Better basics: Premium labels for men’s white tees

Here’s a core style tenet that bears repeating: Invest in your basics, then build your wardrobe from there, because trend is fleeting, style is everlasting. Let’s start with the quintessential white tee, an entry gamechanger into stealth wealth (read old money) style. It is casual and youthful yet offers a grounding backbone of sartorial polish because of its quiet and complementary versatility. It’s not going to fight a sharp jacket and well-tailored trousers to stop you from making a dapper entrance. Quite the opposite. It elevates the pairing.

A seemingly ubiquitous basic, the white tee has always been definitive and iconic. In the 1950s, an era of popular youth and counter cultures, it was the uniform of rebellion and self-expression. Recall a young Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire and James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause.

More recently, the white tee has again been re-casted in Disney+’s critically acclaimed culinary comedy-drama, The Bear. Its chef protagonist, Carmy Berzatto (played by Jeremy Allen White) makes a vintage-cut, bicep-grazing white tee his faithful and daily style vanguard, as he deals with the adrenaline-fuelled frenzy in a professional kitchen.

WHY PAY MORE FOR BASICS

Spend more on a quality garment that will last you for years instead of cheaper throwaways – it makes eco sense. Consider the water impact in making a T-shirt. It takes approximately 2,700 litres of water to produce one – enough water for a person to drink for 900 days (a three-year supply essentially). That’s only in the make of a T-shirt, not the water consumed to wash-and-wear or even the energy footprint in its manufacture and transport, or the pollution effects of its process. It’s a sobering realisation that our need to stay fashionably chic always, encourages a buy-and-throwaway mentality that exacts such a toll on the environment. Time to change that.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

When you upgrade the core components of your wardrobe, you can buy fewer things. Be more critical of quality and durability of a garment, not just whether it looks good, or sports a designer label.

Premium fabrics

The classic go-to for tees are 100 per cent high-quality cottons that are pre-shrunk – no itch from synthetic fibres and your tee will not shrink on you or lose its shape after multiple washes. Slubby cottons can also offer textural detail and better breathability.   

Bamboo or merino wool that feels like cashmere on skin, lightweight linens and hemp, or a blend of natural fibres are also good comfort picks. Some may include tech fibres for sportier performance for a better fit.

Stylish fits and detail

Long, boxy, or slim cut if you want some cling to highlight a muscular physique – it depends on what complements your body proportions, also the vibe you want to exude.

Weight of fabrics can influence fit. Fabrics that have a bit of heft and have a thicker and tighter weave tend to be more universally flattering (read if you’re not so body perfect).

You’re spoilt for choice when it comes to style, whether its crew or V-neck, down to hemlines and sleeves that can make a wearable difference. For instance, a curved hem, which references a button-down shirttail, offers some extra length (they usually hit around your jeans pocket), which may give you a better fit especially if you’re wearing your tees, tucked. Ditto the length and width of sleeves that can give an illusion of better biceps.

Little details are not inconsequential. Tubular-knit construction on a tee, a traditional technical process, gets you a shirt with no side seams. With repeated washing, a tee with side seams can be twisted out of shape, meaning they don’t run parallel to each other. This misalignment can alter the fit or shape of the garment. 

Treatment

Anti-stink or anti-sweat technology help make some tees more resilient to sweat-stains and minimise the need for laundering, or even making them more wrinkle-resistant. They help to reduce your energy footprint.

PREMIUM WHITE TEE LABELS FAVOURED BY INSIDERS

Merz b. Schwanen

While this German brand’s signature vintage-inspired tees were a coveted insider secret, its demand catapulted overnight thanks to the culinary hit series, The Bear and actor Jeremy Allen White’s impressive biceps.

The vintage cachet lies in its fabrication: The shirts are made in similar fashion to how they would have been made 100 years ago, knitted as a continuous loop of material.

Now the loopwheeler is a circular warping machine, akin to a circular knitting machine, except it warps the fabric instead of knitting it. It results in a fabric with no side seams, also an exceptionally soft fabric since no pressure is exerted on the threads. The downside of side seams is they get misaligned when fabric twists in the wash. The misalignment can make your tees lose shape after multiple washes.  

Loopwheelers are purely mechanical machines that require hand adjustments from skilled workers, unlike today’s modern machines which can be precisely calibrated and controlled by computers. Hence the fabric produced has distinctive characteristics and a more textural finish.    

Other pluses: Merz b. Schwanen's tees are made of 100 per cent organic cotton from Greece and completely free of chemical treatments. Since the loopwheel process means it is the slowest possible way to make the tees, that also means smaller batch productions, which lends to their exclusiveness.  

Another interesting detail in the tees are the triangular inserts under the arms, that makes for more comfortable wear.

A classic fit tee starts from €79.90 (about S$114).

Unbound Merino

Unbound Merino’s high-quality construction on its tees offer durability and extended versatile wear – a single Merino wool T-shirt is said to last longer than four or five cheaper cotton ones. The Canadian brand’s tees are odour-resistant, anti-wrinkle, temperature regulating and fast-drying. They’re intended for all sorts of action, whether you’re hiking, clubbing, or crossing time-zones for work.

An advantage of Merino wool tees: Because of the thin waxy coating that covers each strand of the fibre, they don’t absorb moisture like cotton. Since they are also fast drying they remain breathable even in the sweltering humidity of tropical climates. In colder zones, your Merino wool tee offers warmth without bulkiness, yet slim enough for easy layering.  The brand’s white tees come in a classic fit – straight cut through the chest and waist for a comfortable wear and a modern aesthetic – in either crew or V-neck styles.

Each retails for about US$88 (about S$120) and comes with a 30-day money back guarantee. 

Sunspel

The British luxury clothing brand is the oldest on our list, with a heritage that stems all the way back to 1860. Best known for its boxer shorts, T-shirts, and polo shirts, Sunspel has a wide following for its premium white tees that start from £85 (about S$144).

You can spot Christian Bale in one on The Dark Knight Rises; ditto Daniel Craig in the 2006 Bond movie, Casino Royale. In fact, the latter’s spy influence helped bring a new customer base to the brand.

Sunspel tees are handmade by skilled artisans – from the cut, stitching and dyeing even. In addition, the company has complete management of its supply chain – the cotton is produced in a sustainable way that doesn’t waste water resources.

Handmade in the Sunspel factory in England, its Classic Tee uses the finest, extra-long staple fibres of Supima cotton from California. These extra-long fibres which are also much harder to procure, lend to the cost. They are layered on top of one another, which results in a more durable product since they don’t fuzz or fray like short cotton fibres.

The longer fibres also result in a softer tee on skin that feels almost like silk. With a straight cut and no sculpting lines or darts, Sunspel’s tees are designed with timeless appeal, to flatter all body types.

Brunello Cucinelli

High-quality, timeless, stylish, and sustainable are all checks when you think of Brunello Cucinelli, the Italian brand that is known for its understated, quiet luxury.

In its fan stable are celebrities like George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Ben Affleck, also sports heroes like Tom Brady and LeBron James, and tech giants too.  

When you buy a Brunello Cucinelli tee, you are buying into tradition and the value of Italian craftmanship and manual skills. Every piece is designed and made in Italy, and the workers are paid a wage that is about 20 per cent above the market average. Even part of the brand’s profits goes to a foundation which then oversees the restoration and upkeep of the local town of Solomeo, and where the business is headquartered.

High-quality and artisanal craftsmanship also ensures smaller batch productions (read not common). The refined quality cotton jersey has a buttery softness. They are cut for a close fit that flatter the body through the chest and shoulders without being constricting.

Expect to pay about USD$375 (about S$511) for a classic tee.