Allow me to make a case for the fashion jersey, and see if you don’t agree. It’s summer, which showed up early yet again. You have a closet full of linen shirts, short-sleeve button-ups, vintage tees, and classic tanks (all of which we endorse and encourage). Except you feel the itch. You ’re looking for something new, something different, something a little unexpected—but not jarring. I’ve found that something in the quote-unquote “fashion” jersey. It’s got the look and feel of stadium merch, but none of the baggage that comes from declaring an allegiance while wearing another person’s job uniform on your chest.
As an emotionally compromised sports fan myself, I’ll say this: few things go as hard as a mesh batting practice jersey in the summertime. It’s loose, has a standout shape, and the whole shape is singular. Naked batting jerseys are surprisingly hard to come by without league affiliation. But if you step slightly outside of the Fanatics fiefdom, you’ll find some killer alternatives—and some of the most summer-ready shirts you could ask for.
This isn’t only about that most-American of jerseys, though. Crocheted basketball tanks, vintage football riffs, soccer dupes that require no early Sunday wakeups or even any passing knowledge of the game. (You don’t have to memorize the roster of a Martine Rose team that doesn’t exist.)
Maybe the best part about the fashion jersey? The season never ends. Here are our 12 favorites.
The Best Fashion Jerseys, According to GQ Editors
The Baller Jersey
It’s not a tank, but it’s also not a sweater vest, and there’s zero reason to play basketball in it. But if we’re talking summer garb—and we are—this shirt is Finals MVP-worthy. Treat it like either a jersey or a sweater vest, and you’ll be operating on an All-Star level.
The Value Jersey
Gap
Denim 1969 Logo Baseball Jersey
Here’s the thing about non-denominational jerseys: they can be both auction-house expensive (fashion, baby!), but they also can be eBay-10-years-ago cheap. Both versions rip. This baseball jersey from Gap will sub in for any denim shirt as the weather heats up, while freeing you from the confines of a collar.
The Varsity Jersey
Abercrombie & Fitch
Football Jersey-Inspired Sweater
This winner from Abercrombie is indeed inspired by vintage football jerseys, but the loose-gauge mesh, shallow V-neck, striped arms, and cropped fit make it a flawless alternative to a t-shirt.
The Oi-Oi-Oi Jersey
Wales Bonner
Home Jersey Polo
If you watched soccer in the ’90s, you might remember some notably beefy polo collars, a detail that’s been dormant on the pitch for years. Bless Wales Bonner for making a piece of kit that rivals even the best vintage grails.
The Power Play Jersey
S.K. Manor Hlil
Knit Hockey Sweater
What at first glance looks like a classic—if opulently—V-neck sweater is actually a monochromatic crocheted riff on a hockey sweater. Look closer, you’ll see it: big shoulders, side vents, tube sleeves. The folks at S.K. Manor Hill lit the lamp!
The Jaws Jersey
Supreme
x Damien Hirst Soccer Jersey
Skate teams don’t have jerseys, so Supreme went off the wall, grabbing Noel Gallagher’s favorite style of shirt and smashing it up with artist Damien Hirst’s iconic shark sculpture. Technically, the piece is named “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living,” which may be the most apt description of an athlete’s mindset outside of “LFG.”
The Casual’s Jersey
Martine Rose
Football Jersey
This looks like something you’d see at the local pub on a Sunday morning, until you notice that the crown on the badge has nothing to do with a certain Spanish club, and that the jersey itself is actually a subtle blackwatch plaid that’ll make any fit look better.
The Long-Sleeve Jersey
Aimé Leon Dore
x New Balance RC56 Pointelle Jersey
The folks at ALD revived the ’90s soccer jersey ’s abiding live for funky patterns, and we’re here for it. Don’t worry about the long-sleeves, though: this is a pitch-worthy breezy knit that you can wear on anything but the most brutally humid days.
The Sandlot Jersey
Bode
Logo-Embroidered Appliquéd Cotton-Drill Baseball Shirt
Bode launched its Rec. sub-line last year, and, like us, recognized that vintage baseball jerseys are some of the best warm-weather shirts in existence. No surprise that the brand makes some of the coolest versions in existence, including this “Sandlot”-esque iteration.
The Skeleton Crew Jersey
Kapital
Oversized Logo-Appliquéd Cotton-Jersey Shirt
In case it’s not clear from the photo above, the skeleton graphics on this jersey from Japanese label Kapital are chainstitched. Not printed, not ironed on—chainstitched, which you’ll recognize most from jean hems that kind of pucker up and wear in nicely. Everything else about the jersey screams “top prospect,” from the loose fit to the piping at the sleeves and placket.
The Gym Class Jersey
Abercrombie & Fitch
YPB Mesh Tank
This is, technically, a pinnie, but pinnies have suffered from associations with high school PE for generations. Now that you’ve graduated, you can break out a pinnie when it’s too hot to wear clothes at all.
The Hat Trick Jersey
Yes, Bode is on this list twice, but it’s for good reason: designer Emily Bode possesses an impossibly deep knowledge of vintage athleticwear, and she’s been mining the references for years, regardless of sport. This all-cotton, ’80s-inspired hockey knit puts her in dynasty discussions.
The Cleanup Jersey
Needles
Rebuild 3 Cut Wide Baseball Tee
You don’t normally hear the words “Needles” and “lowkey” in the same sentence, particularly when it comes to the label’s Rebuild line. And yet: Each one of these lowkey Needles pieces—each a 1-of-1 assembled from three different vintage jerseys, then overdyed in black—is here to pinch hit in place of the faded button-up shirt you pull on by default.
