Shown here at two price points, a summer outfit that uses layers and pants and still feels comfortable, effortless, and decided. The kind of look you can throw on for a Sunday lunch, an iced coffee run, or a casual dinner on a patio without thinking twice.
Knit button ups are the king of warm weather style over the last couple of years. They can lean boho-hippy with sometimes see-thru loose knits, or super preppy with nautical piping or stripes. This one takes a different path, with its textured space dye.
Space dye is a yarn-dyeing technique where a single strand is dyed with multiple colors at intervals, creating a multi-tonal, variegated, or marbled effect in the final fabric. The effect here feels casual but refined. Pair it with flowy pleated trousers and loafers and it works great as a dressier summer look too.
The Timex Standard at $54 is the budget anchor of this outfit and it does the job, but if you’re ready to spend, a Hamilton Khaki Field at $675 lives in the same visual neighborhood, featuring a cream dial, leather/fabric strap, vintage field-watch DNA, with a Swiss movement. Same look, different commitment.
A lot of guys hit late spring and freeze. Shorts feel too casual or they’re self-conscious about their legs, jeans are too hot and heavy, and they don’t know what “summer pants” means in practice. This outfit answers that with a template: lightweight pull-on linen-cotton trousers as the shorts alternative, a tank as the base layer for actual heat, and an open knit polo as the thing that makes it look like an outfit instead of pajamas.
Open knit polos, relaxed pull-on trousers, and Birkenstocks are all having a sustained moment in menswear right now, but none of them are flash-in-the-pan. The Arizona sandal has been around since the 70s. Pleated or relaxed trousers have replaced slim fits as a default pull over the last several years. Textured knit polos are the dominant summer top across J.Crew, Todd Snyder, Buck Mason, A&F, and basically every menswear brand. Buy any one of these pieces and it’ll keep working for you for years.
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