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If you were to power-rank clothes by their DGAF-ness, the best camp shirts would land near the very top. Partly, that’s because they’ve been donned by a certain type of nonconformist poster boy for going on 60 years now: Hunter S. Thompson, Elvis, Russell Westbrook, Ethan Hawke in Reality Bites, just to name a few. But mostly, it's because that’s precisely how these camp shirts were designed to look. The two-tiered camp collar (hence the name) is meant to lay flat and open at the neck—no ties allowed. (It’s no wonder some folks call ‘em “vacation shirts.”) Right-now versions trade a muumuu's airiness for a more boxy silhouette, delivering a shirt that’s inherently nonchalant, and all kinds of cool.
At the moment, we’re partial to raucously patterned camp shirts—we’ve been championing floral-print Hawaiian shirts and bold-striped bowling shirts for a minute now. But, as you’ll see among our cream-of-the-crop picks below, designers are making them for all tastes and budgets. Try one tucked into highwater trousers, unbuttoned over a T-shirt (or if you’re really on one, over nothing at all), or lapels-out with your best off-duty suit. Whatever you decide, just make sure you try one. Here are the 23 best camp collar shirts worth slipping on right away.
The Best Camp Shirts, According to GQ
- The Linen Pick: Bather Linen Traveler Shirt, $150
- The Lace-y Pick: A Kind of Guise Gioia Crocheted Cotton Shirt, $270
- The Striped Pick: Madewell Easy Short Sleeve Shirt, $70
- The Minimalist Pick: Abercrombie & Fitch Linen Blend Shirt, $60
- The Maximalist Pick: Kapital Rayon Navajo Land Aloha Shirt, $508
- The Retro Pick: Todd Snyder Short Sleeve Rayon Hollywood Shirt, $158
- The Knit Pick: Alex Mill Short Sleeve Bowling Shirt, $150
The Best Linen Camp Shirt
Camp shirts are warm-weather coded and if you want to lean into the genre's summer-y slant, there's no better way to do that than with linen. Linen's as durable as anything found in nature, despite its breathability and, if you needed any more reason to live in linen this summer, the hardest-working fabric in the game is also (naturally) bug repellent. And with the GQ-praised Bather Traveler shirt, there’s basically no way to mess it up. The sleeves hit right at the mid-bicep, the hem hits right at the hips, and it's got enough room to layer without feeling like an overstuffed sausage. But when the heat gets to be too much, don't be afraid to rock it sans undershirt.
The Best Camp Shirt to Air Out Your Torso
Lace and crocheted shirts have crashed into the menswear mainstream in the past couple years, and we have no complaints regarding those developments. And while there are many revealing paths you can take, few are better than this cotton crocheted camp collar from A Kind of Guise, done in an eminently wearable olive drab that already goes with 90% of your closet. Run it over a tank or tee and this one becomes a dichromatic masterpiece, or wear it on its own and test the outer limits of Hot Boy Summer.
The Best Striped Camp Shirt
Not all stripes communicate the same thing. A pinstripe is sharp, a banker stripe is classic, and so on. But a bordered red jacquard-stripe? That’s kind of a dealer’s choice, adapting to both its context and its surroundings. Because the red on this one from Madewell is nice and bright, it sings when paired with closet staples like a ribbed tank and some blue jeans, but it also dresses up nicely too, and can elevate a beach fit instantly. And the black border around that stripe grounds everything, ensuring that the volume can’t go too high without you pushing it there.
The Best Minimalist Camp Shirt
Camp collars can get as wild as any garment out there (aloha shirts, anyone?), but a minimal camp collar can be an absolute revelation. It thrives in polo shirt and oxford situations alike, blending into its surroundings while also elevating them subtly. And this one from Abercrombie is as minimal as they come—there isn’t even a pocket to distract from the pared-down design—which means it will be a go-to all summer long.
The Best Retro Camp Shirt
Nearly 175 years ago, rayon became the first synthetic fabric, and about 110 years ago, we started making it in the US and putting it in clothes. It felt like silk, it looked like silk, and it required far fewer worms to make (yes—worms). The result was a fabric that was perfect for shirts. This one from Todd Snyder takes its cues from an era when rayon was one of the most popular games in town, coming in a little boxier and a little shorter than most, with a big ol’ collar that looks incredible on its own and will kill under a sport coat. Think Miles Davis or James Bond and you've got the right idea.
The Best Knit Camp Shirt
Most camp collar shirts are woven, but knit versions do exist and they pack an insane punch. Just like their knit polo brethren, the knit camp collar is a perfect summer shirt when done right, like this one from Alex Mill is. Made with a mad soft, super breathable cotton-hemp blend, it deftly threads the needle between a polo and a button-down and will look great under a suit, with some jeans or by the pool, proving that you don’t have to go full-Ripley to harness some heady retro vibes.
The Best Maximalist Camp Shirt
We’ve already extolled the virtues of a minimal camp collar, and their day-to-day utility during the summer months is hard to top, but sometimes it just feels good to return to the ancient texts and play the hits. And in the camp collar genre, that means some wild-ass prints, ones that are busy as hell and, when done right, downright hypnotic. Kapital does a few every year that fit that bill in glorious fashion, and this one might be the best of the bunch. Made with their signature rayon fabric and coconut buttons, the star of the show is that stunning print, which makes Where’s Waldo? look orderly.
More Camp Shirts We Love
