Wardrobe splurges come in many forms. Shoes, handbags, scarves and aaaaaall of the activewear (still with me? Good). And while we’re all for dreaming about our next big splurge, it’ll give you the guilts that little bit less, if what you’re throwing your hard-earned cash at is a staple wardrobe piece that can be worn season after season. Enter: the plain white t-shirt.
Even if you’re the kind of gal that baulks at forking out more than a crisp $20 note on a t-shirt, please keep reading. We promise we won’t talk you into buying one in every colour. And to help you along with the selection process, we’ve broken down the crucial white t-shirt selection criteria into only three points.
You’re welcome.
The Cut
Firstly, when choosing any investment piece for your wardrobe, we urge you to either try it on in-store or purchase it online, somewhere that has a foolproof returns policy. Any good website will describe the fit to you—whether it’s slim, oversized or a true fit. If you’re heading in store, make sure you wear something you’d actually wear with a t-shirt (basically, not a dress) so you can play around with tucking it in, rolling the sleeves and get a feel for how it’d fit into your daily life.
The Soft-Factor
Above almost everything else, you need to look at what your t-shirt is made from—this will determine how comfortable and soft it is. Basically, you don’t want to spend half your pay on a t-shirt that’s either itchy, or stretches out of shape within five seconds of putting the damn thing on. You want to look for words like viscose, cotton and jersey for peak softness and durability.
The Cost Per Wear Ratio
Aaaah this old chestnut. How many times have we all been in a change room telling our friend that “if I wear this dress once a month for the next three years, then it’s basically free”? We thought so. While we don’t necessarily condone forking out $500 on, well, anything if it means eating nothing but Mi Goreng for the next month, this old formula still rings true. Because it’s obvious that spending more money on something you’ll wear to death (like your new basic white t-shirt) is better than spending the same on something you’ll wear once (or never). That’s just basic math.
The Verdict?
Our general idea with this one is that you just do you, boo. If you want to save your pennies and go all out on a plain tee that you’ll wear to death, then please do that. We’ve rounded up a couple of our faves below: Rag & Bone for a classic tee-lover, The Row for a relaxed and luxe AF fit, and a Gucci classic for obvious reasons (it might not be a plain white tee, per say, but it’s an absolute staple tee nonetheless). And if premium white tees are good enough for people like Andi Csinger, Kendall Jenner and local legend Elyse Knowles, then they're good enough for us.
A Few Of Our Faves
Next up? Slips.
Image credit: Mason Wilkes