Nothing said summer like madras, and nothing says madras like patchwork madras. Does that make sense? Don’t think about it too hard.
Indeed, I have been, shall we say, on the prowl for some great patchwork madras for quite some time now. It is a fantastically awesome shirt (or sport coat, or shorts, or pants) to own, and normally for a specific shirt I want I would go to my custom shirt maker of choice. But patchwork madras is, to my knowledge, not something any typical custom shirt maker offers given its unique and difficult construction. Madras? Sure, that is easy. Patchwork madras? Not so much.
So I tried the usual suspects — Ralph Lauren, LL Bean, Brooks Bros. None of them had much of a selection, and the one or two options the finally did arrive to my house all were lackluster. Either the color was off, the pattern was not great, or, as was most often the case, the fit was terrible.
Enter Todd Snyder. In general, I find that Todd Snyder stuff fits terribly. Which is a deep shame since they are making some of the nicest clothing in mainstream menswear right now. But they had an awesome patchwork madras guayabera shirt (that just means it’s a camp collar, with additional bottom pockets, meant as almost a “shacket” or layer over a tee, though can just as easily be worn on its own). Given the short sleeves and the more casual design, I could be more forgiving with the fit. As I usually do with Todd Snyder, I sized down, and actually was pleasantly surprised. The fit was solid enough, the design and fabric were perfect, and I now have a new addition to my shirt collection. They have a few other patchwork options as well so check them all out!