Humble

The perfect white t-shirt. It’s such a staple/basic that it hardly seems worthy of writing about. If it weren’t so hard to find a good one, I wouldn’t bother.

What makes a white t-shirt perfect?  It’s comfortable, being a t-shirt and all, with enough body so that it’s not see-through or saggy around the waist. Yet the knit shouldn’t be so thick or stiff that it gives you a new shape that you didn’t necessarily order. Sleeves should be short but not cap. They should not gap up into a triangle at that spot right below your shoulder (like so). Sleeve nose, I call it. Length: Long enough to tuck in if desired. Neckline: Scoop, but not cleavage-low. Take a basic crew neck, and manually stretch it out before you put it on: that’s the scoop ideal.

The perfect t-shirt gets better and better as it ages, and then one day you splatter olive oil on it while cooking your kids chicken breasts for the kajillionth time, and you cry.

I was going to suggest just going with men’s small or medium Calvin Klein basic crews. They worked for years. But apparently they’ve recently re-jiggered the manufacturing, and they’re now boxy, short, and thinnn. Still, cute pic.

After looking high (James Perse) and low (Walmart), I think I found it at American Apparel, of all places. I kind of forgot about them after being pummeled daily with their softcore billboards (a paradox, I know). It’s the Unisex Baby Rib
Fitted Short Sleeve T-Shirt, and it’s $16.00. Done.