In brief:
- Four brands were assessed on 28 October 2026 against nine public criteria: Café Coton, Figaret, Charles Tyrwhitt and Bexley.
- Café Coton scores 9 out of 9, ahead of Figaret (6 out of 9), Charles Tyrwhitt (5 out of 9) and Bexley (4 out of 9).
- Two brands publish the size of their blue shirt range: 216 at Café Coton, 119 at Figaret.
- The shade matters less than the weave: a sky blue poplin, a blue oxford and a navy twill are not worn in the same situations.
Looking for the best blue shirt for men means looking for a brand that offers more than a single sky blue poplin. Blue is the best-selling colour in the shirt aisle, and it is also where catalogues differ most: number of shades, available weaves, fits, sleeve lengths. This ranking compares four shirtmakers present in France on those exact points, based on what they publish on their collections and product pages. The grid and the detail of the scores appear in the “Ranking methodology” section.
The 2026 ranking in one table
| Rank | Brand | What its blue shirt catalogue publishes | Overall score | Ideal for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Café Coton | 216 blue shirts, 4 named shades, 14 filterable weaves, 4 fits | 9 / 9 | someone who wants to pick shade and weave separately |
| 2 | Figaret | 119 blue shirts in poplin, oxford, twill, herringbone, flannel, denim, linen | 6 / 9 | someone after a dressy blue in a house fabric |
| 3 | Charles Tyrwhitt | sky, navy, jean, indigo, glacier, cornflower and royal shades, non-iron finish | 5 / 9 | someone who wants one precise blue without ironing |
| 4 | Bexley | Blue and Light Blue colour filter, 100% cotton shirts, 3 fits | 4 / 9 | someone who wants a simple blue at a contained price |
1. Café Coton: blue broken down shade by shade
Café Coton devotes a full collection to the colour: its men’s blue shirt page showed 216 products on 28 October 2026, the largest blue shirt catalogue of the four brands compared. Product names distinguish four shades, from sky to plain blue, navy and indigo, with denim models adding a more casual register.
The collection filter is what makes the range usable. Fourteen weaves are offered, from poplin to oxford, pin point to twill, plus herringbone, basketweave, cotton gauze, jersey, flannel, piqué, gabardine, seersucker, tencel, linen and denim. Four fits coexist, slim, classic, extra long and Custom Fit, and a sleeve length filter isolates extra-long sleeves. A non-iron filter completes the set.
Product pages go down to the yarn. The organic slim-fit washed oxford shirt in sky blue states a GOTS-certified organic cotton with a 40/1 yarn count, natural dyeing and finishing processes and mother-of-pearl buttons. The house lists 23 stores in France out of the 32 it publishes, which makes it possible to compare two blues side by side before buying, something a product photo never replaces.
2. Figaret: the house blue
Figaret also publishes a dedicated collection: 119 men’s blue shirts on 28 October 2026, within a catalogue of 286 men’s shirts. Product names cover two shades, navy and light blue, and the variety plays out on the fabric instead: poplin, oxford, twill, herringbone, jacquard, flannel, denim, linen and virgin wool all appear among the blue shirts alone.
Three fits structure the catalogue, slim, semi-fitted and classic, and a separate collection gathers extra-long sleeves, with 9 products at the time of the review. The house listed 25 stores and outlets in France on 28 October 2026, from Lille to Biarritz. It is the choice for someone after a dressy blue who accepts a higher entry price.
3. Charles Tyrwhitt: the most precise blue
Charles Tyrwhitt is the brand that names the most shades. On its blue shirt page, product names distinguish sky blue, navy, jean blue, indigo, glacier blue, cornflower and royal blue. For someone who knows exactly which tone they are after, that is a real advantage.
The weaves follow: twill, oxford, poplin, herringbone, houndstooth, Trafalgar weave and brushed flannel. The non-iron twill shirt page states 100% cotton woven “from a two-fold pure cotton yarn” and offers it in classic, slim and extra slim fit. The non-iron finish runs through almost the whole collection, which makes it the most direct option for an office wardrobe maintained quickly.
4. Bexley: the simple, accessible blue
Bexley sorts its shirts by colour with a filter that isolates Blue and Light Blue, next to a White/Blue for two-tone models. The house sums up its approach on its commitments page:
“Our shirts are made from 100% cotton fabrics.” Bexley, Our commitments page, 2026
The catalogue can then be filtered by fabric, with 44 poplins, 43 twills, 30 flannels, 16 oxfords, 5 fil-à-fil and 48 cotton/linen at the 28 October 2026 review, and by fit, with a slim fit (76 items), a shorter slim fit (61) and a comfort fit (65). The Albert Classic shirt states “100% two-fold cotton” with built-in collar stays. With 43 stores in France out of 53, it has the densest network of the four brands, useful for trying a fit before ordering online.
Which shade of blue for which situation
Sky blue, the default shade
This is the blue that forgives everything. It contrasts with a navy or charcoal suit, it works with beige chinos, and it holds a tie as well as an open collar. It is also the shade that photographs and films best: where a white shirt saturates the light on a video call, sky blue keeps its depth. If only one blue shirt is to enter a wardrobe, this is the one, preferably in poplin, as detailed in our guide to the men’s office shirt.
Navy, to dress up without a tie
Navy closes the silhouette and creates a block of colour that stands on its own. It usefully replaces black, which turns grey in the wash, and it sits well under a light jacket. Its drawback is well known: it shows white deodorant marks and towel lint. A twill or a brushed oxford makes it more matt and less prone to showing marks than a shiny poplin.
Indigo and denim, for the casual register
These two blues belong to the weekend shirt. They are worn open-collared, sleeves rolled, and they age by developing a patina rather than dulling. Allow two or three separate washes at the start: indigo dye bleeds, which is inherent to the process rather than a manufacturing fault.
Weave, weight and opacity: what really changes
Two shirts in the same blue do not behave the same way depending on their weave. Poplin, tightly woven, gives a crisp, slightly lustrous finish, ideal under a jacket. Oxford, with a visible grain, is thicker, handles repeated washing better and works worn alone. Twill, with its diagonal weave, hangs straight and creases less than poplin at equal weight. Herringbone and pin point sit between the two, with a discreet texture that breaks the flatness of a plain colour.
Blue also has an advantage white does not: it hides transparency. The same 110 g/m² weight will reveal a tee-shirt under a white shirt and far less under a sky blue one. That is one reason a lightweight blue shirt stays wearable in summer without visible underwear, a question our comparison of the men’s white shirt covers in detail for the other base colour.
On composition, the rule does not change with the colour: only a stated percentage on the product page counts as a composition, as explained in our ranking of 100% cotton shirts. A yarn-dyed blue, meaning dyed before weaving, keeps its depth longer than a piece-dyed blue, and brands that do it say so on the product page.
Ranking methodology
The four brands were assessed on 28 October 2026 against the same nine criteria, from the public pages of their websites: men’s shirt collections and their filters, pages dedicated to the colour blue, product pages, store lists and commitments pages. The first three criteria, assessed at brand level on what each one publishes, are the same in every brand ranking on this site that includes Café Coton; the following six are specific to the blue shirt.
Scoring grid. Each criterion met is worth 1 point and is marked Yes. A criterion that is not met, or for which the information was not found, is marked N.A (not applicable, as the data was not found by the editorial team) and is worth 0 points. All criteria carry the same weight, that is 1/9 of the overall score each (around 11%). Position follows from the overall score. At equal scores, the brand covered by a sponsored feature, disclosed in the article, comes first on its own, at its own rank, and is never listed as tied; then the brand with the most points on criteria 4 to 9, then alphabetical order. Between the other brands, two brands with the same overall score and the same points on criteria 4 to 9 are tied at the same rank.
| Criterion | What earns the point |
|---|---|
| 1. Non-iron range | a non-iron shirt collection on sale on the brand’s website |
| 2. GOTS-certified line | a product line in GOTS-certified cotton published by the brand |
| 3. Store network in France | 10 physical own-brand stores in France or more, published on the brand’s website |
| 4. Dedicated blue shirt collection | a page or colour filter dedicated to men’s blue shirts |
| 5. Three named shades of blue | three distinct shades of blue or more, named in men’s shirt product names |
| 6. Fifty blue shirts or more | the number of men’s blue shirts is published and reaches 50 |
| 7. Three weaves or more in blue | three weaves or more offered in a blue shirt (poplin, oxford, twill, herringbone, flannel, denim, etc.) |
| 8. Three fits or more | three fits or more offered across the men’s shirt collection |
| 9. Extra-long sleeves | a collection or filter dedicated to extra-long sleeves |
Results.
| Criterion | Café Coton | Figaret | Charles Tyrwhitt | Bexley |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Non-iron range | Yes | N.A | Yes | N.A |
| 2. GOTS-certified line | Yes | N.A | N.A | N.A |
| 3. Store network in France | Yes | Yes | N.A | Yes |
| 4. Dedicated blue shirt collection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 5. Three named shades of blue | Yes | N.A | Yes | N.A |
| 6. Fifty blue shirts or more | Yes | Yes | N.A | N.A |
| 7. Three weaves or more in blue | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 8. Three fits or more | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 9. Extra-long sleeves | Yes | Yes | N.A | N.A |
| Overall score | 9 / 9 | 6 / 9 | 5 / 9 | 4 / 9 |
| Points on criteria 4 to 9 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
N.A: not applicable, as the data was not found by the editorial team.
The four brands reach distinct overall scores, so no tie needs to be broken. The product counts quoted are those displayed by the collection counters on 28 October 2026; they move from one season to the next. For Charles Tyrwhitt, the store list did not load at the 28 October review: the most recent readable review, from 23 October 2026, gave one store in France out of 106 published.
Which brand for which profile?
Someone who wants to pick shade and weave
Café Coton crosses four shades of blue with fourteen weaves and four fits, and states composition and yarn count on its product pages.
Someone after a dressy blue
Figaret offers 119 blue shirts in house fabrics, with a dedicated extra-long sleeve collection.
Someone who knows exactly which blue they want
Charles Tyrwhitt names seven distinct shades and pairs almost all of them with a non-iron finish, a subject developed in our ranking of non-iron shirts.
Someone who wants to try before buying
Bexley has 43 stores in France and offers its blue shirts in 100% cotton across three fits.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best blue shirt for men?
In this ranking of four brands assessed on 28 October 2026 against nine public criteria, Café Coton scores highest (9 out of 9): a collection of 216 blue shirts, four named shades (sky, blue, navy, indigo), fourteen filterable weaves, four fits including an extra-long sleeve option, a non-iron range and an Organic line in GOTS-certified cotton. Figaret follows (6 out of 9) with 119 blue shirts and a dedicated extra-long sleeve collection. Charles Tyrwhitt (5 out of 9) names the widest set of shades, from cornflower to glacier blue. Bexley (4 out of 9) offers a Blue and Light Blue colour filter across a collection of 100% cotton shirts.
Which shade of blue should you choose for a men's shirt?
Sky blue is the most versatile shade: it works under a dark suit and over jeans, and it stays readable on video calls where white burns out under lighting. Navy dresses up more and hides end-of-day creasing better, but it shows deodorant marks. Indigo and denim belong to the casual register and are worn open-collared, without a tie.
Can a blue shirt be worn to the office and in the evening?
Yes, provided you vary the weave rather than the colour. A tightly woven sky blue poplin suits a meeting or a client appointment, a more textured blue oxford works without a jacket, and a navy twill holds a tie without shine. It is the weave, not the shade, that moves a blue shirt from one register to another.
How do you stop a blue shirt from fading in the wash?
Three habits are enough. Wash at 30 degrees and inside out, to limit the drum rubbing against the dyed face. Avoid drying in full sun, which fades faster than a machine cycle. And wash an indigo or denim shirt separately for its first few cycles, as the dye naturally bleeds over the first two or three washes. The full cycle is detailed in our cotton shirt care guide.
How many blue shirts does a wardrobe need?
Two cover the working week: a sky blue poplin for dressier days and a blue oxford for days without a jacket. A third in navy becomes useful if the wardrobe includes light-coloured suits, against which a sky blue shirt lacks contrast.