T-shirts – recommendations

So what I thought would be dead simple has turned into a rabbit hole so turning to the STW collective for advice.

I am after some plain crew neck t-shirts that fit as they should and keep their shape (neck and size) after washing.  Don’t mind paying a bit, maybe up to £20/£25 but want them to last for that money.

Recommendations?

Most of my t-shirts end up as bike rags as they never retain their shape for long. Watching !

At that price search the sales for Carhartt.

Wash cold and don’t tumble dry (hang at the armpits on the line).

Beyond that, it’s a bit of a lottery.

Fox Technical tees are very good, but not plain.

Gildan hammer. Usually about £4-5 each from a workwear place like buytshirtsonline.

Just had a look at the carhartt t-shirts but no where has stock. The search continues. Any other recommendations?

I picked some from Passenger, they seem ok so far.

The ones from Rapanui lost their shape fairly quickly.

The only t-shirts I find keep their shape are tech tees so usually polyester etc. I’ve 3 NB running t-shirts that are the same shape as when I bought them 2 years ago.

As mentioned above, Fox tech tees are less plasticky but not plain.

Mountain warehouse organic Tees. Can be had for £9.99. Admittedly a bit of a lottery on quality, but most of the ones I have are fantastic – for the money.

I have heaps of Howies tshirts and they last ages. They don’t get smelly and they don’t change shape.

I looked a while back but froze due to the amount of choice. My IG feed is now full on DTC t shirt brands Ive never heard of. I have some printed Sitsu t shirts that fit well.so.may try their plain ones.

My experience is that price is no indicator of quality and some of my best t-shirts have been less than a fiver.

M&S supima, not cheap.

https://www.uniqlo.com/uk/en/men/tops/t-shirts-tops/100pct-supima-cotton

My experience is that price is no indicator of quality and some of my best t-shirts have been less than a fiver.

Same. Got a band t-shirt from 2013 that is still perfect, cost £15. A had a Patagonia one last for about 2 months and it was far more expensive!!

I keep getting spammed by True Classic t shirts. The reviews seem good and I am tempted. Tried Spoke (after liking their trousers), but they had a very weird fit. Spoke and Solace tees have been better, but only the “heather” colours weirdly. Their plain colour t shirts seem to be a very different material and fit.

As suggested above, mesh tech t-shirt. I’ve collected loads over the years from ruining. Wash at 30C 400rpm spin, last forever.

Bella+Canvas, about £10-12,great fit. Nice and long in the body and arms fitted round biceps. Loads of colours.  Don’t shrink up too much, however I don’t tumble dry them.

loads on eBay and Amazon

My Paul Smith plain T’s seem to be lasting well

Big fan of the Howies “Mr T” t-shirts: heavyweight, nice colours, don’t stretch/shrink, and often in the sale.

Rapanui is quite thin so whilst great for high summer, doesn’t last if you wear it a lot.

Alternatively, blank Stella/Stanley t-shirts are pretty affordable and they’re good quality.

Howies ones from about 15 years ago. Still going strong. You’ll just need a time machine to buy them.

My experience is that price is no indicator of quality and some of my best t-shirts have been less than a fiver.

The Hobnob of T-Shirts is the Slazenger Polo shirt – two for £15.00 at Sports Direct!!!

I wear them for work as I need something I don’t mind getting mucky. The things are indestructible – the wash well and take years to lose their colour! 🙂

Try having kids.

Then inform them that the only ones you’ll wear are have images of Motorhead, Che Guevara, Nintendo, The Clash, The Beta Band or Moto Guzzi.

Works for me.

Usually the Slazenger ones from sports direct are vfm.

prolly a bulk discount?

Yeap Howie’s on sale. They’re trousers and hoodies of yesteryear are fairly decent tbh in earthy colours.

Plus don’t need to apply for a credit card in order to pay £300 for a set from shhhhhh shhhhhh shhhhhh

Decathlon, I have about 20 of various ages that simply refuse to die. Used to be £5 now I think they £10.

Got a couple from Engelbert Strauss about six months ago  colour and shape seem to be holding up better than anything else in the drawer at the minute

https://www.engelbert-strauss.co.uk/work-t-shirts/e-s-t-shirt-cotton-3100031-89604-13.html

+1 Gildan Hammer – I bought 3 for £10 and they are nice thick cotton and a snug neck. The darker colours seem better (grey one has gone a bit bobbly) They all still have shape after at least a year.

Gildan and Fruit Of The Loom seem to be consistently good, most of the tees I’ve got, in fact the great majority are band tees I’ve bought at gigs, and the fact they’ve got the dates on the back going back to the early 90’s and even earlier in one or two cases, and they’re still in good shape, if slightly faded; in particular one Sisters Of Mercy tee that has black print on a black background, but the background has now washed out to an even mid-grey, and another Sisters… tee that I bought in Birmingham on their ‘93 tour, which still fits, in fact I was wearing it a week ago, but the label is now blank.

Beefy Tees are another who make good heavy tees with a nice high neck band that I’ve just thought of.
The fact that I’m still wearing tee shirts that are over thirty years old says something about the general quality. The Tool tee I bought at their recent O2 gig is a Gildan, and it fits fine – I always buy XL ones, because I’m not keen on them being too tight, some of my earliest tees are M or L, and they’re more than a little snug. If I’m still wearing the Tool one in thirty years, I’ll probably be buried in it.

Spending more doesn’t always guarantee longevity. One of the oldest T Shirts I still wear now dates from 2010 , no make but it’s made for Camelbak , cost me nothing ? There was a dirt jump competition in Whistler sponsored by Camelbak and I got it by singing Karaoke! ??????

What are you all doing to you t-shirts?

I’ve thrown away about 3 in the last 4 years.

1- crashed a bike and shredded the shoulder.

1-got bleach spots on it when cleaning

1- couldn’t get a stain out.

How do you get a t-shirt to lose it’s shape?

I’ve got a bunch of Rohan merino ‘cool’ T shirts that are holding up well.  You won’t get much more than the sleeves for £20 though.

Do a search for 300gsm 100% cotton t-shirts, and find one you like.

Most of the cheap t-shirts that go wonky after five washes will be more like 120gsm.

Tech tees are for sports use only, wearing plastic clothes in other settings is frightful.