The 11 Best Chambray Shirts to Rock When the Weather’s Warm

If you want to rock the uniform of Ralph Lauren, the man, that’s jeans, a western belt, cowboy boots, and a denim shirt. In the summer, we recommend chambray, and there’s no reason to go anywhere else for it.

If you want something a bit more cerebral, Todd Snyder patterns the shirt with the classic workwear pockets, and it’s done in a really lovely Japanese chambray.

Buck Mason also makes a workshirt in an ever so slightly darker Japanese chambray. It also features a longer point collar, which makes it less workwear and a tad more refined.

Back to the Ralph Lauren uniform. If you really want to rock the faux-denim summer weight chambray thing, it’s got to be RRL. Ralph’s westernwear line, my favorite fashion label on Earth, makes the best chambray take on a western shirt.

A classic Americana fabric from one of the great American brands. Not all chambray has to be blue. Try this one from L.L.Bean in an effervescent pale sienna.

Huckberry has a bro-y reputation, but it’s actually where I’d send 95-percent of guys looking for clothes these days. The buyers skew towards Americana, and when they can’t find something they like, the in-house Flint and Tinder brand makes it. That’s the story with this wonderful chambray shirt that calls back to those old workwear roots.

This one’s great for the beach. It’s tougher than linen, so you don’t have to baby it. It fits relaxed, so it’s not sticking to your back. And it breathes better than an oxford cloth.

Like denim, chambray is associated with American workwear but actually originated in France. So, I thought we ought to have a French interpretation on the form. A.P.C. makes a slim chambray button-down that has the look of an oxford, without the heaviness of that basketweave.

No one, no one, does classy summer weight fabrics better than Brunello Cucinelli. This chambray button-down is the perfect example of that.

Linen was chambray’s original fabric, but it’s lost out to cotton in modern times. Still, Orlebar Brown makes a beach-ready chambray shirt that opts for thinner, breezier linen fibers.

The Real McCoy’s is one of those Japanese brands that makes obsesssively faithful reproductions of American menswear. This Navy chambray shirt is based off the standard issue ones sailors got in WWII. When my grandpa got dropped off in America after being drafted, he was probably wearing something just like this.