These Are The 6 Best White T-Shirts We Have Found In Our 40+ Years On This Earth
And yes, we chose a favorite.
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by The Candidly Team
We have a complicated relationship with the white t-shirt. On the one hand, it is the simplest way in the world to look simultaneously cool and chic. You know? Something like this:
On the other hand, there are so many bad-fitting white tees out there that make us look like shapeless linebackers. The loose ones stretch out at the boobs then fall into blobby rectangles, making our waists look wider. The fitted ones give us back bulge and cut into the thickest part of our arms.
But then, all of a sudden, you try on one white tee and for some reason, the stars align, and it fits just like you’ve always dreamed, and life is good, and you feel the urge to buy 15 in case you stain 14 of them with your first erratic sip of a latte.
You know the feeling, right?
There are real reasons why these particular white tees work, but they’re very specific and slightly different for each of us. And so, we have found six white t-shirts that are the best for six different reasons. We know articles say dumb things like this too often, and we know that we risk you getting annoyed at us in comments, but we really, reeeeally think your favorite white t-shirt is on this list.
And by the way, we conclude with our own personal $39 favorite.
1. The Scoopneck
WHAT: Everlane The Luxe Rib Scoop-Neck Tee*
Why We Love It: We’ve been talking about this t-shirt for years, and Everlane has been selling out of it for years, because the way it frames your upper body is special.
Exhibit A: The 3/4 sleeve. It covers the thickest part of our arms instead of cutting into them.
Exhibit B: The scoop-neck makes shoulders look narrower and chests look more lifted, while showing off our décolletage.
Exhibit C: The fine, fine ribbing sort of holds you in, so your waist look nipped, and the whole tee looks a little less casj.
Here it is on our managing editor, who is actually breaking our cardinal rule of not wearing black on the bottom with white on top. We’ll forgive her this once, but we’ll also show you our editor-in-chief wearing the inverse of this outfit below to prove black should always be on top to avoid “the waiter aesthetic.”
Tee | Pants
Tee | Similar Pants
Needless to say, it comes in other colors, but get the white to balance out all of your flowier, non-black pants and skirts.
Price: $34
2. The Cropped
WHAT: Madewell The Boxy Crop Tee In Allday Jersey*
Why We Love It: Cropped is not what it was in the early 2000s - an era that unveiled the long, toned waists of Britney, Christina, and JLo. Today, cropped usually just means tees that hit at the top of your high-waist jeans - the kind you don’t have to tuck to look put-together and styled. This cropped tee from Madewell has a cut that, while spacious, actually makes waists look smaller and legs look longer. It also has those longer sleeves for extra coverage. With all our jeans, sneaks, or Mary Jane flats, this tee makes every outfit very classic and “cool girl” at the same time.
Price: $48
3. The V-Neck
WHAT: Nation Stevie Tee*
Why We Love It: There is a heaviness to this t-shirt from Nation that makes it so it always keeps it’s shape and never ever wrinkles and crinkles. We love that the rolled sleeve is still loose, so we can blessedly move our arms, whilst making them look smaller. We tuck this tee into belted, straight-leg jeans and heeled sandals* but also into whatever trousers we fancy that day and wear it to work.
Tee | Pants | Bag | Sneaks
Price: $132
4. The Fitted Crew
WHAT: Cozy Earth Women's Fine Ribbed Tee*
Why We Love It: Sofness and smoothness are two of the primary reasons we reach for a tee instead of some other stiff and itchy blouse in our closet. We all need one beautifully form-fitting version to give us our finest hourglass silhouette when we wear a full skirt or a wide-leg jean or an A-line pair of shorts. It’s one of the most flattering outfit templates on curves. The reason this is our favorite classic white tee has a lot to do with the fact that Cozy Earth creates clothes with a kind of softness that we never want to stop feeling on our skin. And the fit is perfection.
Use the code CANDIDLY for 15% off.
Price: $46
5. The Oversized
WHAT: We The Free Perfect Oversized Tee*
Why We Love It: When reaching for something baggy, it really helps to have something interesting going on architecturally for the tee to not look too sloppy or sad. Free People is masterful in making big, cozy things we want to enshrine ourselves in that also look fashionable and intentional. The long, drop sleeve is what does that for this tee and what makes it an effortless staple. We can wear it untucked with any long pants and a baseball cap, breaking up the looseness round the tum with a half tuck or a crossbody bag, and poof, our street style is on a Jennifer Lawrence level. IYKYK
Price: $38
6. The Favorite
WHAT: Z Supply Modern Slub Tee*
Why We Love It: Alas, we have reached the most classic, the most whispery soft, the most inexplicably flattering tee on this list. It’s not fitted but the shape feels much more like it skims and stays in place, rather than looking either clingy or baggy and adding bulk. Though it has all the necessary attributes of a perfect, white tee, it really stands out from the rest because of the length. You can wear it tucked in or out, and either way, it looks flawless.
Price: $39
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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