Solid Color Tee

I was finding my feet, style wise, during the heyday of the “#menswear” movement, when guys on the internet were passing around fashion advice and attempting to revive the art of dressing. Some styles from that era, such as double monk strap shoes or skin-tight slim-fit suits, have fallen out of fashion, but some good core advice filtered to the top. “Button-downs will never go out of style” is essentially true, and the swathe of articles this past Spring proclaiming them to be “back” is just more evidence of the style’s longevity. “Always buy shoes with a Goodyear Welt” is not bad advice, although there are high quality shoes available that are not Goodyear welted. And “always have some plain white t-shirts” is absolutely advice I can get behind, but I’d push that suggestion further and suggest investing in some solid-color t-shirts in a variety of colors, which can be dressed up and down as needed.

Don’t get me wrong – as much as I like to wear collared shirts and suits, I have a drawer full of beloved graphic tees with logos of foreign beer brands, my hometown hockey team, and defunct CIA-affiliated airlines. These are great for a variety of dressed-down activities, and look good layered with other casual clothes. Some guys might even wear them with a sport coat or suit – not me though. But I’ve built up a drawer full of solid colored t-shirts and I’ve discovered that they add a much-needed dimension to my wardrobe, particularly during the layering-focused seasons of fall and winter.

First, I want to return to the classic plain white tee. This is the granddaddy of all t-shirts today, first appearing as an undergarment in the early 20th century when the “union suit” or “onesie” style one-piece undergarment was divided into tops and bottoms. The first graphic tees were stenciled or printed onto this undershirt, which became more and more acceptable for public wear from the 1930s to ‘50s, and is now pretty much the standard top for the majority of people worldwide. I’ll return to the graphic tee in more detail in a future article, but for now I want to focus on the plain white t-shirt, as worn by James Dean, Jeremy Allen White, and just about every other man in between.

The chief advantage of the white t-shirt is its versatility. It’s literally a blank canvas for your look – you can layer an open flannel or chambray shirt over it, embrace your inner Young Marlon Brando and pair it with a leather jacket, go oversized for a more hip hop inspired look – you can’t really go wrong. In a world where graphic tees are so common, wearing an unadorned white t-shirt stands out, and looks like an intentional style decision. To me though, the white t-shirt has two disadvantages. The first is that it will get dingy over time, and I feel that white t-shirts look their best when they’re as fresh and white as new snow. The other issue is that, when you button a shirt over a plain white t-shirt, the tee looks too much like what it is: an undershirt. If you’re wearing an open collar shirt with a white crew neck tee under it, the image it conjures up is somebody working late at the office who decided to remove his tie. It looks like an afterthought, not an intentional choice.

This is where a colored t-shirt comes in. A colored t-shirt carries the simplicity of a white t-shirt, but the presence of color shows that you’ve given thought to how it will play with the rest of your outfit. This intentionality rescues a layered colored t-shirt from the office-drone trap: rather than looking like an undershirt that you didn’t plan for people to see, a pop of red or green or blue is a point of interest in your look, one that you’ve clearly thought about.

Additionally, if you’re wearing a colored tee under a button front shirt, you’re clearly not trying to hide it. It’s a part of your outfit, so why not show it off? Men’s fashion writers have been talking for years about opening a few more buttons during the summer, but a nice t-shirt as an under-layer means you can carry that energy through to fall and winter. Ralph Lauren does it, often photographed with chambray shirts unbuttoned nearly to the waist over colored t-shirts, and who am I to argue with him? Maybe add a cardigan or a leather jacket over both shirts and lean into the layering of it all. In warmer weather, the solid color t-shirt under a lightweight sport coat is a nice counterpoint to the fall/winter staple combination of the tweed jacket and sweater. You can dress it up with a scarf or bandana tied around your neck, but neither is necessary – you’re wearing a t-shirt, after all.

One final variation on this theme is the striped t-shirt. While not a solid-colored tee, the striped t-shirt sits in the same stylistic zone, looking more intentional than a white t-shirt and more “dressed up” than a graphic tee. As with the solid colored shirt, the striped tee has a vintage look to it, conjuring up the idea of summer days from the 1930s to 1960s. During the 30s and 40s, it was even common to wear striped t-shirts as visible under-layers, which is a distinctive and stylish look.

Luckily, solid colored t-shirts are available nearly anywhere, from Uniqlo to J. Crew all the way up to designer brands like Ralph Lauren and beyond. I have a charcoal grey shirt from Target that’s been with me for the better part of a decade and is still going strong. If longevity and domestic manufacture matter to you, I’d suggest checking out the offerings from Gustin, which are solidly constructed in the US using a small batch dyeing technique which results in a handsome vintage look. Consider shopping colors in more muted shades, which will help them blend with the rest of your outfit.

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Eric Langlois

Solid Color Tee

Eric Langlois is a writer, menswear professional, and history enthusiast based on the North Shore of Massachusetts.

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