White tee shirts! Or is it T-shirts? Or simply tees? Every magazine I ever worked with had a different style guide and a different tradition of naming these simple jersey tops with arms out like a T shape… the perfectionist in me can’t start this newsletter without addressing these inconsistencies, and admitting that I’m not going to be consistent in my naming conventions…so there. Sorry to all the copyeditors I’ve ever worked with!
Anyway, t-shirts. We all love them, we all have them, some of us know how to wear them better than others. I am admittedly not a t-shirt girl. I struggle to wear them in ways that feel like ME. But I’m growing and evolving and trying and stretching the limits of my comfort zone and thus, examining tees. So… I’ve picked five that I think exemplify the best shirts in 4 key categories, and then, I’m going to attempt to paperdoll-style them out in infinity ways. Here are the shirts.
1: My good friend Heidi was wearing this over the weekend, and I couldn’t help but fondle the sleeve admiringly and insist she tell me where it was from. Cos! Of course. It’s a sturdy cotton, slightly oversized and boxy and with good structure. It has the look of a guy’s tee, but fits a woman’s body very nicely. Cos
2: Consider this the slightly softer, more shrunken and cropped version of the Cos shirt. This one is meant to be worn untucked. It has generous arms, and a boxy but not overly body, its official name is the “vintage shrunken t-shirt” which I think is an apt description. It’s super soft, but not tissue-thin, or slubby (my personal preference is not for slubby tees). It’s also only $12. Gap
3: And here, an even more fitted, 90s version. This one is very slim through the body, with cutie pie vintage cap sleeves. It is s-s-sexy and cute, all at once. My dream version of myself wears this everyday with no bra and nobody worries about my sanity. Kotn
4: And now - the tank version. This brand, Flore Flore, makes the most luxurious tees. I have this one in black (though it comes in a million colors) and it truly holds its shape and structure, and feels unbelievably smooth on. The packaging, cuts, and branding feels like the kind of tee shop you’d always hope to find on a tiny street in Paris, but obviously never did, so here it is now. On the world wide web. Flore Flore
And now! The looks.