Fabric, fit, weight and drape – there’s more to picking the perfect tee than meets the eye. Our menswear expert rounds up his favourites.
I didn’t think about Marlon Brando when I got dressed this morning. Or James Dean or Steve McQueen, for that matter. But every time you pull a white T-shirt over your head, they’re the ones you should have in the back of your mind.
Before they came along, a white T-shirt was just underwear. They made the silhouette cultural shorthand for effortless style and, ever since, it’s been the simplest – and coolest – thing in every wardrobe. These days, Jacob Elordi’s off-duty wardrobe usually consists of a white T-shirt – whether that’s under a cardigan, tucked into tailored trousers, or just visible at the hem of a zipped-up work jacket.
Done to a tee: Ayo Edebiri, right, and Jeremy Allen White, wearing his character’s trademark white T-shirt, in a scene from TV drama The Bear. Photograph: Chuck Hodes/AP
Finding the perfect white T-shirt can be harder than it looks – weight, drape, neckline, fabric, fit and the shade of white itself all matter when something’s so minimal in design. As a stylist, I bring a few iterations to every fitting because it’s the basic that gets along so easily with everything else: denim, tailoring, casual shirts, smart trousers and sports shorts. Here’s how to choose the right one, plus the best white T-shirts you can buy now.
Best Cult Pick:
Merz b. Schwanen 215 Loopwheeled Classic Fit Midweight T-Shirt
Few white T-shirts have made a cultural impact like Merz b Schwanen’s 215. It’s the top Jeremy Allen White wears throughout The Bear – and it turned a 115-year-old, niche German heritage label into a cult menswear label overnight. If you’ve seen the show, you’ll understand why: a classic crew neck; a snug, considered fit through the torso; and considered details often missed by other brands – triangle inserts under the arms to relieve stress on the seam, and baseball stitching (a crisscross, zigzag pattern). It’s worth noting that it runs small, though, so size up.
- Peter Bevan / The Guardian