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Summer fits just got that much easier

You thumb across the weather forecast and exhale the longest, most satisfied, dad-after-a-long-day-at-work "ahhhh". Four straight weeks of blistering sunshine. Bliss. Then you realise you've accidentally swiped to the wrong page, and this is the UK, not Madrid, and you're suddenly furious at the projected whiplash freneticism of classic British weather. What do you do about the BBQs? Does the pub have rain cover? What do you wear when it's too cold for a T-shirt but too hot for a jacket? One of the best men's rugby shirts, that's what.

As a trend plucked from the moneyed farmland surrounding major cities (and one that's been duly improved in recent years), the best men's rugby shirts have all the shape and structure of collegiate standard issue, but just with brighter, funner, better designs. It's all part of that prep 2.0 thing that refuses to go away. And, in an age when guys are dressing like New York yuppy scum circa 1993, the best men's rugby shirts are the best entry level layers.

And they're practical! These things are heavy, but loose; casual, but still slightly formal by sheer token of their provenance. Those things make it ideal for fickle British weather, and here are the best of the lot.

If you want pure, unadulterated, Hamptonian, great at tennis preppiness, there's nowhere better to start than Polo Ralph Lauren. The navy rugby shirt is about as clean and Ralph Lauren as it gets, too.

For those with a vision of Paris that's more Amélie than actual, lost in Pigalle Paris, Ami is a balm to those suffering the namesake syndrome. It's everything Gare du Nord isn't: colourful, carefree and inherently easy.

How do you make a summer rugby shirt even more summery? You lops the arms and retain the all-American you betcha charm that's a key pillar of native label Gant.

Drake's makes clothes that can slot into suits as well as they do your weekends. That thinking extends to the rugby shirts. So great with a boxy blazer and slacks; great with shorts and trainers for everywhere else.

A dour boy summer needs dour boy threads. Start with all-black, as you usually do, and finish with a monochrome rugby shirt from Andson as the mercury rises.

Mackintosh don't just make great macs, sunshine. They make great men's rugby shirts too with a bone white, slightly boxy option lifted with a horizontal shot of lime.

A heavy cotton always feels quite proper, and Norse Projects' men's rugby shirt in green is as proper as it gets thanks to a robust jersey mix and a refreshingly rigid shape.

Jack Purcell is to badminton what Fred Perry is to tennis, and Converse's collab with the late player's estate is the sort of on-court prep that works just as well beyond the local sports cage.

Rugby shirts can be luxury, and in the hands of luxury fashion's oldest house, they can be pretty amazing too thanks to Lanvin's half-and-half wear everywhere rejig.

Not strictly a rugby shirt, but A.P.C.'s long sleeved black polo is as close (and as minimal) as it gets.