Linen Clothing That Keeps Up With Your Week (Creases and All)

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Linen clothing feels cool to wear because it absorbs and releases moisture quickly and conducts heat well. A linen shirt, a pair of linen pants and a linen dress can each look casual or polished, depending on how you style them.

A busy week puts both looks to the test. Think early starts, school drop-off, a full day at work or at home, afternoon errands and Saturday lunch with friends. Linen sits loosely against the body, so it stays comfortable through all of it without needing a change in between.

As for the creases? They come free, and they’re part of the charm.

Start the Week in a Linen Shirt

A linen shirt is the one piece that handles a desk day and a Saturday without changing anything but the shoes. For the office, one of the plainer linen shirts tucked into tailored pants with loafers is neat without being stiff. Roll the cuffs to stay cool, or keep them buttoned for a sharper finish.

On Saturday, wear the same linen shirt loose and half-buttoned over shorts or jeans, with the sleeves pushed up. Shake it out, and you’re set for lunch. It also works thrown over a tank or a dress as a light layer once the evening turns cool.

Give Your Linen Pants Two Jobs

One pair of linen pants will cover a workday and a weekend. The shape does most of the work, so it helps to know the difference between wide-leg, tapered, barrel and culottes.

Wide-leg and culottes sit well with sandals or sneakers, while a tapered leg suits loafers or flats. Through the week, add a fitted knit or a shirt. On the weekend, swap in a tank or a tee. Only the top half changes, which is one less decision before 7am.

Check the label before you buy. Sussan’s linen pants come in 100% linen, which has almost no stretch and creases freely, and in softer blends.

Wear One Linen Dress Three Ways

With a change of shoes, bag and layers, a single linen dress suits three different plans. For a weekday, add a blazer and flats, and you’ll look like you meant it. The blazer does the polish, and the dress does the comfort.

Come the weekend, swap the blazer for sneakers and a crossbody bag, and the same dress reads as relaxed and easy. For an evening out, sandals and simple jewellery do the job. A midi, meaning a hem that lands somewhere between the knee and the ankle, sits well with flats, sneakers and sandals across all three plans.

One dress, three outfits, and nothing in the wash but the dress. On a warm day, it will outlast most other things in the wardrobe.

Add a Layer for Cool Mornings

Spring mornings are the awkward part of the year. You can keep wearing linen clothing right through them once you layer it. Linen cools you in the afternoon and still holds a little warmth first thing.

A fine knit over a linen shirt covers the 8am walk to the car. A linen blazer does the same job at the office and comes off at lunch. Linen pants with a loafer rather than a sandal stretch the same outfit back a few weeks.

The swing inside a single day is the thing to dress for. Bureau of Meteorology records put Melbourne’s long-term October average at a 20.5°C maximum against a 10.9°C overnight minimum, close to a ten-degree gap. A knit or blazer over linen covers the cold end of that, and comes off as the day warms.

Make Peace With the Creases

Creases appear within an hour of putting linen on, and most of them drop out again once you stand up and move. Light colours can be sheer, so add a singlet or slip close to your skin tone underneath.

Every linen piece seems to have its own opinion about care. Check the label before you wash, dry or press anything, because some labels say no ironing or no steam. The lovely part is that linen softens with washing over time.

Build Your Week Around a Few Linen Pieces

Start with the piece you already reach for. Wear it four or five different ways over a fortnight. Add a second once you know where the first one lands in your week. Two pieces worn properly will do more than six worn once.

Australian fashion retailer Sussan, which opened in Melbourne in 1939, has a wide range of linen clothing for you, including a 100% linen edit. How do you like to wear your linen pieces through the week?