A luxury linen shirt earns its price in four places: the flax, which is long-fibre and grown in a small region of Western Europe; the certified cloth woven from it; the hours of handwork in the making; and natural buttons cut one by one. When all four are present and can be shown, the price is a cost. When they are not, it is only a price.

That is the test worth carrying into any purchase. Each stage below adds cost for a reason that can be seen, touched or documented.

The harvest. Flax grows once a year and cannot be hurried. It is pulled rather than cut, to keep every centimetre of fibre, then left in the field for weeks while dew and weather loosen the fibre from the stem. Each season’s quality depends on that summer’s rain and sun, which is why fine flax varies from year to year. The full cycle is described in how linen is made, from the flax field.

The sorting. Only part of each harvest becomes fine linen. When the stems are scutched, the long fibre is separated from the short; the long is combed and spun into fine, even yarn, while the short goes to heavier uses. A shirt from long fibre therefore uses the most valuable fraction of the crop, and its cloth shows it: a smoother face, a fuller drape, a slow softening over years.

The cloth and its proof. Certified Belgian linen is woven in Belgium, and at least 85 percent of its weight must be European flax. Its certificate follows the flax from the field to the fabric, so the claim on the label can be checked rather than believed. Certification costs more than an unbranded cloth, and that is the point of it. Why it is worth paying for is weighed in is Belgian linen worth it.

The handwork. Pieter Petros shirts are handmade in the Dubai atelier and in Belgium, in small runs. Handwork costs time, and time is the most honest measure of quality there is: a collar set by hand, a yoke matched, a button sewn so that it will not loosen in the first summer.

The buttons. Seashell buttons are cut and polished individually; walnut buttons, used on the Monte-Carlo Male, are turned from the wood. Each takes far more work than a moulded plastic disc, and each keeps the shirt entirely natural, biodegradable by design.

What the premium buys in practice is time. A long-fibre linen shirt grows softer and more personal with every season of wear, so the third summer is better than the first. Divided across years rather than weeks, the cost of a well-made shirt is often lower than that of the cheap ones it replaces.

Which shirt to start with? The Monte-Carlo Male in Oyster, Vanille or Oatmeal, finished in walnut, is the most composed, right for dinner and travel alike. The Laos Long Sleeve Linen Shirt in Oyster is the most versatile. The Vibes Linen Shirt in Orchid, in Belgian linen, is the most relaxed, oversized and short-sleeved. All are in the men’s linen collection, alongside the PP Natural Sets of matching shirt and shorts.

Before paying a premium for any shirt, ask four things. Can the brand name the cloth and show its certificate? Where and by whom was the shirt made? What are the buttons? Will it be better in three years? A luxury shirt answers yes to the last question because it answered the first three honestly.

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