Margaret Howell MHL Cropped Raglan Shirt

Three decisions are stacked on top of each other here and each one undoes a convention. The raglan sleeve removes the shoulder seam, so the cloth falls from the neck outward and nothing sits on the top of the arm. The body is boxy, cut straight from shoulder to hem with no shaping at the waist. And the whole thing is cropped, so it ends above the waistband rather than below it. A shirt with none of those three would be a shirt. With all three it is closer to a light jacket that fastens like a shirt. The cloth is a tumbled cotton canvas, which is canvas that has been mechanically softened after weaving so that it arrives broken in rather than stiff, and the buttons are corozo, the nut of the tagua palm, which is dense enough to be turned and polished like ivory and is the button MHL by Margaret Howell uses as a signature.

Why we selected it

Canvas is normally used for outerwear because it is stiff. Tumbling it is what makes it possible to put into a shirt, and that is the whole reason this one exists.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent tumbled cotton canvas, made in Portugal. Raglan sleeves, boxy fit, cropped body, corozo buttons. Color: Natural.

Fit notes

Boxy and cropped, so the proportion is the thing to see rather than the measurement. Because there is no shoulder seam, size on the body rather than on the shoulder. Tumbled canvas is soft on arrival and softens further, and it will take a permanent crease at the elbow, which on this cloth is the point. Natural is undyed cloth rather than a shade chosen for it, so it will vary a little piece to piece and will warm rather than fade with washing.

Styling

Over a t-shirt with the shirt left open, which is what a cropped boxy body is for. Under the MHL Cropped Bomber Jacket, where the two crops sit at roughly the same place. With a wide trouser, which is the proportion the line is built on.

Care

Wash cool and hang to dry. Tumbled canvas will keep softening and will not need help doing it, so keep it out of a hot dryer, which flattens the surface a tumble finish creates. Corozo is a natural material and will chip against a machine drum, so turn it inside out or use a bag. Our general care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Margaret Howell Short Sleeve Raglan Shirt is the same raglan construction on the main line, cut full through the body in a plain shirt cotton. The canvas and the crop are what make this one a different garment. The MHL Oversized Collarless Shirt is cotton and lyocell cut long, and the MHL Slide Adjuster Trouser is a cotton and wool cloth cut wide through the leg. MHL by Margaret Howell is a line of its own rather than a part of the main Margaret Howell collection, and there is more on the house on the Margaret Howell designer page.