If you were to power-rank clothes by their DGAF-ness, the best camp shirts would land near the very top. Partly, that’s because they’ve been donned by a certain type of nonconformist poster boy for going on 60 years now: Hunter S. Thompson, Elvis, Russell Westbrook, Ethan Hawke in Reality Bites, just to name a few. But mostly, it’s because that’s precisely how these camp shirts were designed to look. The two-tiered camp collar (hence the name) is meant to lay flat and open at the neck—no ties allowed. (It’s no wonder some folks call ‘em “vacation shirts.”) Right-now versions trade a muumuu’s airiness for a more boxy silhouette, delivering a shirt that’s inherently nonchalant, and all kinds of cool.

At the moment, we’re partial to raucously patterned camp shirts—we’ve been championing floral-print Hawaiian shirts and bold-striped bowling shirts for a minute now. But, as you’ll see among our cream-of-the-crop picks below, designers are making them for all tastes and budgets. Try one tucked into highwater trousers, unbuttoned over a T-shirt (or if you’re really on one, over nothing at all), or lapels-out with your best off-duty suit. Whatever you decide, just make sure you try one. Here are the 23 best camp collar shirts worth slipping on right away.


The Best Camp Shirts, According to GQ


The Best Linen Camp Shirt

Camp shirts are warm-weather coded and if you want to lean into the genre’s summer-y slant, there’s no better way to do that than with linen. Linen’s as durable as anything found in nature, despite its breathability and, if you needed any more reason to live in linen this summer, the hardest-working fabric in the game is also (naturally) bug repellent. And with the GQ-praised Bather Traveler shirt, there’s basically no way to mess it up. The sleeves hit right at the mid-bicep, the hem hits right at the hips, and it’s got enough room to layer without feeling like an overstuffed sausage. But when the heat gets to be too much, don’t be afraid to rock it sans undershirt.

The Best Camp Shirt to Air Out Your Torso

A Kind of Guise

Gioia Camp-Collar Crocheted Cotton Shirt

Lace and crocheted shirts have crashed into the menswear mainstream in the past couple years, and we have no complaints regarding those developments. And while there are many revealing paths you can take, few are better than this cotton crocheted camp collar from A Kind of Guise, done in an eminently wearable olive drab that already goes with 90% of your closet. Run it over a tank or tee and this one becomes a dichromatic masterpiece, or wear it on its own and test the outer limits of Hot Boy Summer.

The Best Striped Camp Shirt

Not all stripes communicate the same thing. A pinstripe is sharp, a banker stripe is classic, and so on. But a bordered red jacquard-stripe? That’s kind of a dealer’s choice, adapting to both its context and its surroundings. Because the red on this one from Madewell is nice and bright, it sings when paired with closet staples like a ribbed tank and some blue jeans, but it also dresses up nicely too, and can elevate a beach fit instantly. And the black border around that stripe grounds everything, ensuring that the volume can’t go too high without you pushing it there.

The Best Minimalist Camp Shirt

Abercrombie & Fitch

Camp Collar Summer Linen Blend Shirt

Camp collars can get as wild as any garment out there (aloha shirts, anyone?), but a minimal camp collar can be an absolute revelation. It thrives in polo shirt and oxford situations alike, blending into its surroundings while also elevating them subtly. And this one from Abercrombie is as minimal as they come—there isn’t even a pocket to distract from the pared-down design—which means it will be a go-to all summer long.

The Best Retro Camp Shirt

Todd Snyder

Short Sleeve Rayon Hollywood Shirt

Nearly 175 years ago, rayon became the first synthetic fabric, and about 110 years ago, we started making it in the US and putting it in clothes. It felt like silk, it looked like silk, and it required far fewer worms to make (yes—worms). The result was a fabric that was perfect for shirts. This one from Todd Snyder takes its cues from an era when rayon was one of the most popular games in town, coming in a little boxier and a little shorter than most, with a big ol’ collar that looks incredible on its own and will kill under a sport coat. Think Miles Davis or James Bond and you’ve got the right idea.

The Best Knit Camp Shirt

Alex Mill

Short Sleeve Bowling Shirt

Most camp collar shirts are woven, but knit versions do exist and they pack an insane punch. Just like their knit polo brethren, the knit camp collar is a perfect summer shirt when done right, like this one from Alex Mill is. Made with a mad soft, super breathable cotton-hemp blend, it deftly threads the needle between a polo and a button-down and will look great under a suit, with some jeans or by the pool, proving that you don’t have to go full-Ripley to harness some heady retro vibes.

The Best Maximalist Camp Shirt

Kapital

Kapital Rayon NABAJO LAND Aloha Shirt

We’ve already extolled the virtues of a minimal camp collar, and their day-to-day utility during the summer months is hard to top, but sometimes it just feels good to return to the ancient texts and play the hits. And in the camp collar genre, that means some wild-ass prints, ones that are busy as hell and, when done right, downright hypnotic. Kapital does a few every year that fit that bill in glorious fashion, and this one might be the best of the bunch. Made with their signature rayon fabric and coconut buttons, the star of the show is that stunning print, which makes Where’s Waldo? look orderly.


Plus 17 More Camp Shirts We Love

Oliver Spencer

There’s no voting body to determine these types of things, but Oliver Spencer might do the best purples—and this shade will go with nearly every earth tone you could toss its way.

Reiss

Relaxed Linen Cuban Collar Shirt

Tucked or untucked, open or buttoned, with sneakers or with somethign nicer, over khakis or atop some jeans, this shirt will play nice with most of your existing wardrobe, and can also act as the fulcrum around which you build a killer summer fit.

Gitman Vintage

All the cooling properties of seersucker, none of the mint julep associations.

Corridor

Spring Bouquet Short-Sleeve Shirt

A little hit of embroidery can turn a staple into a showstopper, and this is one of those cheat codes: a shirt that’s as easy to wear as any other, but one that will stand out in a crowd.

J.Crew

Short-Sleeve Textured Cotton Camp-Collar Shirt

Caution: Will become more interesting the closer you get.

Uniqlo

Open Collar Short-Sleeve Shirt

An all-over print that blends in more than it stands out.

Bode

Going full cowboy is probably safer than going full jockey, but with this fun camp collar you get all the good parts of jockey—polka dots, bright colors on a white background, horses—and none of the bad—very tall boots, constricting pants.

Manresa

This espresso-brown workhorse from Manresa is made with a cotton/ramie fabric that feels like it has The Breeze woven into it, and was built to handle heavy seaspray and a lot of sand.

4S Designs

To answer some FAQ’s, this is indeed made entirely out of silk, it is fully reversible and no, that orange cannot charge devices despite being absolutely electric.

Everlane

The Relaxed Linen Short-Sleeve Shirt

Perfectly understated, impossible to overthink.

18 East

There are plenty of things to discuss here—vegan silk, ideal fit—but the main character here is the perfectly-executed plane print that seamlessly traverses the chest pocket.

Second/Layer

The most see-through of the see-throughs.

Gap

When it gets hot, it’s hard to beat something as easy or breezy as a white linen camp collar.

Jacquemus

A pattern that needs literally no color to pop.

Front General Store

Vintage 1970’s Cotton Patterned Shirt

They just don’t make ’em how they used to.

Percival

As office-ready as it is beach-ready.

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