Courtesy Of: Hucklebury Sky Blue Orchard Gingham Shirt
“Courtesy Of” is a series on This Fits in which I write about products that have been gifted to me for review. While I strive to be objective, I think it’s fairer to you, the readers, if I disclose when I’ve received merchandise for free.
First things first: I had the darnedest time trying to correct the colors in these photos. The shirt is a really nice sky blue, best represented by the third and final picture in this post.
Hucklebury co-founder Parag, must be a mind reader, as I was looking for a shirt pretty much like this one about a year ago. The specs are like a primer on my kind of casual shirt: light blue, gingham, buttondown collar, single-button barrel cuffs, and a great fit.
When Parag reached out to me about reviewing a shirt, I was a bit skeptical about what to expect from another entrant in the increasingly-crowded “better-fitting clothes” niche. What I received was a handsome, well-made, great-fitting shirt. I wore it to a networking event at a local alehouse last night and received compliments on it (because someone will ask: unstructured navy blazer, grey cashmere cable-knit V-neck, slim straight jeans, brown suede chukkas).
Kiyoshi has a far better review of Hucklebury’s quality and construction than I could put together. The shirt I received features a different fabric–a single-ply poplin with a soft and luxurious hand. It’s a bit too lightweight for the approaching winter, but should make a great go-to shirt come spring.
The shirt I received is in Hucklebury’s slim fit, and as Kiyoshi noted, the back features darts. Many see darted shirts as decidedly feminine, but here it tucks in a lot of the excess fabric at the waist, giving the torso a more masculine V-shape. I like that.
I also appreciate the shirt’s neckline. Hucklebury highlights that they’ve designed for a flattering “V” when their shirts are worn with an open collar, and it shows with this shirt. On most off-the-rack shirts, unbuttoning just the collar button causes the neck opening to splay out horizontally in an unflattering manner. I typically unbutton the collar button and the top button to achieve a V-shape that better frames the face (I’m not quite down with leaving open three buttons, aka the full Basty). With Hucklebury’s shirt, the same effect is made by just unbuttoning the collar button, making for a shallower but still flattering frame for the face.
I do wish the Hucklebury shirts came in multiple sleeve lengths. While the standard length is a bit short for Kiyoshi and his preferred 35" sleeve, on my 32" arms the sleeves run a bit long.
That said, at $85, this shirt is a fine value, especially given the pedigree of the Italian mills the fabric is sourced from (Thomas Mason and Tessitura Monti, among others).
Well done, Hucklebury.
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