This is not a shirt that will soften with age. It is not a shirt that breathes. It is not the sort of cotton I expected.
The material this shirt is made of does stay quite wrinkle free, and if that look is your priority, this shirt may work for you.
I wanted a cotton shirt that would become one of those cotton shirts to cherish: soft, cool, getting better looking as it wears. This is not that shirt.
The treatment of the cotton, combined with a very tight weave, means that this shirt does not breathe and makes wearing it feel like wearing a plastic bag. Perhaps due to this, it also does not smell fresh for very long.
They sounded so good I bought two in different colors, so I don't think this complaint is due to just getting the odd, wrongly made garment. Rather, this is one of those misguided attempts to improve a product that didn't need improvement, and the result is a far worse product than I would have expected from LLBean.
Please bring back the "old fashioned" chambray shirt I'd hope to buy.
I bought this just before a trip, and loved it. It doesn't wrinkle, and came out of a motel dryer looking absolutely like new. It's comfortable, soft, and the fit is OK but baggy. Bean has Trim Fit shirts in this material now - I'll order a couple. I'm not skinny, but I sure can't wait till the huge and baggy style goes away.
I've read the other reviews about these being a thin material. I've complained about other Bean products for just that reason - I like shirt material to have some body. This shirt is indeed light weight, but in a summer shirt that's what I want. And it's not really that thin - it's just not heavy chambray like a work shirt. If it was a long-sleeve shirt, I'd want it thicker, but for summer this material has enough body yet it's still cool to wear.
