This shirt's origin story goes back a few years. I walked in to a lunch meeting at King's Highway in Palm Springs and my friend Kristina was wearing an oversized linen shirt. It had been washed hundreds of times, the buttons were thick, and there was a bit of fraying happening here and there—it was sooooo freaking perfect. I couldn't focus on anything but the shirt—what a perfect item to have in the hot heat of a summer day, especially in the desert. My first question: Who made it and how old was it? Gap and about 20 years old. Great, I thought. I'll never find anything like it. I combed through 1980s Banana Republic and 1990s Gap online and searched high and low, from vintage stores to eBay, and came up empty handed each time. It was destined to only live in my memory until this spring when I was talking with Tradlands' Sadie Roberts about a collaboration for The Reed, and, hel-lo, I asked if she could create a shirt inspired by this old Gap shirt. YES, she could.
We didn't want to just copy an existing shirt though, we wanted to create the best damn white linen shirt possible, and frankly, I think we did it. The Tradlands x The Reed Safari Shirt ($155) features tails that are extra long so it can be worn like a tunic—long over shorts or even as a bathing suit cover up. The buttons are thick and sturdy (and happen to be made in Chicago). The white Irish linen is so breezy and soft, but durable enough to take well to lots of wash cycles. The cut and tailoring is what makes Tradlands the best American-made women's shirt maker on the planet. But what's the best thing about The Tradlands x The Reed Safari Shirt? The oh-so-subtle YES monogram stitched to the chest in white thread.
The shirt is about saying yes to summer adventures. All of our heros that have donned white linen in the past seemed to have spent their summers doing things like writing novels while traveling the world or protesting injustices—this shirt is entirely about that summer spirit.
The shirt just launched and in celebration, we're offering free domestic shipping all week with the code YESYES. Come check out the shirt right here at The Reed!
