Material:
Start off by looking at the material. All the usual choices—cotton, modal, you name it—can be high quality, so picking the right one comes down to knowing what you’re looking for. We considered materials when pulling together this list by prioritizing natural picks like cotton and including stretchier, softer fabrics where they’re necessary.
- Cotton: 100% cotton tends to be the most durable fabric, getting softer with age. It’s also remarkably breathable—not to mention biodegradable. Cotton shirts that are not prewashed will likely shrink after the first wash.
- Pima cotton: This type is softer than standard cotton.
- Supima cotton: This type is the American-grown equivalent of pima.
- Slub cotton: This type features an uneven texture that looks almost striped and offers a vintage feel.
- Modal: This is a semisynthetic fabric that’s a form of rayon; it’s stretchier than cotton, although it’s slightly less breathable. This is often used in body-skimming cuts.
- Elastane and spandex: These are man-made fibers that add stretch to other fibers, including cotton and modal. They will stretch out over time, so you might have to replace T-shirts woven with them more frequently than 100% cotton picks.
Polyester Polyester is often added to cotton blends to keep costs down, often resulting in shirts that are cheaper to buy. It is neither biodegradable nor regarded as breathable.
Fit
As you know by now, no two T-shirts fit exactly the same, so finding the right fit is paramount. Whether you prefer a slim tee for your day off or a boxy option you can wear to the office, we made sure to include at least one pick for everyone—body-hugging baby tees and loose-fit swing T-shirts included.
Softness
We get it—if you’re going to be wearing a tee all day, you want it to be comfy. While all of these picks are soft, they’re not all on an even playing field; unfortunately cotton (except for pima cotton) tends to be less soft than artificial fibers. If you want the softest options on the market, go for Skims and Bleusalt; if you like the lived-in feeling of cotton, then Reformation, Uniqlo, and Gap are great.
Weight
Fabrics are weighed in grams per square meter, or GSM. If you’re not a workwear nerd, you don’t really need to know about GSM—but you should pay attention to the relative weight of the material, since it’ll determine how breathable or durable it’s likely to be. We included a wide array of options, from Madewell’s thin cotton V-neck to Buck Mason’s mid-weight tee.
Upkeep
Most of the shirts on this list are machine-washable, but a few should be washed by hand—and we’ve noted which ones those are. Sometimes “hand-wash” really means that you just shouldn’t stick your tees in the dryer; while the washing machine might cause a tiny bit of pilling, dryers can cause shirts to shrink and pill, aging them prematurely. Basically, do what you like—but to get the most mileage out of your shirts, air-drying is best.
