I do like it when a shirt tries really hard to be a jacket. I see a fit like this and I know it’s a shirt, but it’s also sort of a jacket. Even though it’s definitely not. Look at the guy up there, sliding his hand into one of those jacket-like patch pockets. Look at him coming on all Little Lord Fauntleroy, like he’s in the Royal enclosure at Ascot, offering a sip from his pewter flask to Tiggy and Verity, while hoping to catch the eye of Henrietta, the second cousin of the Baron of Greenwich, who has a column in Tatler and a wispy beard.

It’s not a jacket. It’s got pockets like a jacket. But, fundamentally, it’s too thin. It’s just thin cotton. It’s got a shirt collar, shirt cuffs, shirt weight, the only concession to jacketness are those lower patch pockets. While I admire oddball US makers Ddugoff greatly, their site’s description of this piece (“it’s half shirt half jacket“) would, in my opinion, be of interest to the Trading Standards Office.

However, the Japanese indigo striped cotton is mad boss. The asymmetrical patterns butting up against each other reek of artfulness. Wear this and you’ll look like the kind of guy who gets paid a fortune to come up with a five word tagline. For a garment, there can be few greater achievements.