UPF 50+ Sun Shirts and Jackets

UPF 50+ is the top of the scale, and every piece in this department carries it. The number means the fabric lets through at most one fiftieth of the sun's ultraviolet light. That holds while the fabric is dry and intact, and it stops at the fabric's edge: the rating does not cover hands, neck or face.

The department splits by how it closes. Hooded pullovers with thumbholes are the fishing and hiking ones. Zip-up jackets go on and off in a car park. Button-down shirts are the ones that pass as a shirt at lunch.

Lightweight is the point. These are thin, quick-drying layers meant to go over a tank or a swimsuit in July, and they are not warm. In April you will want the layers department instead.

A sun shirt is a dry-land garment first. The rash guards and swim shirts, also UPF 50+, are cut for the water and live in swim.