The Best Men's White T-Shirts That Will Leave You Looking Crisp And Fresh

We're talking fit, fabric, sizing and affordability.

Does the “best” white T-shirt actually exist? Probably not, right? Style, of course, is highly subjective, and the last time we checked, it’s impossible to please everyone. What we do know for certain, however, is that everyone should have a white tee they believe in — one they can look at with fastidious joy and endorse without hesitation. And that’s where we come in.

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In searching for the best white T-shirt for men, we enlisted a few good men of assorted sizes to evaluate 25 crispy and not-so-crispy white tees, keeping in mind everything from fit to fabric, sizing to affordability. The goal: to find the cleanest white crewneck tee (no logos or messages, please!) that’s comfortable, stylish, and flattering for a wide range of body types, looks handsome either layered or on its own, and won’t fall apart or shrink to a miniature size after washing.

While some of our winners didn’t surprise us, others definitely did. In fact, we think it’s no coincidence that our testing panel for men’s tees came to the same conclusions as our testing panel for women’s T-shirts. If anything, it proves that with a lot of patience and determination, the “best” white tee might actually be a thing. Below, the white T-shirts we wholeheartedly believe in, presented at three different price points.

Uniqlo Supima Cotton Crew Neck T-Shirt

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After testing a number of wallet-friendly white tees for this review, we feel a discussion about affordable T-shirts must include Uniqlo, both because the Japanese casualwear brand does basics like no other, and because their Supima Cotton Crew Neck T-Shirt easily outdid every other budget tee we tested.

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So if you were hoping we were gonna recommend a wildly cheap shirt sold in shrink-wrapped multiples, we’re sorry for the unwelcome news. But look, that doesn’t mean we didn’t try! Our testers had a laundry list of gripes with multipack-friendly brands (e.g., your Fruit of the Looms, Jockeys, and Hanes), including — but not limited to — “baggy sleeves,” “too long,” and our favorite: “It looks like I’m wearing a cardboard box made for humans.” These shirts might work great as undershirts, but that’s about as far as we got with them.

Mind you, if we had to recommend a value pack, it’d be Kirkland Signature (that’s right, the Costco brand). Heavyweight, generously oversized, and constructed with a higher-than-normal neckline, this tee is far from perfect. But after a few tumbles in the wash (sizing down is your best bet), the shirt shrank to a respectable fit that testers agreed was “passable.”

When compared to value-pack tees of the world, Uniqlo’s T-shirt is basically high-street fashion. It just looks and feels like a more expensive shirt. It’s formfitting but on the boxier side, with a sleeve length and overall drape that agrees with most body types (of all our picks, Uniqlo comes in the widest variety of sizes). This shirt is for those looking for a no-nonsense tee that actually complements its wearer — all for just under a Hamilton.

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Before we go deeper into fit and styling, there’s the matter of fabric. This shirt is cut from 100% long-fibered Supima cotton, which gives it a leg up over any shirt made from regular ol’ cotton. Supima is known for being smooth and luxurious to the touch, and Uniqlo’s tee does not disappoint. The shirt is soft yet resilient, and unlike most of the budget tees we tested, it won’t ever feel like it’s chafing your entire torso.

Out of all of our winning tees, Uniqlo is the lightest in the weight department. Good news: That’s great for hot climes. Not-so-good news: It’ll cling to the curves of your chest and waist. Plus, lighter-weight fabrics have more of a tendency to wrinkle, so it’s best to give this shirt a once-over when pulling it out of the dryer. It’s also worth noting that the shirt is not preshrunk, so it’ll definitely exercise some shrinkage after repeated laundering (we suggest line-drying if you’re happy with the off-the-rack fit).

Still, every tester noted they’d be happy to wear the Uniqlo tee about town on its own, a designation bestowed to only one other budget tee we tested, which coincidentally came from another Japanese brand with a thing for everyday basics: Muji’s organic cotton shirt offers a narrower cut if you’re into a slimmer fit, but because it’s thinner and harder to find, we can’t be confident to recommend it for most people.

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Fit, of course, comes down to personal style, but Uniqlo lends just enough leeway to make it your own. The ribbed neckline is tagless and lies flat, while the sleeves set flush on the arms with a with a long sleeve length that the majority of our testers decided to roll up. Either way, you won’t look a child swimming in a hand-me-down shirt — unless you like the oversized look, in which case we recommend sizing up for full effect.

If you’re the type who thinks white T-shirts are impossible to keep clean — so why spend so much money? — Uniqlo’s Supima Cotton Crew Neck will be a revelation. A handsome, high-quality tee that won’t give you anxiety if it racks up a couple of stains? Yep, you’re looking at it. And while we’re partial to the white tee, once you realize how good this shirt is for the price, you’re gonna want to pick it up in every color. Time to make more room in the closet.

Get it from Uniqlo for $10.

Everlane Men's Cotton Crew

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If the “best” white T-shirt is a three-way Venn diagram of fit, fabric, and affordability — you know where this is going — Everlane falls smack-dab in the middle. It’s actually sweet to think about how this San Francisco-based casualwear brand launched with one single cotton T-shirt back in 2011, and here we are, years later, still talking about it. If you’re looking for a super-comfy, well-tailored white T-shirt that won’t strain your wallet, you can’t beat Everlane’s Cotton Crew.

The mostly online clothing company has built a loyal following by working directly with factories to make and sell minimal basics that complement any look, and without the traditional retail markup. Add that Everlane is committed to better labor practices, and its clothing will make you feel good in more ways than one.

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The Cotton Crew features 100% combed cotton, which is a softer version of cotton made by specially treating the cotton fibers before they’re spun up. What’s that mean? Basically that this shirt is so soft you won’t want to take it off. Among testers’ favorite aspects of this shirt is its weight, which feels slightly more substantial than our $ pick and provides more structure than the fabric first lets on.

What we found from other similarly priced tees, like those from American Apparel, Alternative Apparel, and Amazon’s Goodthreads, is that you can make the softest, most airy-feeling T-shirt, but all that becomes an annoyance if the shirt is too light, or too relaxed-fitting. With Everlane, you get the best of both worlds: a T-shirt that’s supple to the touch, but with enough weight so that even folks with a bit of bulk can move comfortably.

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Compared with our $ pick, this shirt simply has a better all-around fit. Everlane says the fit is “slim,” but you should just take that to mean “tailored.” It starts at the ribbed neckline, which is wider than most, and lies flat. The sleeves hug the arm and fall mid-bicep, which is a good mix if you’re trying to flex (even if you don’t have much to flex about). As for the chest and torso, all of our testers said that the shirt was formfitting, but not too tight. Our testers felt confident wearing this shirt untucked with denim, fully tucked under chore coats and cardigans, and underneath sweatshirts. No matter how it was worn, we found ourselves coming back to this shirt again and again.

As for quality at this price point, Everlane lives up to the hype. Cleaner lines and stronger visible stitching made this shirt a standout. That’s not to say this tee is perfect: It will shrink a bit, and some testers reported they had to iron out a few wrinkles in the collar after a couple of washes (while others said they didn’t mind a few tatty wrinkles — to each their own). On the flip side, the shirt did get softer after repeated washes and settled into a handsome broken-in look that all of our testers could get on board with.

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We should note that Everlane also sells a pocketed version for the same exact price, which is worth looking into if you wanna mix it up. In the market for something more substantial? We’re also fans of the Premium-Weight Crew. So no matter the season, this brand has you covered. If you’re ready to take the next step and get a white tee with a bit of a more tailored fit that won’t break the bank, look no further than Everlane.

Get it from Everlane for $18.

Buck Mason Pima Curved Hem Tee

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You’d be surprised at how much you can spend on a single white T-shirt. And what a baffling group of T-shirts “luxury” tees are! On the surface, these rarefied designer items are comfortable and durable enough, even if many of them flash a price tag so lavish you’d think they were cut from the tunic of an ancient Greek god. While we did test a number of pricey T-shirts, the question we came back to over and over again was why drop so much money when you’ve got Buck Mason?

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Here’s the deal: If you’re comfortable with spending $100 on a T-shirt, you’ve got options, and we have at least one favorite (more on that below). But we here at BuzzFeed focused mainly on the sub-$50 range, which led us to conclude that in addition to being comfortable and flattering, the “best” white T-shirt shouldn’t be so expensive that you can’t replace it. That’s why we’re putting our weight behind the Pima Curved Hem Tee from Buck Mason.

Since launching in 2013, Buck Mason has made a name for itself as an American brand committed to making men more handsome, one basic at a time. That’s hardly an original idea, but we think the Los Angeles–based label goes beyond with an oh-so-consistent lineup of classic pieces that people of all ages can see themselves in. Menswear brands may never tire of using the word “timeless” to describe themselves, but after our testing, we’re happy to report that Buck Mason truly lives up to the sentiment.

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The first of many devil-housing details our testers loved about this shirt was the rounded hem. While the shirt is a wee bit on the longer side, the hem is curved, much like your favorite button-down shirt. A small detail, perhaps, but a hem that curves downward has its benefits, mainly that it draws the eye vertically and elongates the leg line by exposing more hip on both sides. Still, we know a curved hem isn’t to everyone’s taste — one tester even wondered if the hem was “too hip” for him — so it’s important to note that Buck Mason also offers its tees with a classic straight white hem. We tried both, but went with the curved variation because it’s just something you don’t see every day.

When it comes to comfort, Buck Mason’s tee got high marks for “everything fitting a better than your average T-shirt,” as one tester noted. The shirt is cut from 100% pima cotton, which means it’s got the whole lightweight and soft thing going on. It’s also cut slim, but with enough weight so it won’t cling, which will leave folks wondering if you’re hiding a set of washboard abs underneath it all (they’ll never know!). Meanwhile, the arm holes sit higher for a more tailored silhouette, and the sleeves fit a little tighter and fall higher on the arms. In hindsight, Buck Mason basically solves all the problems that we came across when testing the budget range.

Our only rub? The neckline, which got its fair share of wrinkles after a few washes. It doesn’t have a noticeable rib line, which actually works with the shirt’s overall clean aesthetic, but that means you’ll have to smooth it out every once in a while if you’re trying to keep up appearances. That said, the shirt is preshrunk, so you won’t have to worry too much about shrinkage (we said it before, and we’ll say it again: line-dry, people!).

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The other thing our testers liked about this brand is variety. While we ultimately went for pima cotton, Buck Mason sells T-shirts in 100% slub cotton (ideal if you want to add a little more texture to your wardrobe — plus, it’s GQ-approved) and, while not available in true white, a “vintage” cotton blend tee (also great for texture, and for pretending you’re going varsity all over again). Each style doesn’t lack for color, either. Point is, the Pima Curved Hem Tee is only but a gateway to a splendid world of everyday basics that’s worth exploring.

While our testers made it clear that $32 was their spend limit for a T-shirt, we understand that some folks might be open to investing more, and we have some suggestions. The first is Lady White Co., another L.A.-based brand whose two-pack tubed-knit tees ($99) impressed our testers for their incredible vintage-style quality and fit. The most expensive shirt we tested (and happened to like the most) was the Crew Neck T-shirt ($95) from New York’s Håndværk (pronounced “hand-vark”). On top of being just plain ol’ expensive, both shirts were trimmer than most, which we can’t recommend to folks with bigger body types. But if you’re looking to pull out all the stops with your plain white tee, and you’re willing to do a little testing of your own, we recommend starting here.

So yes, you’d be surprised at how much you can drop on a single white T-shirt, but the point here is you don’t have to spend out of your means to get the best. In terms of quality, fit, and affordability (read: replaceability) in the top price range, our money is on Buck Mason.

Get it from Buck Mason for $35.