Five ways to wear a Cuban shirt (inspired by famous cool men)
Let these stylish guys school you in nailing the sunny-season essential
Once laughed at as the kind of shirt that only Charlie Sheen and your Dad would wear – the classic Cuban collar shirt look was pounced upon by trend setters and influencers last summer and is showing no signs of vanishing this year.
A look synonymous with good weather and good times – whether you know it as the Guaybera, a Mexican Wedding Shirt, a Chacabana or Guayabel – the trend has quickly become a menswear summer staple.
Here’s how to introduce the look to your own summer wardrobe courtesy of some famous style inspiration. If you’re not already on-board with Cuba style-lyfe, then now is your chance.
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Chris Pine - The Smart-Casual King -
The inspiring man:
Chris Pine was pretty obviously born in laboratory petri dish. His looks and charm meticulously tinkered with until unnaturally perfect. Tragic, really. Feel sorry for him, tbh. Real sorry. Don’t let those emotions get in the way of stealing his faultless go-to red carpet steez, though: one toned-down tucked-in Cuban shirt, plus one dark pair of plain chinos, plus unfussy luxe loafers (minus socks) equals a smart-casual killer blow.
Shirt of choice:
Allow this AllSaints Hanalei Woven Slim-Fit (£88) to meet your best black troosies and become the only thing about the Tuesday-afternoon office summer soirée that doesn’t suck.
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Harry Styles - The Unbuttoned Badass
The inspiring man:
As sure as the sun will rise in the morning and your over-friendliness will fail to earn you a free coff coff from the Pret guy, so Harry Styles shall once more emerge onto the LA streets with a baggy Cuban barely clinging to torso. His baby step towards full Keith Richards transformation, by keeping it oversized and defiantly unbuttoned, is your ballsy leap towards a radical rock’n’roll reincarnation through festival season.
Shirt of choice:
Retire the first three/four buttons on Stussy’s Skull Pattern Shirt (£115) from active duty, and buddy up with black denim, retro sunglasses and some well-placed male jewellery for a “trashing the Coachella VIP bar” vibe (spilling your Diet Pepsi in the smoking area of Ebbsfleet Wetherspoons).
Pharrell Williams - The Chilled-Out Entertainer
The inspiring man:
What’s that? You’re looking for evidence that “dad-at-the-summer-BBQ” doesn’t also have to mean sartorial hara-kiri? Well, you could do a whole lot worse than papa Pharrell Williams. Mr Happy proves that the Cuban shirt needn’t always mean turning your look up to 11; thrown over a white tee and left open, it cranks up the grown-up cool without stinking of tragic try-harding.
Shirt of choice:
The look, the relaxed fit, and the ability to hide various grill-out condiment marks make Zara’s Floral Voile Shirt (£12.99) a bargain-priced classic.
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Jude Law - The Riviera High-Roller
The inspiring man:
Alright, so the barrage of floral has your instinct screaming at you to retreat into the foetal position. Resist the urge for just a moment more and you’ll see that, if plant-print ain’t your thing, Jude Law’s your boy. He absolutely reeks of excellent American preppiness in Minghella’s masterpiece The Talented Mr Ripley, with his wardrobe – especially his slew of vertically-stripped Cuban collars – doing the majority of the heavy lifting.
Shirt of choice:
Wide vertical strips are biiiig business this summer, making Reiss’s Block Stripe Cuban Collar (£40) a watertight, risk-free investment if ever we saw one, Mr Bank Manager Sir.
Leo DiCaprio - The Silky Sex Icon
The inspiring man:
Ah yes, the billowing revere collar shirt that sent Lil’ Leo DiCaprio’s career and heart-throb status stratospheric. Sure, you might have to make do with the sandpit minefield on the South Bank instead of Venice Beach, and your flatmate’s chewed e-cig instead of a nonchalant Marlboro, but by lordy, recreate this look with a satin Cuban number, and we’ll be cramming all the cool points through your letterbox.
Shirt of choice:
The boxy fit of this dead similar AMI Camp-Collar Printed Satin Shirt (£105) will cause the required level of wind-driven flapping you’re after to reach peak posterboy.
Words: Francis Blagburn
