10 Essential Menswear Items for Summer

As the days get longer–and hotter–and your cold weather clothes are in mothballs, it’s time to survey your wardrobe to ensure you’re prepared for the season. Whether you’re packing for a cruise or a picnic, there are certain summer essentials that every man should have at his disposal. Here’s our list, head to toe.

1. A Breathable Brimmed Hat

Seventy-five years ago, it would be obvious that a brimmed hat was an essential item for men in any season. Nowadays, it’s exceedingly rare to see one. However, with the depleted ozone layer and repeated warnings about UV exposure, summer sun may be the perfect motivation to make stylish hats essential again. In hot weather, the best choice is a Panama Hat, which comes in a breathable weave and a light color that will help deflect the sun’s rays. Another choice is the flat-topped straw boater, which has similar functional features, though perhaps with more of a weekend fun flair. For the stylish gent, a baseball cap will not do!

2. The Right Sunglasses

Sunglasses and a brimmed hat work side by side to protect your head from UV radiation. There are several key things to keep in mind when buying sunglasses; specifically, getting a pair that suits your face and that works with the formality of your outfit as a whole. For example, if you are just wearing a polo and jeans or even a blazer and pants, you could wear aviators, but they might look out of place with a formal business suit (unless you’re going for the g-man look). In more formal settings, Persols might be a better choice.

The second consideration with sunglasses is ensuring you get the right frames to suit your facial features, like its overall shape and the size of your nose. For instance, the large frames of aviators may not work well if you have an equally large nose.

3. Shirts in Summer Fabrics

If you’re accustomed to wearing standard cotton dress shirts the rest of the year, summer is the time to try something new. This means some more casual and breathable fabrics as well as trying out some different textures. Sure, you may already wear tee-shirts and polos casually, but our must-haves are meant to be consistent with classic men’s style and more tailored summer looks.

Polos have come on strong in recent years within the world of #menswear, no longer relegated to dressed-down American business casual or the golf course alone. The fact that polos are knitted and are often made in cotton jersey makes them breathable, which is ideal for summer. The typical polo has short sleeves and, depending on how traditional you are, you can wear one under a summer sport coat to keep your arms cool. Personally, I find the lack of full buttons on the front placket and the absence of cuffs disturbing with a jacket. If you also find this look is not for you, polos also come with long sleeves and buttons all the way down, which can be more appealing under a jacket for traditionalists.

The second sort of must-have summer shirting is linen, or a linen-cotton blend if you truly despise wrinkles. Either will add a bit of texture as well as a relaxed appearance under a sport coat. The texture and wrinkling of linen is owed to its long fibers, which also keeps a linen shirt away from your skin, equaling more air circulation. And, like a polo, you can wear a linen shirt sans jacket; in fact, it will usually look sharper than a polo because the fabric is more structured, while still projecting a “resort” vibe.

Lastly, a must-have for practical reasons is a shirt made with an open-weave such as giro inglese. These are not actually fabrics but describe the way the material, generally cotton when talking about shirts. Summer is hot, and the martyrdom required to look good in a jacket can be avoided with a shirt that is designed to offer ventilation.

4. A Bright, Bold Italian Jacket

If you dress conservatively most of the time but have had the urge to indulge your wilder side, summer is the time to give it a go. Those bright Neapolitan jackets or bold checked patterns you see on Instagram fit in more during the summer. There’s a reason why it’s said that one should dress Italian in the summer and British in the winter. You’ll want to go tieless more often in the summer and unbutton your shirt (two buttons max, please), so rakish sprezzatura is the order of the day. A Southern Italian jacket with open quarters and a wider lapel in a statement fabric perfectly captures this nonchalant attitude.

Something about the bright, direct sunlight also makes a red or mustard linen sport coat not merely acceptable but, I would argue, necessary; after all, summer is supposed to be fun, and these sorts of jackets embody the spirit of the season. Like the must-have shirts discussed above, your Italian sport coat should also be in a warm-weather fabric like linen, hopsack wool, or wool-silk-linen blends, not a typical worsted.

5. Ties in Casual Fabrics

If there’s a trend in the staple items mentioned so far, it’s the casualness of the materials. This poses a problem if you’re a guy who usually wears a printed silk business tie and wants to continue wearing one in the summer—it can look out of place as too serious a fabric. That’s why you need a necktie in an equally informal fabric like linen, cotton or raw silk, such as shantung or tussah. These are typically woven ties and therefore provide some added texture as well whether you’re using them to dress down a suit you have to wear for work or with a more relaxed sport coat.

Ties in summer fabrics will also be lightly lined or not lined at all, lending an air of lightness rather than being thick or heavy in hot weather. One caution is to avoid a bright tie if you’re already wearing a bold jacket. In such cases go for subdued to establish contrast.

6. A Boutonniere (or Several)

One accessory that deserves individual attention as a summer must-have is a boutonniere . The greatest variety of flowers bloom in the late spring and summer, so having one in the buttonhole of your jacket lapel is another apt way to represent the season. Of course, you can go through the difficulties of finding a fresh flower and then getting it to stick in your lapel the right way, as it slowly wilts and dies during a humid day.

Or, you can simply buy a high-quality realistic flower from Fort Belvedere. You’ll find a wide variety of flower species, and you won’t need to worry about putting them in water or having them damage your jacket. If you want to learn more about how these boutonnieres are made, take a look here.

7. White Trousers

Yes, they’re potentially difficult to keep clean, but a durable pair of white cotton dress pants that you can throw in the laundry is a definite staple for summer. Not only do white trousers create the appropriate vibe of being a resort or on the Mediterranean, but they are incredibly versatile, pairing with shirts or jackets in almost any color. White sets off tanned skin nicely and looks best in full sunlight, so summer is the time to wear it. I’ll freely admit that my summer rotation includes four pairs of white pants: a casual chino to wear with polos, a stiffer twill that looks crisp with a sport coat, and a couple that are more formal with side adjusters–both flat front and pleated.

The only caution is to choose white pants that aren’t see through–some are a bit more opaque or are lined to the knee. If you have doubts, check out our article on how to wear white, which includes how to keep your whites clean. And, if you truly can’t see yourself in white pants, you have our permission to wear off-white instead!

8. No-Show Socks

Gentleman’s Gazette readers will surely say no to going sockless with a suit, and some will definitely object to going sockless at all. That’s why we sing the virtues of no-show socks or “socklets” that end below the ankles and make it look like you have bare feet. These are perfect for casual shoes and loafers, as they allow you to get some air on your ankles and forego wrapping your calves with another layer of heat-capturing fabric.

Be sure to choose “invisible socks” that are low cut enough not to peep out, like these, because some are more suited for sneakers and lace-up shoes rather than loafers or slip-ons. It won’t matter what color if they’re the right fit because they’ll remain hidden, but you can try versions that match the color of your shoes or your skin tone just to be safe. Ultimately though, their purpose is practical and sanitary, not to be seen.

9. Loafers

Without question, the loafer is the perfect summer shoe, whether you get them in the form of a tassel loafer, penny loafer or other variation. Espadrilles, boat shoes or moccasins are great for casual wear when its hot and you’re at the beach, on a cruise or taking a Sunday drive respectively, but they’re neither as durable nor as versatile as loafers. You can wear them equally well sans jacket as with a summer sport coat as they straddle the boundary between the formal and casual.

You can wear loafers with regular socks in a business setting or with the aforementioned no-show versions on a weekend to keep your ankles cool. You can choose loafers that are more structured in calf leather for formality or unstructured suede for a relaxed appearance. Best of all, you can do a regular amount of walking in a loafer that you can’t achieve with other summer shoes.

10. Stylish Swim Shorts

Let me begin by saying straight away that I’ve not worn shorts since elementary school, probably because I have skinny legs; I also don’t swim. Stylish gents will have few opportunities to wear shorts, but if summer for you means trips to the beach or dips in the pool, swim shorts or trunks are a must-have. Sure, you can pick up a cheap pair from Target for splashing around your own backyard, but if you’re staying at a resort or luxury hotel or vacationing on the Riviera, you’ll need something more stylish. And, in fact, menswear boutiques will often have something different, like swim shorts with side adjusters and a flattering higher rise similar to what you’d look for in a full-length pair of pants!

Conclusion

Inevitably, lists of “must-haves” and staple seasonal items will hit the mark with some definite essentials, but every individual is different in terms of needs and tastes. With this in mind, we hope to have laid the groundwork with menswear items you can use in the summer. Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments section.