Ireland. Easy math there. It also has a Goldilocks fit—not too boxy, not too slim—that’s amenable to any breeze, big or small. It looks great rumpled or crisp, can deftly slide in under a suit and also plays well with some jeans or shorts. Oh, and it’s under $100. I probably should've led with that.
“J.Crew’s linen shirts return every spring and summer for a reason,” says GQ style commerce writer Gerald Ortiz. “The fabric is top-notch, they come in a variety of silhouettes that fit just about everyone, and they're available in a gang of great colors and patterns.” Ortiz says that the linen fabric feels especially cool to the touch and silky smooth. “For the price, quality, and variety, why would you go anywhere else?”
| Materials | 100% Irish linen |
| Sizes | XS - XXL |
| Fit | Classic; available in slim, slim untucked, relaxed, and tall sizes |
Best Upgrade Linen Shirt: Drake’s Linen Spread Collar Shirt
Drake’s remains a stalwart in the sartorial field. We love the British label’s sharp suits, shaggy sweaters, and meticulously crafted button-ups. Naturally, its linen shirts are top tier, as well. Unlike many cheaper linens, they’re made with a thicker, more substantial linen that achieves that elusive rumple—not wrinkle—that’s indicative of a higher-quality linen. With an impeccably clean, yet still airy, fit, mother of pearl buttons, and flawless single-needle construction, the quality is, unsurprisingly, very impressive. What sets the Drake’s shirt apart is something you won’t even see and that’s with the collar. It’s constructed with a floating interlining which give the collar structure and prevents it from going unattractively limp. Because, while the charm of a linen shirt is its wrinkles, nobody likes a wimpy, shriveled up collar.
| Materials | 100% linen |
| Sizes | XS - XXL |
| Fit | Tailored |
Best Linen Camp Shirt: Bather Traveler Shirt
Materials: 100% cotton | | Sizes: XS - XXL | Fit: Boxy
Sometimes, a style of shirt works well in linen. And sometimes, it absolutely thrives in linen. Camp shirts are the latter—and Bather's riff is one of our favorites, period. It starts with an assertive, unambiguous camp collar before moving into three (3!) pockets at the front—including two at the hem that offer more utility than you might imagine—and ends with an easy-going flat hem that works well buttoned or open. The linen fabric is robust, which lends it just a bit of structure, but because it’s linen, it stays airy regardless of the thermometer reading. Just because it’s called the Traveler shirt doesn’t mean you won’t love it at home.
This isn't the first time we've waxed eloquent on Bather's signature button-up: way back in 2022, GQ contributor Eugene Lardy penned the definitive ode to the style, which ended his quest to find the platonic summer shirt. Lardy praised the shirt for how cool it looked, sure, but also how cool he felt wearing it, “like a welcome midday breeze” was gently buffeting his torso. “What I initially thought was going to be a fairly straightforward camp shirt,” Lardy wrote, “ended up revolutionizing my summer fits. I can’t take it off. Its breathable construction makes it ideal for warm weather layering, and those nifty trio of pockets offer a level of functionality I never knew I was missing.”
| Materials | 100% cotton |
| Sizes | XS - XXL |
| Fit | Boxy |
Best Linen T-Shirt: Alex Crane Sun Tee
We're not going pretend like there’s anything wrong with wearing a plain-Jane cotton T-shirt in the summer—the more threadbare the better. Compared to linen, though, cotton isn’t actually all that breathable, and it dries like paint. Which is precisely where Alex Crane's perfectly nubby pure linen joint comes in. It’s made with 100% sustainably-grown linen, which adapts to rising temperatures faster than you ever will, and washed with biodegradable softeners to help it feel like a beat-up tee you already know and love. Just, y'know, better.
“To keep it a buck, I never though I'd recommend a linen tee,” Grossman confesses. “But enough of my buddies keep asking about ‘em, so I did my due diligence.” T-shirts are notoriously difficult to perfect, but Alex Crane nails the details; Grossman has yet to hear from a friend who regrets the purchase. “Nine months of the year, I prefer a slimmer cut and a tighter neckline,” he says, “but this is exactly how a tee should fit when you're sweating through your fifth park hang in as many weeks.”
| Materials | 100% French linen |
| Sizes | XS - XXXL |
| Fit | Relaxed |
More Linen Shirts We Love
Brioni
Button-Down Collar Linen Shirt
Brioni inhabits rarified air in the sartorial space and this handmade linen shirt is just the tip of the iceberg. The linen is cool, crisp, and luxurious. The stitching is super tight and flawless. And the hidden button-down collar gives the collar an elegant shape you can't find anywhere else.
Evan Kinori
Pocket Tee
This hemp-blend tee from the artisanal brand Evan Kinori features vintage details like a single-needle hem and inset ribbed collars, and a garment-dyed lived-in feel. Made in collaboration with Lady White Co., this is the tee you'll want to save for nice occasions (but shouldn't).
Kartik Research
Embroidered Linen Shirt
Handloomed linen, hand-embroidered details, mother-of-pearl buttons, and no electricty involved in its making, Kartik Research's raw-edge shirt is a work of art. And though you might be sticker shocked, the intense labor involved will have you shocked for how reasonable the price actually is.
What to Look for in a Linen Shirt
- Price: Like all fabrics, there’s a spectrum when it comes to linen quality, and most of the time, the good stuff is going to cost you. It’s worth it—not only will it last longer, but high-quality linen tends to wear better as well. That being said, be wary of the super pricey: expensive doesn't necessarily mean better, and affordable doesn't always mean bad. During our testing, there were $70 shirts that surprised us and $500 shirts that let us down—but for the most part, the best of the bunch landed squarely between those two extremes.
- Fabric: For this guide, we chose to prioritize shirts that were either 100% linen or those that had other natural fibers blended in, like cotton or hemp. A “linen blend,” for instance, means it has more than just linen in it, which can be great for a number reasons—it can lower the costs, make it a touch more amenable to a washing machine, and won’t wrinkle as much as 100% linen shirts will—but it also means that the benefits of linen will be tamped down a bit too. If you’re looking for something a bit more familiar or a bit easier to care for, a blend is great. If you’re looking for the unadulterated linen experience, the pure, uncut variety is the way to go.
- Fit: When choosing the size and silhouette, it’s important to remember that linen is a less-forgiving fabric than cotton, which means it won’t stretch nearly as much. And while we love, and recommend, a sized-up, breezy linen shirt, you don’t need to go full ‘90s Armani to make it work. Just make sure the shirt isn’t pulling at the chest, for instance, or super tight around the arms. Not only will they not stretch the same way cotton will, you’ll also be putting more stress on the seams, fabric and buttons.
How We Make These Picks
We make every effort to cast as wide of a net as possible, with an eye on identifying the best options across three key categories: quality, fit, and price.
To kick off the process, we enlist the GQ Recommends braintrust to vote on our contenders. Some of the folks involved have worked in retail, slinging clothes to the masses; others have toiled for small-batch menswear labels; all spend way too much time thinking about what hangs in their closets.
We lean on that collective experience to guide our search, culling a mix of household names, indie favorites, and the artisanal imprints on the bleeding-edge of the genre. Then we narrow down the assortment to the picks that scored the highest across quality, fit, and price.
Across the majority of our buying guides, our team boasts firsthand experience with the bulk of our selects, but a handful are totally new to us. So after several months of intense debate, we tally the votes, collate the anecdotal evidence, and emerge with a list of what we believe to be the absolute best of the category right now, from the tried-and-true stalwarts to the modern disruptors, the affordable beaters to the wildly expensive (but wildly worth-it) designer riffs.
Whatever your preferences, whatever your style, there's bound to be a superlative version on this list for you. (Read more about GQ's testing process here.)
Linen Shirt FAQs
Why is linen better for hotter weather?
Both the weave and the physical properties of the fibers: when individual linen fibers get hot, they expand and allow more airflow. They also have a slightly rougher texture and a dryer hand, which keeps it from clinging to sweaty skin like cotton does—a combination also makes for a fabric that dries much faster. And if that’s not enough, know that humans have been relying on linen to beat the heat for thousands of years, and haven’t found many replacements.
Is linen a year-round fabric?
Absolutely. Long-sleeve linen shirts will keep you sufficiently warm through light jacket weather so long as it's not too blustery. And just as a linen shirt will get more airy the warmer it gets, it also contracts in the cold, which means that the same properties that keep you cool in the summer will also help you when it cools down. From a dress code perspective, linen shirts are on the more casual end of the business casual spectrum unless they're teamed up with a suit or blazer, or you're living in a humidity hotspot like Miami or New Orleans.
Linen-blend shirts, which weave in cotton, trade a little breathability for added crispness and breeze-blocking. Though in chillier weather, the best linen shirts can turn into underrated layering heroes, too, under a thick sweater or cardigan. If you run hot even in colder months, swapping a linen shirt for a denser, less-breathable cotton shirt might make life more bearable.
Does linen shrink?
The short answer: yes, at least a little bit. Or it will, if you treat it like a t-shirt. But that being said, if you wash it on cold and line-dry your shirts, they should maintain their original dimensions for as long as you do (and remember, it does air-dry more quickly than most clothing will). If you accidentally put it in the dryer, linen tends to shrink slightly both horizontally and vertically, depending on weave, but a bit less than cotton will, due to fibers with less natural elasticity.
Can you iron linen?
Again, the short answer is yes. BUT, be super careful if you feel like rejecting the natural wrinkles—again, we do recommend leaning into those. Anyways, if you’re ironing a linen shirt, make sure it’s damp, for starters. Linen is very sturdy and the moisture will soften the fibers a bit. Also make sure you have a pressing cloth between the iron and the fabric, and a solid ironing board underneath. But, one more time, rumpled linen looks good.
Our Testers
- Gerald Ortiz, GQ Style Commerce Writer
- Reed Nelson, GQ Contributor
- Avidan Grossman, GQ Senior Commerce Editor
