I'm another on the fence. I own several linen shirts and several mixed linen with some other fibre items.
I love the look of linen when it is freshly ironed. I love the way it holds colour. High quality linen items (and especially linen blends) can drape so beautifully! And good quality linen also feels good on my skin in the heat and humidity.
But...I admit...the wrinkle factor does get in the way of my enjoyment. I can't completely make peace with the crease.
I'm much happier with my linen-cotton blend items -- those barely crease at all, especially the really high quality ones, like my Dries pants. I also have a linen-wool blend jacket from Paul Smith that is truly brilliant! Does not crease. (Both of these were consignment purchases.)
Not all blends work brilliantly, though. I have a Zara linen-viscose blend outfit that does tend to crease up over the course of a day, though at least the creases fall out if you stand for some time.
I would probably resign myself to the crease factor much more easily if I felt more geniune need for linen. Here in the west it is much, much less humid than Ontario's, even when hot. So there is less strong need for linen. This must be similar to what some go through in their personal debates about wool or cashmere. If your climate is not truly cold, how much potentially itchy wool or pilly cashmere do you need in your life?
So there is that -- my linen blend items also work better for my climate than pure linen. If I move somewhere very hot, that could change!
JAileen -- I love the look of that toile shirt! Love toile pattern!
