3Sixteen LS Knit Polo

Linen blended into a cotton knit changes three things at once. It makes the yarn drier to the touch, it introduces a slight irregularity along the length of the fibre so the surface catches light unevenly, and it moves moisture and heat away from the body faster than cotton alone. At thirty percent it is enough to register in all three without the fragility and the extreme creasing that a pure linen knit would bring.

On a long-sleeved buttonless polo that combination is close to ideal, because this is a garment for the shoulder seasons and for warm evenings, worn where a sweater would be too much and a short sleeve too little. The collar has no placket and no button, so it falls open on its own. Knitted in Peru.

Why we selected it

We needed something between a tee and a sweater that was not a sweatshirt, and this is the answer. It is also the easiest introduction to 3Sixteen’s Peruvian knitwear, which is the part of the line customers are most surprised by.

3Sixteen’s knits come from Peru and sit deliberately apart from the workwear, and this is the lightest of them.

Materials and construction

Seventy percent cotton, thirty percent linen, made in Peru. Buttonless open collar, long sleeves. Colour: black.

Fit notes

A knit, so it moves with the body and reads trimmer than a woven shirt of the same size. Cotton and linen together relax more across a day than cotton alone and recover less completely, so this is a garment that settles into a shape rather than returning precisely to one. Take your usual size. It layers under an unlined jacket cleanly and under a crewneck with a little bulk at the collar.

Styling

With the Cargo Pant on a warm evening. Under the Work Blazer when a shirt is too much. Sleeves pushed up, which is what linen is for.

Care

Wash cool and dry flat. Linen creases and that is the fibre working, not a failure; if it bothers you, press it damp on a low iron. Never hang a knitted collar. Our general care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The short-sleeved version is the Knit Polo, and the third of the three is the Long Sleeve Knit Polo in Brown, in a lightweight pure cotton. It is worn with the Drawstring Short in summer and under the Club Collar Shirt is where it does not go. Everything we currently hold from 3Sixteen is listed together.