I’ve been on the hunt for a t-shirt recently. One that meets a list of nearly impossible criteria: well-fitting, colorfast, shape-retaining and looks at home across a wide range of occasions from casual wear to business meetings, even after multiple passes through the washing machine.

The only common thread here is that fast fashion is almost unreservedly out of the running.

The context

My first 3 jobs post-college were remote positions. Working at a marketing agency as an early twenty-something doesn’t lend itself to developing a sense of dailywear style. My day-to-day outfits looked something like solid color H&M tees ($50 for 10 at the time), shorts from J. Crew Factory and the occasional accessory like a watch or bracelet. It left a lot to be desired — but not for me at the time.

Fast forward to 2023. I was hired as a channel manager for organic search at Blackhawk Network (Giftcards.com). Basic tees would clearly be out of place. Right? I went with the safe but not overbearing option. I had grown up watching my dad go to work wearing a rotation of freshly pressed black or charcoal slacks with an equally crisp lineup of oxford or poplin dress shirts. This felt stuffy so I adapted. Vuori tech pants to offset the uber-formal look and Ralph Lauren classic mesh knit polos worn tucked with a belt to keep a clean visual break at the beltline. When I did wear button up shirts, it was almost begrudgingly, in a manner somewhat akin to a rebellious teenager; don’t ask about my habit of rolling up the sleeves.

What I missed across all of my prior use cases was not just form and context. It was material and contrast. While it might be easiest to follow general guidelines for business casual (collared shirt, slacks or chinos, oxfords or wingtips), what makes a solid outfit is anchoring to a set level of formality and assessing which pieces allow you to bend the rules. In practice, this might look like wearing raw denim jeans with a patterned poplin or twill button up shirt and oxfords or Chelsea boots. The dress shirt silhouette paired with the shoes carries the formal aspects of the look while the jeans pull back the tone to a more relaxed level. Or, perhaps more pertinently, pairing a ridiculously high quality plain tee with chinos or even dress pants.

We’ll come back to this later.

What’s in my wallet wardrobe

Spring cleaning this year meant ruthlessly phasing out lesser-worn items which included roughly seven t-shirts. 

What made the cut:

Seriously. I was down to five tees total for daily wear with a handful of graphic tees mixed in for workouts, house work & sleep.

What t-shirts are worth keeping?

Each remaining piece has been reliable beyond belief and next to zero effort to maintain.

Bronson Mfg. Co. tubular t-shirts

The Bronsons came in at $30 a shirt and an insert recommending that I hang-dry them (which I promptly discarded and disregarded).

I initially bought five. Three non-loopwheel in 9 oz cotton (blue, green, brown) and two loopwheel (charcoal, heathered gray).

These tees are not designed to drape smoothly or sit tucked into your pants. As homage to the vintage athletic style of t-shirt, Bronson leans into heavy construction and keeps a boxy frame which comes at the cost of softness. By no means are they uncomfortable; however, they have an almost starchy quality about them which reminds you they’re made to create a more dominant silhouette.

One year later, the non-loopwheel tees are on their way out while the loopwheel ones are earning their place in my closet.

The real story here is not as simple as “loopwheel good, non-loopwheel bad.” The nuance is in the stitching; the non-loopwheel tees use a polyester thread at the seams which holds up marvelously in the washer and dryer. However, this means as the cotton relaxes, it stretches disproportionately versus the low-elasticity stitching which causes torquing, or excess widening at the torso level.

The loopwheel tees have higher attention to detail because of their category and competition. The highly regarded manufacturers in the space — Whitesville, Asket and of course, Merz b. Schwanen — are the de facto benchmark. Loopwheel diehards will immediately pick up on slight inadequacies in basic tees; the expectations are high. This means they come with better seams held together with cotton thread that breaks in evenly as you wash.

Recommend: Bronson Loopwheel Tubular Athletic or Slub tees. Read the product description and make sure the stitching at the seams is cotton or another elastic material. Wash confidently, dry carefully (parbake in the dryer and hang dry).

Uniqlo Supima t-shirts

The everlasting GOATs. These are wildly popular and heralded as a divine creation — and for good reason.

Uniqlo has managed to hit nearly every single note for t-shirts. Soft, great fit, expansive colorways, different styles (crewneck, v-neck, oversize, standard) — it’s hard to go wrong here, especially for $20 or less.

Comfort is unparalleled compared to the Bronson shirts. These tees mold to your body in a silky way, drape effortlessly on the shoulders & have a cooling characteristic which lends them a premium feel.

I currently have forest green, dusty blue and sand color Supima tees. All of them have held up beautifully in the wash and I dry them with impunity. They even stay creased on the sleeves between washes. My utter disregard for their well being makes them one of the best in my rotation.

Recommend: any and all Uniqlo Supima clothing, but especially basic tees. Size down for a fitted look because they tend to run wide.

The new contenders

A few companies I’m exploring at the moment are Lady White Co., Buck Mason, Sunspel & Merz b. Schwanen.

My foray into this segment started with Lady White Co. These are quite hard to find where I live, but I managed to find a local stockist, and stopped by to try a few colorways. The medium shirt which was the closest fit based on my chest size felt like I was almost swimming in fabric. It’s a truly boxy, well-weighted athletic tee, but this comes with excess material at every size. The small tee, however, absolutely nailed it. Fit, construction & color. I walked out with a sage green shirt.

Supposedly, their reactive-dyed tees hold their color much better than the pigment-dyed pieces I’ve typically purchased from other brands in the past. Haven’t worn or washed this yet but will provide an update once it gets some miles.

Quick note: reactive dyeing involves chemically binding colors to fibers while pigment dyeing is more like applying paint to a canvas in which it sits as a top layer over the fiber. Neither is inherently better than the other — just a matter of preference. Reactive dyed pieces will hold their colors better over time while pigment dyed pieces will develop that vintage faded look.

I’ve heard that the higher end pieces, namely Sunspel and Merz b., work with dress pants. However, I’ll have to take a flyer on that aspect if I try on the shirts in-store since I don’t often wear dress pants out.

Takeaways

The best construction and longevity seem to come from longer-staple cottons, reactive dyed if possible. Seaming material matters more than it might appear. Blasting any clothes in the dryer will wear them excessively, but it’s up to you to decide how much effort this is worth.

How a shirt feels on your frame is the do-or-die factor. I advocate for trying new clothes on in person and landing on sizes, colors and materials that harmonize with your existing wardrobe and routines.

Each new piece you add should fit a real use case for your life while supporting the new directions you want to test.

What’s next

I’m heading to Washington, D.C. later this week and then New York City afterward to meet up with friends and a couple of clients. The plan is to visit as many of these stores or stockists as possible, and also put Lady White Co. to the test in real world conditions.

What I’m most interested in testing is if you can truly anchor a semi-formal look to the right pants and shoes and let an elevated t-shirt become a supporting voice in the ensemble rather than detracting from it.