Men's Travel Clothing
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Ex Officio
Air Strip Shirt

If "manmade fabric" makes you think of plastic, think again: The synthetic DriLite cloth in Ex Officio's Air Strip Shirt is 85% nylon and 15% polyester, but it has the soft hand of cotton--and in hot weather, it may be the most comfortable fabric you'll ever wear.

The "DriLite" name is apt for two reasons: The shirt dries quickly, both on your perspiring body and on a clothesline; and it's light in your suitcase or against your skin. For warm-weather comfort, the shirt has a layer of perforated fabric across the back and under the arms, with a Velcro-tabbed yoke that can be opened for additional ventilation plus discreet slash vents along the side seams.

Other design features include:

• Long sleeves that you can roll up and hold in place with Velcro tabs.

• Two roomy bellows pockets over the chest, each with a Velcro-tipped flap.

• A hidden zippered pocket beneath one of the Velcro flaps. (This is probably the safest place that you can carry a wallet, cash, or credit cards unless you're willing to pull a neck wallet out from under your shirt every time you buy a sausage or a subway ticket.)

• A button-down collar with hidden Velcro patches that help the collar hold its shape for a neat appearance.

• 30+ UPF sun protection. (The collar can be peeled away from its hidden Velcro patches and turned up in back to keep the sun off your neck.)

I wore a blue Ex Officio Air Strip Shirt on an August Silversea cruise in the British Isles, an Oceania cruise from Dover to Barcelona during September, and a Viking River Cruise through Southern France in October. It was comfortable in every kind of weather, and it was the lowest-maintenance shirt in my wardrobe. Since then, I've bought more Air Strip shirts, and they've become my favorite shirts for daily wear at home and on the road.

Price: US $79, and worth every penny.

Look and fit: Safari-style full cut. (Sizing is generous, with large being comparable to a normal shirt's XL.) Available in two dozen colors.

Ease of care: Machine wash in cold water and tumble-dry at the warm setting, or hand wash and hang anywhere to dry.

Special features: See the bulleted list above. (The zippered hidden pocket is reason alone to buy the shirt.)

In a nutshell: A comfortable, versatile casual men's shirt that was born to be washed in hotel sinks.

Order from: Ex Officio or third-party retailers such as REI.

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Photo: Copyright © Magellan's. Used by permission.

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