Casual Cool Bali Shirt

Too hot for a work shirt, too bright for bare arms.

Forty degrees, you have knocked off, and everything in the bag is wrong. The drill shirt is heavy and it smells like the whole day. The polo is polyester and you can feel every bit of it. Roll your sleeves up to cool down and you come home burnt instead.

This is the other answer. A loose, lightweight, band collar shirt with long sleeves that buttons from the collar to about mid-chest and then pulls on over your head. No collar points, no lapel, no pocket, nothing to press flat. Air moves through it, and the skin on your arms, shoulders and back stays covered while you stand around in the sun.

One thing straight up before you go any further. The word "Cotton" sits in the name of this shirt and there is nothing behind it. No composition label, no hang tag and no stated percentage appears on any image the supplier has published. So the fabric row in the table below reads "Not specified by supplier", because that is the honest answer and guessing at it would be worse than leaving it blank.

What It Does

• Keeps the sun off: long sleeves, a full back and covered shoulders mean the skin that normally cops it is covered instead of cooking.
• Lets the air through: cut loose rather than fitted, so it hangs off you and moves instead of sticking to your back.
• Pulls on and goes: half placket, band collar, no tie, no collar stays, nothing to fuss with before you walk out.
• Rolls up the forearm: every supplier photograph shows the sleeves pushed up, which is how most people are going to wear it.
• Gives you real numbers: the supplier publishes shoulder, bust, length and sleeve in centimetres for all six sizes, and the full chart is in the Specs tab.

Key Features

• Band collar: a stand collar with no points and no lapel.
• Half placket: buttons from the collar down to about mid-chest, then it goes on over your head.
• Long sleeves: 62 cm (620 mm) on the S through to 67 cm (670 mm) on the 3XL.
• No pockets: nothing on the chest and nothing on the body.
• Curved hem: a shirt-tail hem that sits alright left out or tucked in.
• Loose through the body: 110 cm (1100 mm) bust on the S, out to 130 cm (1300 mm) on the 3XL.
• Seven colourways: black, blue, green, grey, khaki, pink and white.
• Six sizes: S, M, L, XL, 2XL and 3XL, all at the one price.

Limits

• The fabric is unstated: the name says cotton and nothing supports it. No composition label, no hang tag, no percentage on any supplier image. Treat the fabric as unknown, because that is what it is.
• Not a work shirt: no pocket, no reinforcing, no bar tacks and a light open weave. It is not high visibility either. This one is for after the shift, not during it.
• Light colours are thin: in the supplier photographs the white, the pink and the pale blue are light enough to show what is under them in strong sun. The black and the khaki are not.
• The colour names flatter it: the khaki is a sand beige, not an olive drab. The green is a pale mint and the blue is a pale sky, not a navy. Look at the photographs before you pick one.
• Bali is a look, not an origin: there is no batik, no print and no pattern. Every colourway is a plain solid, and where the shirt is made is not specified by supplier.
• Go by the centimetres: the tag size is labelled US, and the body weight ranges on the size selector are the supplier's rough guide rather than a fitting method. The bust measurement in the chart is the only number worth trusting.
• Washing is unstated: no care instructions appear on anything the supplier has published, so we cannot tell you how hot to wash it or whether it will shrink.

Watch Me

Q & A

Is it actually cotton?

We cannot tell you that it is. The word sits in the product name, but no composition label, hang tag or fabric percentage appears anywhere in the supplier's photographs, and no supplier document states one. That is why the spec table reads "Not specified by supplier" instead of a number. If a stated composition is the thing that decides it for you, this is not the shirt to take a punt on.

What size do I order?

Take a shirt you already own that fits the way you like it, lay it flat, measure straight across from armpit to armpit and double that figure. Match it to the Bust column in the chart under Specs. The supplier allows about 1-4 cm (10-40 mm) either way on a hand measurement, so there is no point splitting hairs over a centimetre. Reviews on this page report the tag sizes running small, so if you land between two, take the larger one.

Is the khaki an olive green?

No. It is a sand beige, and our own listing data records that colourway as beige rather than khaki. The green in the range is a pale mint rather than a drab, so neither of them is what an Australian usually means by khaki. The photographs are accurate; the names are not.

Can I wear it on site?

Not for work. There is no pocket, no reinforcing, the weave is light and it carries no high visibility. It will not last a week on the tools. For that, look at our hi-vis and safety gear. This shirt is for the drive home, the camp kitchen and the pub afterwards.

Does it need ironing?

The band collar has nothing to press flat and no stays to lose, so the collar looks after itself. How the body behaves depends on what the fabric actually is, and since that is not stated we cannot tell you whether it creases hard or hangs out overnight.

How long until it turns up?

Allow 10-14 days from the day you place the order, and up to three weeks to be safe. Regional and remote addresses run longer again. Delivery is free to Australia and New Zealand.

Specs

Size Chart, Centimetres And Millimetres

Supplier figures, taken from the garment laid flat. Bust is the full measurement around the chest. Allow about 1-4 cm (10-40 mm) either way on a hand measurement.