You’ve likely found yourself in this situation: Freshly showered, wrapped in a, plush-to-the-touch towel, and wondering why you can’t just stay like that all day. With certain exceptions (a very, very lazy Saturday?) you can’t, but there is the next best option: to go about your day in towelling.
Towelling, also referred to variously as terry, terrycloth or terry cotton, is precisely what it sounds like: a woven fabric, typically cotton or cotton-blend, commonly used to make towels. Such a specialization is thanks to its characteristic weave, which results in long, protruding loops that absorb water while also lending it a pleasingly tactile touch and a raised appearance.
While similar fabrics had been made for millennia, towelling in its modern form came about in 1850, when the English towel manufacturer Christy found a way to produce the looped fabric on an industrial scale. Beyond the bath, the fabric found popularity among vacationers in the wake of WWII, when it was employed to make polos, resort shirts and other styles meant to be worn poolside. In what might be considered the fabric’s high-water mark, Sean Connery turned up in Goldfinger wearing a playsuit made from baby blue towelling.
The fabric retains its Slim Aarons appeal today and continues to turn up in polos or lounge shorts, though some more creative labels have dared used it to craft guayaberas and even safari shirts. In the interests of keeping cool and staying dry, we’ve helpfully scouted out 11 notable examples on the market below.
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Unfeigned Long-Sleeve Tee
Image Credit: Unfeigned Both the terry cloth polo and the sailor tee are associated with mid-century travel at its jet-setting best, thanks to the photos of Slim Aarons and films like To Catch a Thief. The two styles finally collide in the form of this long-sleeved striped tee from the Madrid-based Unfeigned, which has made it up in a soft, organic cotton-blend toweling.
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Todd Snyder Relaxed Terry Beach Polo
Image Credit: Todd Snyder In keeping with the designer’s overall philosophy of reviving American sportswear classics, Todd Snyder has made toweling polos a house signature. Made from cotton-blend Portuguese terry cloth, the brand’s beach polo features a contrast collar, placket and top pocket for extra mid-century appeal.
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Bugatchi French Terry Polo Shirt
Image Credit: Bugatchi While founded in Montreal, Bugatchi has long looked to Europe for inspiration, and its French terry polo shirt is no exception. The three-button style, which features a pleasantly looped texture on its interior but remains smooth to the touch outside, can easily be imagined hanging from a chaise lounge somewhere in the South of France.
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PML Polo Long Sleeve Chenille
Image Credit: PML Don’t get tripped up by the descriptor of this long-sleeved PML polo being chenille: that’s just French for caterpillar, which perfectly captures the raised, fuzzy texture of the cotton toweling fabric used to make it. A buttonless placket and a spread collar further accentuate its smarter appeal.
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Bryceland’s Towel Shirt Crepe
Backward-looking in only the best of ways, vintage-obsessed Brycleand’s aims to reproduce the more refined resortwear of an earlier era. One way it does so is with this ‘60s-inspired towel shirt which features a vintage French voile-cotton for its facing but is lined with soft terry cloth toweling.
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Orlebar Brown Griffith Relaxed Fit Towelling Lounge Shirt in Latte
Image Credit: Orlebar Brown A part of Orlebar Brown’s 007 Gold Collection, which pays homage to 1964’s Goldfinger and 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun, the Griffith toweling shirt is modeled after a style worn by Roger Moore in the latter film. While its creamy color and cropped hem are in-line with its cinematic inspiration, Orlebar Brown’s iteration favors a more discreet Capri collar in place of the very big, very ‘70s collar sported on-screen by Moore.
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Drake’s Blue Cotton Terry Towelling Short Sleeve Safari Shirt
Image Credit: Drake’s Cut like a safari shirt but made from a 12.3oz toweling cloth sourced from Italy, this Drake’s style is more likely to see sand than the Savannah. Nevertheless, it’s still designed with utility in mind, featuring three generous patch pockets that you can surely fill with sunblock, sunglasses and a medium-sized paperback you aren’t going to read.
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Sid Mashburn Knit Marquez Shirt White Terry
Image Credit: Sid Mashburn This iteration of Sid’s Marquez shirt—its own house-take on the guayabera—is made from a sustainably weighted Peruvian pima cotton terry cloth. Sporting the traditional four patch pockets and cut short enough to be worn untucked, it’s best complemented by swim trunks and a responsible amount of SPF.
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Frescobol Carioca Augusto Terry Cotton Shorts
Image Credit: Frescobol Carioca Inspired the laidback, sun-soaked style of Rio de Janeiro—and its most famous beach-based paddleball game, Frescobol—most everything Frescobol Carioca makes is meant to be worn near a body of water. Its Augusto shorts are no exception, made from 100% organic terry cotton and finished with an easy elasticated waist closure.
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Mr P. Organic Terry Cotton Terry T-Shirt
Image Credit: Mr P. While frequently fabricated as a polo shirt, toweling tees are in strangely short supply. Fortunately, Mr Porter’s house label Mr P. has stepped up to remedy this inequity with a simple crewneck T-shirt made from organic cotton terry.
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Sunspel Sea Island Cotton-Terry Polo Shirt
Image Credit: Sunspel Heritage English maker Sunspel built its reputation around Sea Island cotton, a rarer, finer version of the fabric that it began importing from the Caribbean in 1900. It’s since been utilized by Sunspel for making tees, boxers and yes, even toweling polos.
