Lemaire Double Pocket Shirt – Charcoal

Cotton crepe is what makes this shirt worth the attention, and it is a weave rather than a finish, which is the distinction that matters. Crepe is produced by weaving with yarns that have been given a very high twist before they go into the loom, so that once the cloth is finished and relaxed the yarns try to untwist and pull the surface into a fine irregular crinkle. Nothing is applied and nothing is pressed in; the texture is structural and it does not wash out. Three things follow from that, and all three are the reason to own a crepe shirt. It has a dry, matte hand rather than a smooth one, so it never looks glossy. It holds itself away from the skin instead of clinging, which is why a lightweight crepe wears cooler than a lightweight poplin of the same weight. And it does not read as creased, because a surface that is already irregular has nowhere to show a crease against. The rest of the shirt is left plain on purpose: a straight front button placket and two patch pockets on the chest, symmetrical, unflapped, and applied on the surface rather than set into the cloth. Two chest pockets is a workwear arrangement, and on a shirt this quiet they are the only structural detail there is.

Why we selected it

A lightweight shirt that does not cling and does not look crumpled solves a real problem that most summer shirting does not, and cotton crepe is the answer to it. The double pocket keeps it from being anonymous.

Lemaire’s shirting is where the house is at its plainest, and the interest is nearly always in the cloth rather than in the cut.

Materials and construction

100% cotton in a plain crepe. Double patch pockets at the chest and a front button closure. Made in Tunisia, in charcoal.

Fit notes

Cut lightly rather than closely, and crepe holds away from the body rather than following it, so this will feel roomier in wear than its measurements would suggest. We do not hold measurements, and there is no Lemaire size chart on this site.

Styling

Charcoal is the more formal of the two colours and is the one that will go under a jacket without comment. The crepe texture catches light unevenly, so a dark grey in this cloth has considerably more depth than a dark grey in a smooth shirting, and it does not need a pattern to be interesting.

Care

Cotton crepe should be washed cool and dried gently, and it should not be pressed flat. Ironing a crepe removes the crinkle that gives the cloth its hand and its drape, which is the one mistake worth warning about on this shirt. Shake it out and hang it damp instead. Our fabric care guide has a section on cotton.

Related pieces

The same shirt in misty lilac. The Embroidered Collar Shirt is the one with a detail on it, and the LS Relaxed Tee is the jersey layer underneath. Everything we carry from Lemaire is listed together.