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Best T-Shirts for Men: The Internet’s Favorites Ranked | Fashion’s Digest

November 13, 2024

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At one point in your life, you probably thought, ‘I’m going to buy a nice T-shirt, but which one should I get?’ Luckily, the internet recommended about 15 of the best T-shirts for men, and today, we’re going over those 15, and we’re going to be ranking them. Well, I’m going to give them superlatives because it’s hard to say what’s best and worst, depending on who you are.

But don’t worry, I’ve included the t-shirt from Merz. B that the internet has been slobber-gobbling all over for the past 3 years, worn by Jeremy Allen White in ‘The Bear.’ I have not seen it yet, although I’m assured there are no bears in it.

Then we go to stuff that’s way lower priced, and to be honest, these two T-shirts from Uniqlo almost kill this review because they are so good, and they don’t cost a lot of money compared to others on the list. That being said though, there is one t-shirt that you have all recommended I buy for 3 years, and I ignored all of you. But I finally bought it – holy! So good!

By the way, four of these shirts were given to me for free, and I’m not going to include them in the rankings because I want to make sure you know I paid for everything I’m talking about.

Ranking The Best Men’s T-Shirts With High School Superlatives

Okay, originally, I brutally ranked everything, one being the best, 11th being the worst, but then I looked at what I rated the worst and was like, ‘Well, some people might like that shirt and not think it’s the worst,’ so I don’t want them to go by that list. So I did the next best thing – High School superlatives. This excludes things that I got for free or that were lent to me.

Budget-Friendly Options

$4.20! Think, if you went to a diner and you’re expecting a cheeseburger to cost $10, and it cost $1, you’d probably think, ‘How on Earth are you making this for $1?’ Everybody tells me that I should get these shirts and wear no other t-shirt, so I wanted to grab one.

This is the Kirkland six-pack that goes for $25, and it’s quite long – obviously, you always have to tuck it in. But for $4.20, this is freaking… it’s a fantastic T-shirt. It’s incredibly soft. I like the fit. It’s not too tight on the sleeves.

This collar is kind of constructed with a tiny bit of overlap (not bound). There’s very little sewing going on here. I like collars that are constructed with more of an overlap (bound) ’cause they’re tough, durable, they don’t wiggle and bend and stuff like that.

This is cheaper, it saves money, but still has a good look, and a nice tight neckline. Honestly, if you’re looking for a shirt under $5-$6, I can’t recommend this t-shirt enough.

Uniqlo

Price: $ | Weight: Not listed | Size tested: S | Feel: Heavyweight coarse feel, Bound collar with ribbing | Shrink Test: 2.3% in width, 2% in length

This is essentially game over – as someone who reviews clothing and makes clothing for a living, if you blindfolded me and spun me around three times and said, ‘Quick, is this a $15 t-shirt or a $60 t-shirt?’ Ouff. I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

This is Uniqlo. I really like the fit. I see what Tim Dessaint’s always saying, like this is great, and to be honest, if you’re looking to get a heavyweight kind of coarse feeling T-shirt with a bound collar with ribbing, which is what I like, I highly recommend this. If you’re looking for the best bargain t-shirt, this may be it.

Price: $ | Weight: Not listed | Size tested: S | Feel: Soft, silky, durable, Premium feel | Shrink Test: 2.5% in width, 2% in length

Supima cotton is extra-long staple cotton fiber. Some cotton fibers are half an inch long, others are an inch long. The benefit of being longer is it makes the t-shirt soft, silky, durable – it just feels really, really nice, and very premium.

The only thing about this shirt is the collar does sag. It’s not a bound collar, no ribbing or anything like that, so that kind of sucks, but if you want a Supima t-shirt for under 30 bucks, this is one of the best shirts that you can get.

Premium Japanese Brands

This is the jacked Instagram model special – this is the Whitesville t-shirt. It’s from a Japanese company that’s riffing on Old Americana underwear, so this shirt is cut like vintage t-shirts were, which is meant to be worn like underwear, so it’s very tight so as to not get in the way of you putting another shirt over it.

All in all, I’d really recommend it. This is by far one of the softest t-shirts on the list, feels great. For the price, I wouldn’t say it’s worth it until you look at this collar. This collar is interesting because it doesn’t use the bound type of construction, but they have binding tape over the collar that allows it not stretch a lot over time, so it holds its shape a little bit better.

Velva Sheen – same idea as Whitesville, but very different execution.

Whitesville: very soft, fluffy, kind of has a plush feeling, the sleeves are a little bit longer.

Velva Sheen is doing the same thing; in fact, they’re more authentic.

Whitesville is technically kind of referencing Velva Sheen because Velva Sheen was a company in, I think, Cincinnati in the 1930s. They went out of business, a Japanese company bought them and basically said, ‘make it again!’ and that’s what we have here.

The tough part about this shirt is it’s made how things used to be made in the ’40s, and we have 84 years of different t-shirts since then, so some things seem a little weird. It feels like an underwear shirt, like Fruit of the Loom or Hanes. It feels like in that category, but it’s much more expensive. It’s an interesting choice to make a t-shirt that costs this much built this way, but it does have that old viby aesthetic look.

European Craftsmanship

Taylor (my girlfriend) and I have a favorite meme where it’s a doctor holding a clipboard and it says ‘Your test results came back, everything’s fine, also I’m in love with you.’

That is the epitome of this Asket, A-s-kit, Ask-et t-shirt – I have no idea how to say that simple word. But this knit, they call it compact, it’s so compact that it literally doesn’t feel like a knit product. It feels like you’re running your hands down glass. This is an unbelievably cool shirt. So good!

American Heritage

I don’t know if your Instagram feed is like mine, but I’ve been getting sponsored Buck Mason t-shirt posts out of the butt from so many creators just being like, ‘the Buck Mason t-shirt’s prob the best T-shirt in the world.’

And…they do make banging shirts. I picked this one out specifically because of its blend – this is partially hemp. Hemp, I think in the next 10 years, is going to be in most clothing in all applications, and I don’t think it’s ever going to stop because it’s super eco-friendly, grows super fast, it’s much stronger than cotton, it has properties, cooling properties like linen.

I wish that the collar material was ribbing and not the same material as the shirt just because it doesn’t stretch over your head as easily. It wrinkles a little bit easier. It’s going to hold up for a very, very long time. I don’t mind it. I just wish it was ribbing.

Dehen 1920: one of my favorite US brands in the world! I naturally like their T-shirts. I like the graphics on their T-shirts. I wish that their collar was a ribbed collar. At $58, I feel like that would be great.

You want a Dehen T-shirt if you’re a guy that’s just like, ‘Man, baseball hasn’t been the same since Babe Ruth was at bat,’ and I like the color cream more than I like the color white. Medium-weight T-shirt, we have a blind stitch hem on the shoulders which is nice. Either way, you can’t go wrong with a graphic T-shirt from Dehen. I have to tuck mine in because I’m not a torso-gifted man.

Loopwheel Collection

Yo, welcome to the world of loopwheel t-shirts – things here are fast, and they’re dangerous. This A New Medium brand, and in general, it is understated. It’s loop-wheeled, so it’s made very slowly. It has some nice subtle texture to it. It’s very plush and soft but feels heavy, fits great.

And it’s my friend Josh’s in-house clothing brand for Iron Shop Provisions. I got this shirt for free, so I can’t put it in the ranking, but it really is like a fantastic quality t-shirt. This might be the most affordable loopwheel t-shirt out there.

In the niche of nerdy Japanese over-built clothing, The Real McCoys is like top dog level. I would recommend this t-shirt for that guy who wears 20 lb boots on each foot, has a giant leather wallet with a good art Hollywood chain that’s like going around it. That’s the kind of guy that would like this shirt because their fabric is… it’s like the opposite of Asket.

Still very dense, but it’s not silky smooth. It has a little coarse texture to it. It’s so dense it feels like it’s almost tough to bend. Then we get into their collar, which of course passes the sag test, but also it’s a diagonal ribbing. I don’t know if it’s to alleviate stretching over time, I don’t know if it’s because they think it looks cool, I don’t know what it is, but it all adds up to that little extra swagu factor. I really like this shirt.

And then we have the Merz B. shirt. Babe, wake up. Jeremy Allen White’s here! Yeah, he’s right here. I’m wearing his shirt. This is the Bear shirt, this is the famed shirt. Clearly, I am not Jeremy Allen White, so it looks like a regular shirt – that’s kind of the whole deal. It’s not the shirt that makes the man, it’s the man that makes the shirt.

If you’re thinking, ‘I want a loopwheel t-shirt,’ this shirt from Merz B. falls in the mid-range. The heaviest loopwheel shirt we’re talking about today is A New Medium that is dramatically softer than this, like a plush soft. This is pretty rough. It feels like an old-school t-shirt. It’s flowy, it’s smooth and everything, but not compared to Ultimate Pima from Wonder Looper, that is very, very silky smooth and also the lightest weight, which helps it feel silkier and smoother.

This is a middleweight, more of a classic dry shirt feel in general, and you can compare all of the fits and see which one you like better if you’re going for a loopwheel T-shirt. One more thing. Under the sleeve there’s this triangle gusset on both sleeves so you can move your arm easier and have a bit more range of motion with a tighter sleeve.

Luxury T-Shirt Makers

Lady White Company is for that dude who pours a pure black coffee into a beautifully glazed white porcelain mug and looks over at you and says ‘Hey, isn’t the contrast between light and dark just something, like, absolutely unbelievable?’

There’s this picture of Willem Dafoe wearing a white t-shirt that I’ve always liked because it just fits him so calmly when he’s sitting there like there’s nothing wrong with that, and I feel like Lady White is the brand that does that for me with my body. This is a size small. I got the funky mesh fabric just because I wanted to try something new because I have a – well, I had a Lady White T-shirt, I gave it to a friend or got stolen in Portugal. This is one of the greatest t-shirt brands of all time, hands down one of the greatest knitwear brands, I’d say.

Wonder Looper

Wonder Looper – made by one of my greatest friends in this industry, Bahzad and his wife Risa, nicest people in the absolute world. You probably know them from Naked and Famous.

Before we get into Wonder Looper, this is one of my favorite cotton in the world, it is called Fox Fiber. Fox Fiber is a naturally colored cotton, so this isn’t dyed at all – organic cotton, all-natural, pesticide-free, fire-resistant (when it’s being grown), disease-resistant, and the person behind it, Sally Fox, is a cotton pioneer.

She’s a legend in the cotton world because colored cotton was such a short-staple cotton that it was very difficult to spin it into yarns and make it into t-shirts. She changed that. She made it so it’s not a long-staple cotton, it’s not medium, it’s still short, but now you can make it into shirts and fibers and wovens, which is what we’re doing together.

This t-shirt is also Wonder Looper. This is the Ultimate Pima t-shirt. This Ultimate Pima is organic cotton – 1% of the cotton in the world is Ultimate Pima, 11 tons only per year, it takes like a year to make these shirts ’cause it’s so hard to get the fabric.

This is like a mix between The Real McCoys and Asket and just Supima where it feels not like it’s perfectly glass, but it has little ridges that you can feel, but it’s also super soft.

If there’s going to be a company that’s gonna to try something crazy, it’s Wonder Looper. Case in point is this – the triple heavyweight t-shirt. This is the heaviest T-shirt. If you haven’t gotten into the world of heavyweight knits, this is far heavier than a Champion reverse weave.

This is 69% heavier. It is an absolute tank. You could hear the sounds when I scratch it. If you want an indestructible T-shirt, you get this one.

Watch this Review

Conclusion and Comparison Chart

Product	Price	Material	Key Features	Shrink Test
Kirkland	$4.20	Cotton	Budget-friendly, durable collar, soft fit	4% width, 2% length
Uniqlo Heavyweight	$15.00	Supima Cotton	Best value heavyweight, coarse feel, premium quality	2.3% width, 2% length
Whitesville	High	Cotton	Old Americana style, softest feel, durable collar	5.4% width, 3% length
Velva Sheen	High	Cotton	Vintage aesthetic, plush feel, authentic design	2.3% width, 0% length
Asket	$58.00	Compact Knit	Pre-washed, premium feel, silky smooth	0% width, 0% length
Buck Mason Hemp Blend	$35.00	Hemp Blend	Eco-friendly, durable, cooling properties	2.5% width, 1% length
Dehen 1920	$58.00	Cotton	Medium-weight, blind stitch hem, pre-washed	0% shrink
A New Medium	Mid-range	Loopwheel Cotton	Soft, plush, affordable loop-wheel option	No data
The Real McCoys	High	Cotton	Heavyweight, durable, classic design	2.5% width, 2% length
Merz B. (The Bear T-Shirt)	$60.00	Loopwheel Cotton	Middleweight, flowy fit, triangle gussets	3% length, 5% width
Lady White Company	High	Cotton Mesh	Luxury feel, minimalist design	0% shrink
Wonder Looper Fox Fiber	Very High	Fox Fiber Cotton	Organic, naturally colored, durable	7.69% width, 6% length
Wonder Looper Ultimate Pima	Very High	Ultimate Pima Cotton	Extremely soft, heavyweight, indestructible	No data

So that’s the ranking for the best t-shirts for men, but please, if there’s a shirt that I haven’t reviewed in the past, please let me know. I want to get a huge list going and then do the T-shirt Olympics and say who makes the best T-shirt of all time after I’ve worn them for years. So that’ll probably come next year, but anyways, see you all soon!

This article was adapted from Michael Kristy’s video on The Iron Snail, with edits from Fashion’s Digest, and was reviewed by Michael to ensure the integrity of his original content. Watch the full video here.

The Iron Snail is a men’s fashion vlog (and now article series!) starring a young man named Michael and featuring a snail no bigger than a quarter. The two are set on taking over the world of fashion by creating a clothing line to end all clothing lines. Until then, we’re here to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about the best clothing out there, from the highest quality raw denim jeans to the warmest jackets to the sturdiest boots…the Iron Snail has got you covered.

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