13 White T-Shirts for Every Type of Man (and Any Possible Budget)

When it comes to the Hanes Beefy T-Shirt, we have a lot to say—and all of it is praise. This is known in the Esquire offices to be the tee of all tees that doesn't break the bank. With the perfect fit, weight, and unparalleled softness, this is exactly what a white tee should be.

Here's what I said back when I wrote about it: "I buy Hanes Beefy-Ts because they cost around $10 a piece and fit great. [...] And the cotton is thick enough to deal with all the bleaching that takes place over the course of a year. If you wear your white tees to do activities, I think you'd be a fool to go past a Hanes Beefy-T."

Comfort Colors is the T-shirt blank of choice for just about any streetwear brand, but even sans customization, its signature tee holds up. This is a soft, versatile classic. It's great for layering up or wearing solo, depending your vibe.

For some guys, the idea of spending even $10 on a white tee just doesn't make sense. Inevitably, you're going to spill something on it and look like a toddler who just ate in their high chair. If you're a reckless eater or lover of outdoor activities, buy in bulk and buy cheap. For us, a Gildan 12-pack is the way to go. Wear them to death before turning them into work shirts or rags.

And considering the price, you're actually getting a nice 4.5 oz. cotton in a tubular cut. It'll get threadbare after a year or two, but it's a great bang for your buck.

Buck Mason is one of the best spots to buy Made in U.S.A. tees. There's always stock, and the brand (founded in 2013) has quickly become a favorite of menswear guys. Michael Sebastian, our Editor-in-Chief, is particularly fond of the slub curved hem tee. But we'd say the heavyweight Field Spec, soft Pima cotton, and vintage-inspired Toughknit are all equal in quality, though meant for different tastes.

On this slub curved hem, Sebastian says: "Buy a T-shirt that fits well. And the one that looks good on every man is Buck Mason's Slub Curved Hem Tee. It's got some heft and a little texture; the bottom curves at the sides and the sleeves fall in just the right place. It adds up to one flattering T-shirt."

Gap has sneakily been making huge strides back to a great essentials brand. We're head over heels for its Heavyweight Hoodie, but the tees are just as good. Its Original T-Shirt has the hallmarks of a fashion tee: a more relaxed fit, tubular body, and wider sleeves. It's made to drape, a word fashionphiles love to use, off the body. If you want a more classic fit, size down.

Martin Hoops, our contributing design director, says, "Gap's white tee is perfectly relaxed—not too boxy but just loose enough to allow for some breathing room—with a straight hemline that looks great tucked into work pants or untucked over jeans."

Speaking of the affordably fashionable tee, Uniqlo was the first to master it. It does basics better than anyone else, and the white tee is up there with our favorites. It's infallibly comfortable, effortlessly versatile, and comes with a price tag that's hard to beat.

Only thing to note is that we've found Uniqlo tees to be lightweight and slim. If you want to match the way it's styled, off the shoulder and drapey, size up. If you want a snug, more classic fitting tee, go true-to-size.

Sunspel's Supima cotton is damn near perfect. The fit is pretty modern with a slim, side-seamed body and flattering sleeves. The real star of the show is the Supima cotton. It feels better than anything on this list.

Sustainable is such an annoying word when it comes to clothing—nothing you buy on the internet is 'sustainable,' probably—but it's the best thing I can come with for the Imogene + Willie Cotton Project Tee. I love my Hanes Beefy-T, but when I think about the American-grown cotton being shipped off-shore and back, it really weirds me out.

I+W developed these shirts with a simple thesis: what's the smallest circle you can make where you grow, weave, and sew a t-shirt. The answer turns out to be a round a 400-mile radius. It's all within a day's drive of where I grew up, so there's something really personal about this tee to me. It's the model I splurge on.

The cotton is, obviously, very high quality. And the fit is as good as any of the other vintage-inspired options on this list.

Though if you want a real fashion tee, The Row is the brand that makes it. There are so many designer attempts at the white t-shirt, but this is the one that rules over the rest.

Alfonso Fernández Navas, senior market and style editor, says it poetically: "This T-shirt is sculptural in how it wears and plays off the body. If High Renaissance Mannerism were a T-shirt, this would capture that unnatural elegance. A master class on how the Row elevates closet staples, it is both drama and art—but also a T-shirt."

We're of the opinion that a white t-shirt should be cotton only. It's just the perfect material for the form. That said, we can appreciate when a brand adds performance with intention, and that's exactly what lululemon does. There's seven-percent lycra in this tee. That's not to cheat you out of more expensive fabric, it's to give you a little bit more comfort and moisture wicking.

If 100-percent cotton white tees have become a no-go for you because of comfort or sweat issues, lululemon's organic cotton tee is the one to bring you back. The fit is relaxed, but the details are sturdy like they should be on any white tee.

Mott & Bow's tees fit just like the brand's jeans (that's to say, pretty damn perfectly). We love this tee, and I'm not usually the type to go for a chest pocket. But what can I say? When you design a fit this good, with fabric this soft, there's not much to complain about.

A lot of the best replications of classic American menswear come from abroad. Merz b. Schwanen makes a wonderful tee in Germany. So good it's the exact tee Carmy wears in The Bear. Yes, chef.

For a similar version of the white tee, meaning cropped like a classic piece, go to Japanese brand Warehouse & Co. It's knit on vintage looms, so it even has that slubby old-school look to it. Like the tees you see your dad wearing in old pictures.

This one is a favorite of Sean Marković, our former social media motion designer (still has great taste!): "It's produced with thought and intention, really giving you quality that matches the price tag. This shirt is beautifully crafted, but I don't need to be precious about it. It's a basic that's designed to be lived in. I'm excited to beat it up for years to come."

You wouldn't believe how many white T-shirts we've tried.

Across the Esquire floor, there's a wealth of white T-shirt knowledge. Everything has to hit its marks. Comfort is the first factor—if the fabric isn't soft, it isn't even coming home from the office. Next is cut, fit—everybody has a different preference on this, so what I look for are styles that fit the way they claim to, and standout styles that just so happen to fit perfectly, for regular-fit tees.

At home and after some consistent wear, these tees undergo the ultimate test: durability. How do they hold up after washing? Any shirt that looses its shape or starts to pill is not added to the list. The ones that make it through multiple rounds of washing because they're just that versatile and wearable do—bonus points if they still look brand-new after.

Basically, all of the tees on this list are chosen because our picky editors love them. They meet our standards, and the standards of thousands of reviewers across the Internet, who all have different preferences, sizes, and love these tees anyway.

Cut: From big and beautifully boxy to long and slender, white T-shirts come in a range of silhouettes. If you like cling, slim cuts are for you. If you like loose, wear loose. It really all boils down to personal preference, your body type, and the kind of vibe you want to emit.

Material: Standard white T-shirts are made of cotton, of which there is a variety: organic, jersey, and, in some instances, sateen. There are also some options with linen blends, and others with tech fibers built for performance. Depending on what you're doing a where you're going, some of these options are better than others.

Weight: The choice in material will also determine the weight. If you like things light and breezy, cotton jersey and linen hit those targets. But if you like a bit of heft, look for styles with a thicker and tighter weave, which also tend to be the most flattering on the body.

We’re not going to say something is great unless it’s actually great. Every product in Esquire’s round-ups is carefully curated by our fashion and e-commerce teams.

When it comes to a classic white T-shirt, you can rest assured that we’re hand-selecting styles that we’ve personally tested, tried, and loved, along with styles that the rest of our stylish colleagues here at Esquire endorse. With endless options on the market, we’ve had to go through a lot of trial and error, and we narrowed it down to these white tees that are simply the best.

Every pick on this list (and our other lists!) comes from years of wearing different things, seeing what we love and what we don’t, and going from there. No two tastes are the same, and no two men are the same. Your proverbial mileage may vary. But if you’re looking for the right place to start, with advice from folks who and care (possibly too much!) about this sort of stuff, this is the place to be.