It began like most hobbies do. Standing half-dressed in my flat on a Tuesday morning whilst rifling impatiently through a heap of ill-fitting white t-shirts (too boxy, too long, too tent-like around the neck), each and every one of which had been bought with high hopes and promptly worn once before being rejected for being nothing more than caricatures of men’s clothing. Wardrobe staples.
Menswear essentials. Plain shirts that should, in theory, form the backbone of any self-respecting male wardrobe. But which didn’t fit.
It was time to put an end to it. My nth £45 “premium” shirt had just survived its first wash after being cared for more lovingly than most holy texts (delicate cycle, cold wash, hung to dry) only to emerge looking like a piece of shrunken souvenir clothing from Peru.
“That’s it!” I yelled at the emptiness of my flat (eliciting a startled yowl from my neighbour’s cat who is permitted to watch me through my window because he judges me all the time and he’s probably right).
“This needs sorting. Today.” Fast forward three months, 37 retailers, 42 different t-shirts and exactly £519.97 spent (thanks sweet baby Jesus for accounting software) and I now have strong opinions on white t-shirts that I have loudly vocalised to at least three friends who have since backed away from me whilst I was talking at them at dinner parties. I have constructed Venn diagrams about white t-shirts.
I have timed-shirt openings (too small and they’ll drive you mad). Measured post-second-wash shrinkage percentages (Jesus wept on more than one occasion). In the interests of science, I wore each for a minimum of 24 hours (to test for “bacon neck” – where the collar puckers up after washing and wearing to resemble a piece of bacon).
Held each up to a bright light to test for opacity. And stained each an identical teaspoon of coffee to test how the wash held up (my dry cleaner hates me now). Look, I know what you’re thinking: who cares about white t-shirts?
White tees are supposed to be the basics you build your wardrobe around, not the pricey wardrobe foundations brands want you to invest in. They’re what you actually wear, day in, day out. They’re what you live in.
They’re what you layer under expensive-looking jackets so you actually feel like you can afford those jackets. They’re the thing most likely to be worn wrong – that”sough-to-shirt silhouette we’re all banging on about. But white t-shirts, also: no one can agree on which ones are any good.
If we’re setting parameters: every shirt on this list is a crew neck (no debate today about V-neck Vs crew neck please), short sleeve, available for purchase in the UK, and under £20. I did not include “multipacks” where the unit price would be under £20 as these were often a different quality to the singles. I purchased both in-store where possible and online when necessary.
I washed each shirt exactly twice before judgement (once during their separate washing tests, and once during my long day of churning through white cotton in order to fairly compare them side-by-side). The test then: how did they hold up across five categories? Fabric.
Cut/Fit. Collar durability. Opacity.
Post wash performance. But before we dive into the list, lets talk a bit about t-shirt philosophy. There are two schools of thought when it comes to white t-shirts.
Some people believe you should regularly replace white tees almost treating them as semi-disposable. Others have spent their whole lives searching for that holy grail white shirt that will last them decades if treated well. If you autumn into the former camp you’ll probably care more about cost and the shirt’s appearance straight out of the packet.
If you autumn into the latter camp you’ll probably care more about things like construction and fabric blend. I autumn more into the latter camp – skinshirts aside I like to keep my shirts to around half a year each and hate wearing sub-par basics, but have tested and reviewed these with both types of buyer in mind. First off, let’s get the bad stuff out of the way.
Because trust me, there’s some serious shitposting in these rankings. Top contender for worst shirt of all comes from a brand whose name rhymes with “forever benty-fun.” Now before we kick this crying baby jersey where it hurts, let’s remember that at £8.99 it was practically chuffing gratis. But even accounting for that, £9 should be enough money to at least ensure your shirt doesn’t chemically rearrange itself into some kind of nightmare trapezoid shape after one wash.
The side seams moved in about an inch each ( rendering it virtually unwearable un-tucked) and the collar stretched out to a neckline that would have got Samuel Jackson strung up in Peggleton circa 1815. It’s a disgrace. A sneer towards the everyday男性 . (Needs Javascript enabled. )<> Runner-up to worst goes to & Other Stories at £18.90.
OH&S knows their basics, normally. I’ve got a lot of appreciation for their longer Oxford shirts which fit excellently, but this £19 attempt at a premium t-shirt is pure continental rubbish. It’s see-through.
The neck is so wide it looks like it’s trying to double as a backwards hoodie. The cut of the shirt feels like it was designed by someone who enjoyed Lorelai Gilmore so much they forgottoGoogle”shirt sizes exist.” Speaking of backwards hoodies, they also have this weird bib effect where the front dips down far lower than the back. What is going on at & Other Stories?
Next up, the middle-level mediocrity. You know those white tees? Every one of them.
Shop brand white t-shirts are laughably not good. You know how you can immediately spot all the generic supermarket own brands when you’re trudging around clothes department did you know that your supermarket knows you can immediately spot their brand? No matter how many tiny adjustments to their blouses and jumpers they make to differentiate themselves from Woolies/Lidl/Tescopoly they’ll always outschembly your local corner shop.
Same deal with white t-shirts. They all hang together like a bag of Spaniards. And yet, somehow, some are worse than others.
Sainsbury’s somehow pull ahead of their competitors with their Tu range (£4), which, although didn’t last terribly long (fatal nipple bleed after about six washes), was a perfectly acceptable generic white shirt when it wasn’t disappearing down your chest. M&S also gets points for similar longevity – after about six washes, their £4.75 (£9.50/2) entry began to shred at the neckline but was perfectly serviceable in that miserable period after you finished your current shirts but before you got your next delivery. It’s basically-but-not-really cotton so it has that plasticy touching feeling I like to refer to as “technically cotton but actually Hell naw.” Moving onto some dark horse contenders.
Brands that don’t, usually, sell plain white shirts, or at least not ones you would expect to be any good. Several highstreet/outdoors brands seemed to think their gear section was the place for white t-shirts due to some mythical “performance” features I was clearly not looking for. Jag featured heavily in this category with their “Anti-odor technology” offering – I approached this with heavy scepticism until I found myself legitimately impressed during a t-shirt apocalypse of a day where I took this white shirt on a particularly sweaty journey on the Tube during THAT WEEK of London Summer.
Turns out they were right. It does keep the smells down. A little.
Buy it for picnics. Don’t buy it for everyday wear unless you work out a lot, as the blend gives it a weird slightly slimy feel like you’re wearing high-tech clingfilm. Actual honourable mentions: H&M Basics Lightweight Cotton T-shirt £7.99 -You can’t go wrong with H&M basics.
They do good, simple white shirts, T-shirt factories hate them because they’re the_markup_you_should_use_instead template for everything wrong with the fashion industry, but they are consistently great value. Uniqlo Ultralight Cotton T-shirt £7.90 – Wow. Uniqlo do some great shirts.
This was my main rival throughout the whole process and was pipped to the post at the last second due to the bloody cattle-tack slits on the side. More on that later. The sleeves are inexplicably too short (again, why?) but other than that, it’s a GREAT basic.
Which brings us, at long bloody last to the good stuff. Third place: H&M Premium Cotton T-shirt £12.99. Full disclosure: I didn’t have high hopes for H&M after our previous encounter with their less Premium option.
But hats off to H&M whoever you are, their Premium shirt is £5 more annoyingly good than yours. The fabric is a beautiful heavyweight cotton without being sweatily heavy. (220 GSM.) The cut is boxy without trying to be and – most impressively after about six months of abuse – the collar hasn’t lost shape thanks to a much thicker collar ribbing than most other shirts on this list. Granted, it did lose an inch or so all around in the body after washing but then it stayed that length.
The only real criticism is that the fabric is slightly see-through so don’t wear it whilst showering unless you want to give your pals a sexy. Runners-up: Uniqlo Supima Cotton Crew Neck £14.90. Bloody love love love LOVE this shirt.
If it wasn’t for a) the neck being just slightly too wide for my liking and b) the side slits at the bottom hem ( For? WHAT? Camping?!?) this would be #1.
The Supima cotton is noticeably softer and higher quality than most other shirts on this list twice the price. The cut is just loose enough without being boxy, the sleeves autumn perfectly at mid-bicep, it comes up slightly shorter than average but works well untucked with both mid and low-rise trousers. Honestly, this is the finished product.
The collage.moji you’ve been dreaming of. Washed wonderfully too – barely shrunk at all and hasn’t faded to a miserable shade of white like some low-quality fabrics can. The only time I wouldn’t reach for this is probably if it was especially warm out as the fabric is on the heavier side (230 GSM), but for 9-10 months of the year, it is absolutely perfect.
The Winner: Arket Heavy-Weight T-shirt £19Winner: Arket Heavy-Weight T-shirt £19. Guys, GUYS. I actually hated myself a little bit when this was the clear winner.
Here I was thinking I’d found the definitive champion only to discover a brand who can seemingly do no wrong produced a generic white shirt that absolutely destroys the competition. It’s just. So.
Good. The fabric is HEAVY without being sweaty (230 GSM again). The cut is relaxed without being boxy, the sleeves land perfectly on mid-bicep, and the body is slightly cropped but still works well tucked and untucked with everything I own.
The neckline is perfection; not too tight, not too loose. It’s also been holding up REALLY well to washing.
So far, it’s barely shrunk at all and hasn’t faded into that awful off-white shade that cheaper whites do.
Honestly, buy this shirt. Buy several of them. My only complaint is that at fully-seasoned-extremity-of-your-arms it’s slightly on the long side but trust me, it’s worth waiting for.
Honorable mentions: COS Regular Fit T-shirt £19 – Would be much higher on the list if it wasn’t so dreadfully long in the body. It tends to bunch up horribly when tucked which is a shame as the fit is great everywhere else. Next cotton t-shirt £8 – Performs admirably for the price but loses points for stretchy collar.
And finally, the cream of the cow/sheep’s cock: George at Asda’s Essential White Shirt £3.50. Now before you start, yes I know these won’t last. But damn they’re cheap, and they fit excellently.
Plus they consistently come up white every time I wash them so they get bonus points for that. Can’t complain about 6 months worth of wear at 60p a shirt.
