A man who sets out to buy a cream linen shirt soon finds that the word covers a whole range of tones, from the pale warmth of fresh butter to the greyer softness of a shell. In the PP men's collection there are five names in this family: Cream, Beige Cream, Vanille, Oatmeal and Oyster. They appear across several shirts, and the right one depends less on the shade itself than on what it will be worn with and where.

Cream has a long history in warm-weather dress. Before air conditioning, the resort and travelling wardrobes of the Mediterranean, the Gulf and the tropics were built on undyed and pale cloth, which reflects heat and looks fresh in strong sun. Linen in these tones sits close to the fibre's natural colour, somewhere between ivory and grey.

Cream and Beige Cream. The Laos Linen Shirt in Cream and the Laos shirts in Beige Cream, both the Short Sleeve and the Long Sleeve, sit at the warmer end of the family. They pair naturally with navy, with dark blue denim and with the deeper trouser colours: PP Casual Linen Trousers in Black or Sapphire Blue. The Long Sleeve is the more versatile of the two for travel, since the sleeves come down for evening and air-conditioned rooms. Its fit and details are described in the Laos Long Sleeve guide.

Vanille. Vanille runs across five of the men's shirts: the Laos Short Sleeve, the Bliss Linen Shirt, the Vibes Linen Shirt, the Monte-Carlo Male and the PP Tennis Shirt all come in it. It is a soft, warm off-white that looks quieter than pure white beside a tan. The Bliss in Vanille, long sleeved, is the most formal expression of the shade; the Vibes in Vanille, oversized and shorter in the body, the most relaxed.

Oatmeal. Oatmeal is a warm beige with a hint of grain. Among the shirts it is carried by the Monte-Carlo Male, whose walnut buttons sit naturally against it, and by the PP Tennis Shirt. It pairs well with white trousers, with Sapphire Blue and with olive.

Oyster. Oyster is the coolest of the family, closer to the pale grey of the inside of a shell. It appears on the Laos Short Sleeve, the Laos Long Sleeve, the Monte-Carlo Male and the PP Tennis Shirt. It sits beautifully beside grey and blue, and it is the cream shade that works most easily in a city.

How to choose among them? A man who already owns white shirts may find Vanille or Oyster the most useful addition, since they give a softer frame to the face without departing far from white. One who dresses mostly in navy and dark blue will find Cream and Beige Cream the warmest contrast. For evening, the Monte-Carlo Male in Oatmeal or the Bliss in Vanille carry the most presence. For a single shirt that will travel everywhere, the Laos Long Sleeve in Beige Cream or Oyster is the sensible choice.

All five shades share a practical virtue: they show the natural slubs and texture of linen more clearly than dark colours, and they forgive the creases of a day's wear more gracefully than white. The PP men's linen shirts are handmade at the atelier in Dubai, most with seashell buttons, and the full range is in the PP linen shirts collection. The men's linen shirt colour guide sets these shades beside the rest of the palette.

Cream also ages well in the most literal sense. As a linen shirt softens over many washes, a pale natural tone keeps its character, and the shirt that was crisp in its first summer becomes the one reached for without thinking.

Read more: The White Linen Shirt for Men  ·  The PP Bliss Linen Shirt