Swugby Shirt – Vimto

I always like when one thing looks like a mixture of a load of things. Like when you go to a fusion restaurant and they mix a curry with chips or when you see a Swiss army knife for the first time, you think ‘Wow isn’t that clever?’ So I wanted you to have that kind of reaction with my new invention… ‘The Swugby Shirt.’ I wanted to mix all of my favourite things about a rugby shirt, polo shirt and sweatshirt all into one lovely garment. It’s the ultimate spring/summer layer that you can throw on day after day without having to pack all three individual top layers. We start with the fabric which is a beefy 490gsm cloth that has been washed and dyed using natural dyes. I sort of wish it was dyed with Vimto, but apparently that would make it too delicious. The fabric comes with a brushed inner that sits against your skin and is nice and snug, it is remarkably good at keeping out wind and rain which is a pre-requisite of any garment designed for a British summer. The collar is a traditional polo shirt rib so that it doesn’t have a load of unnecessary bulk and forces your collar to stand up at the corner like wings. Speaking of rib, the hem and cuffs have the usual hefty rib you’d expect to keep the cold out and to make it look like a sweatshirt. The rugby aspect comes in with the three horn buttons at the placket and reinforced X at the bottom to make you look all edgy and be ready for a quick game of rugby 7s if required. The colour is our classic Vimto which is a deep burgundy that seems to be something I go for more and more nowadays. Vimto was invented by a bloke from Blackburn whilst working in Manchester to it is about as Lancastrian as it gets. The Swugby shirts are made in Canada for us, to a very high standard, the stitching throughout feels very TRiCKETT, but it seems to have gone up just a notch to make it look and feel very premium. I know, how do we do it? So your new favourite sweatshirt is ready and waiting for you to enjoy whatever the weather throws at you.