Nigel Cabourn French Pull-On Shirt

A shirt with no front opening is a different garment from a shirt with one, and the difference is not only that it is quicker to put on. Take the placket out and you take out the vertical line that a button front draws down the middle of the body, and what is left is an uninterrupted plane of cloth. In linen that matters more than it would in cotton, because linen has enough body to hold a shape across a wide surface and enough texture that the surface is worth looking at. The neckline is straight rather than scooped or V’d, which keeps the horizontal, and there are two patch pockets on the front doing the only detailing there is. It is one hundred percent linen and made in Japan, in white.

Why we selected it

Almost every linen shirt we are offered is a button front with a camp collar, and there is nothing wrong with those except that there are a great many of them. This one is a different garment.

Cabourn’s French pieces are the quietest part of the house’s work, drawn from working clothes rather than from military kit, and this is the plainest of them.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent linen. Straight neckline, pull-on construction with no front fastening, two patch pockets on the front. Made in Japan. Color: White.

Fit notes

A pull-on shirt has to clear the head, so the neckline is cut wider than a buttoned collar would be and it will sit further out on the shoulder. Linen has no elasticity, so it does not stretch to let you in and it does not bag out afterwards either. It creases at the elbow and across the back within an hour of wearing, which is the fiber rather than the making, and a press while damp puts it back.

Styling

Untucked over the Officer’s Pant or the Field Pant. Under the French Work Jacket when the linen alone is not enough. White linen against charcoal hemp is the most direct version of this house’s palette we can put together.

Care

Wash gently and cool, or hand wash, then dry flat or on a line rather than in a machine, and press while still damp, which is when linen takes a crease and holds it. It is strong when wet and tolerates washing well. Our care guidance covers linen and hemp in more detail.

Related pieces

The French Pull-Over Shirt is the same pullover cut in hemp, and the French Work Jacket is hemp and cotton made as outerwear. Everything we carry from Nigel Cabourn is listed together.