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For most Americans, the particulars of rugby are largely a mystery. It’s brutal, involves what looks like a football and, perhaps most of all, boldly striped jerseys. While we can’t say much about the sport’s merits, we can heartily endorse rugby shirts.
The long-sleeved, three-button placket silhouette shares a lot of stylistic DNA with polos (another British athletic uniform that became a menswear mainstay) but rugby shirts are distinguished by a few details: they’re traditionally rendered in a heavy-gauge cotton jersey woven with thick, alternating stripes and finished with a contrasting white collar. Think of them as an even sportier cousin of the polo and, given their weight, an ideal layer for the warmer months.
A favorite of preppy traditionalists, rugby shirts have moved beyond the country club in recent years. The style has been co-opted by streetwear brands and high fashion houses alike, yielding a broad range of riffs on the classic. Here are 15 of our favorites to sport this season.
