Hi, I bought and reviewed 34 white t-shirts and here are my findings. Ok, full disclosure, I embarked on this wild quest to test dozens of white t-shirts because I have absolutely no willpower and an obscene amount of free time. I was chillin’ with my design school buddy Jake and his roommate Chris when we got into an argument about white t-shirts.
You see, Jake was bragging about how his $60 imported Japanese cotton blah blah blah is the best and holier than thou about how all other t-shirts just don’t compare. Chris had the audacity to argue with him, saying “nah bro I’ve been rocking my three-pack of white tees from Target for years and they totally do the job.” Naturally, I had to step in and proclaim that I would prove once and for all which store has the best white tee. “Are you serious, like every white tee at every store?” asked Jake incredulously. “Watch me.” is my reply to most sentences when I’m sleep deprived and over caffeinated. Fast forward three months.
I’ve spent nearly $800 on white t-shirts. My bedroom resembles a scene from iCloud Penis’ blockbuster hit, White T-Shirt 2: The Pirmary Color .
And my girlfriend Emma thinks I’ve lost my mind.
She would also be correct. However, what I also did was try on and live wear 34 different white tees from every retail store imaginable. Target, Walmart, Uniqlo, H&M, you name the store that sells affordable basics to normal Americans I probably visited it.
Obviously I didn’t include trendy online brands with wacky prices because that’s just insanity and I’m here to review readily accessible tees for normal people. Rules were simple. Crew neck.
Plain white. Nothing else. No graphics, no pockets, no weird cuts.
Just straight up boring as humanly possible because white t-shirts are supposed to be the simplest of garments. And holy crap did prices range from these specs. I somehow managed to spend between $8 and $65 on each bloody shirt.
Multiply that by 34 and you’ll see why both Emma and I questioned my sanity. Ok, onto the review itself. For each tee I judged appearance out of the bag, feel against skin, overall look when worn and – prepare yourself for TMI- nipple visibility (you’re welcome female readers).
Unless otherwise noted, each tee was washed multiple times because if a shirt doesn’t look good after several wears it’s pointless. Let’s start downthis bajillion white-shirt rabbit hole… $8-15: Guys, these are awful. I truly wanted the $8 H&M basic to defy all logic and be somehow amazing.
Imagine paying eight dollars for the perfect white tee. But no, these are garbage. After one wash the material literally pilled like a tissue paper.
You could see your skin through it. The necks stretched out and most shirts had some sort of weird fitting issue. Every single cheap shirt I tried was like this.
They may look good on the rack but the material is cheap for a reason. Spend a few more bucks and your shirt will actually last more than one wash. Oh and another thing I learned about inexpensive clothing: It’s actually not that cheap if you have to replace it every season.
Kind of seems silly when you think about it. Moving onto mid-range. H&M standard cotton crew neck: $12.
Surprisingly not terrible! Didn’t hold up great to washing but for $12 I can forgive a lot. If you don’t mind washing your whites with darks once in awhile I definitely recommend this as your budget option.
H&M premium cotton crew neck: $18. Much better! Material feels thicker and softer.
Holds up to multiple washes and doesn’t have weird stretching or fitting issues. If you can go up slightly from their standard version definitely do! Target Goodfellow generic crew neck: $12.
Really?! Target sells themselves as this “forefront of affordable basics” brand, but their generic white tee is horrible. It felt rough and had really poor fit.
Started to look misshapen after the first wash too. Target Goodfellow overshirt: $18. Much better quality than their generic version.
Much thicker fabric and actually quite comfy. Survived dozens of washes without losing color or fit. Alright this is getting boring, but we gotta do this.
Uniqlo Supima cotton crew neck: $20. Guys. where do I even start? This may be the best shirt I tried all month.
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The material is smooth and noticeably thicker than most other brands. Doesn’t pill under laundry like nastier shirts and even after ~6 washes looks new. They have a superior version in their U collection that runs $5 more but worth checking out as well.
Both way exceed the quality of any other shirt under $25. Gap Crew Neck: $18… ruined? Seriously Gap?
You used to be my go-to for basic shirts but this thing is garbage. Feels thin and overall just has horrible fit. Too tight around the shoulders and chest but hangs really loosely everywhere else.
Did someone at Gap forget how to use a sewing machine? Okay these next two surprised me. Costco’s Kirkland brand white tee (I know, I was skeptical too) as part of a three-pack: $15.
Yup $5 a shirt. Not by any means the best fabric I’ve felt but definitely not the worst. Seems pretty durable and holds shape decently.
Everlane’s classic crew neck: $18. Another brand that I didn’t think had a damn white tee surprised me. Quality feels great, fits well, and even after multiple washes looks pretty good.
Everlane boasts about how they’re “radically transparent” with their factory pricing and what have you. Which is all nice and dandy but I care mostly if my shirt doesn’t suck. The expensive shirts… Here’s where it gets really weird.
I did finish off the month purchasing some higher end shirts just to see what all the hooplah is about. Sure enough, the $50+ options from expensive brands are nice. But are they really three times better than the $18 Uniqlo shirt I mentioned above?
No. Not by a long shot. There comes a point where you’re just paying for perceived prestige instead of actually getting a better product.
Now before you one-stars and call me awful let me just say I get it. Nothing feels quite as nice as walking around in a $60 shirt that says Michael vs. Air Jordan on the chest.
But if you’re looking for a quality basic you’re much better off spending your money at Uniqlo. Aside from the obvious findings here are some other things I learned: Fit is MORE important than most people realize. You can have the highest quality shirt in the world but if it doesn’t fit you well it will look terrible.
How you wash your clothes matter more than you might think as well. Always wash whites with whites, use cold water, and wash on gentle. Heat will destroy your clothes entirely regardless of the quality.
And for the love of all that is good, dry on low_heat unless you want to shrink your favorite shirts. Sweat is also a factor. White shirts show everything so if you’re a person who sweats (raises hand) greatly you’ll need to account for that.
Some materials help hide it better than others and some brands actually sell moisture-wicking options that work pretty damn well! So after testing dozens of tee shirts (literally dozed off in one of them… what a waste) here are my official rankings. $15-25: Uniqlo Supima cotton crew neck ($20). Yes you read that correctly.
This shirt was head and shoulders above the competition. It feels fantastic, is thick enough that you don’t have to worry about proper opacity, and even after numerous washes it shows almost no sign of wear and tear. The U collection version is also amazing but runs $5 more.
If you’re wanting to spend a little extra their U version goes for $25 and might as well just call it couture. Seriously fantastic shirt with wonderful material and fit.
For budget minded folk H&M’s premium version is great too at $18.
Just beware that it won’t last nearly as long as the Uniqlo options. DO NOT BUY anything under $12 or over $40. Seriously folks, it’s garbage and you’re just wasting your money or buying into hype.
Retailers like to make you think you need $60 t-shirts when realistically you can find amazing ones for about half the price. I honestly could’ve stopped testing way before I did and these would’ve been my results. I ended keeping my top 5 shirts and donating the rest to goodwill.
I think the worker there thought I was a cult leader when I brought him a bag with 29 white tees all in the same size. But hey, someone out there needed them right? TLDR: If you live in Portland and were wondering why Goodwill had a sudden surge of ~marginally worn white t-shirts last month… yep that was def me.
Moral of the story: Don’t do what I did. But if you have already and want some shopping recommendations I got you boo.
