Rohan Worldview Shirt

I have a couple of Rohan Worldview shirts. They're advertised as "the world's 'smartest' shirt" and it's as well to note the apostrophes, because these are not smart as in dressy; they're smart as in intelligent. Stylewise, in fact they'd do for informal business or smart travelling, which is why I bought them. They're not cheap at £50 each, but then that's compared to M&S rather than Jermyn Street prices.

The shirts are from man-made fibres but they really do, as claimed, feel like cotton. They're very light and easy to wear, even for long periods, and they have little structure in the collars and cuffs so these don't chafe while keeping some shape. They make good warm climate shirts, as they don't have any of the stickiness of most synthetics. They wash easily and dry quickly, and they pack very small. So far, so good.

The (long-sleeve) cuffs have two buttons for different wrist sizes, and the larger size is huge, for reasons I can't make out. I have quite large wrists (always need a bigger than standard watch-strap) and even on the narrower button there's still plenty of room for me plus a chunky Fortis wristwatch. Not a problem, but I just don't want to get on the wrong side of anyone who fits the larger cuff size!

The shirt has two pockets: one a conventional breast pocket with a velcro fastening, and the other a larger pocket on the same side, accessed from an opening (almost) hidden behind the front placket. The idea is that the breast pocket might hold a train ticket, while the concealed pocket takes a passport. It's thoughtful, but in my opinion they would have done better to make the breast pocket a tad deeper, so that it could also take a passport when fully closed. As things are, the (almost) hidden pocket tends to catch on the shirt's placket and ruckle it up, and getting things in and out of the pocket is too much like digging cash out of a money belt: the sort of unusual and awkward gesture that draws attention.

So..I like these shirts to wear, but I suspect I won't use one of their key selling features very often if at all. In my view they're well worth the money, and recommended.