Your new go-to casual shirt for summer.
Earlier this summer we went to the block party for LACMA’s new museum building on its opening weekend: live music, drink carts, food trucks. As we were working our way through the crowd, a woman walking past said, “that is an excellent shirt.” I did my usual move when this happens and turned to my fiancée, assuming the compliment was aimed at her, but she was wearing a dress.
I got the shirt at full price under $30 and it now has a coupon for $21.
Shopping for a short sleeve button up knit shirt means hitting the same three walls every time: the good ones start at $70 and go up from there, the budget ones are the tight, fine-gauge kind with the neat little collar (a genuinely useful office shirt and a completely different animal from the one we’re talking about), and the cheap ones are synthetic, so they pill, stretch out, and come back from the laundry looking nothing like what you just bought.
Casual, cotton, or affordable: pick two.
That’s been the deal for years, and it’s why I spent several summers surprised Amazon’s Essentials house line hasn’t offered the style, considering they have other “shapes” of 100% cotton knits like cardigans and crewneck sweaters. This year, they did.
Amazon calls it the “Short Sleeve Button-Down Resort Knit Shirt”, which is a lot of syllables for the thing you were probably typing into the search bar: a button up sweater polo. You get 100% cotton yarn, a relaxed fit, a 3 color options (black, two stripe knits), XS through XXL.
I bought the Dark Blue Stripe Knit back in April (it reads more like a dark teal blue in person) and grabbed the black too. The stripe has been in rotation all summer, particularly when I want something that looks casual, easy, a little retro but still put-together.
Why does this one look casual when most knit polos look office?
The knit itself. Most short sleeve knit shirts like sweater polos and button up shirts are tight, fine-gauge knits, and that smooth, dense surface is exactly what pushes them toward the dressier business casual. This one is a loose, chunky, open knit, and all that visible texture pushes it the other way, toward vacation.
What’s the catch?
The same open knit that makes it casual can also show skin, depending on the color and your skin tone. For me, the black colorway + loose knit means you can make out my skin underneath. Easy fix: wear an A-shirt or undershirt under it, or skip the buttons and wear it open over an A-shirt as a lightweight layer, a combination we’ve featured in Getups often.
On my blue and white stripe I’ve never noticed any sheerness, but give yourself a mirror check when yours arrives.
Have you already added a sweater polo to your summer lineup, or have you found another 100% cotton knit that doesn’t cost $85? Chat with me in the comments!
