T-shirts for the atypical American

March 14, 2007 5:16 PM

I need assistance in finding a supply of t-shirts that will fit someone with an athletic build.

So, I am in need of new clothing. I've tried Old Navy, American Apparel, and Hanes t-shirts, with the Hanes being the best so far, but still not perfect. The thing is, I am a very athletic individual so I have a triangle shaped torso with a broad upper back. These shirts seem to be built for either skinny hipsters or fat guys, so whenever I wear them they fit well to the bottom of my rib cage, but seem to flare out since they are built for guys with straight or upside-down shape torsos.

I am looking for plain colors (dark greens, blues, greys, browns, oranges, mainly) as well as ringer or gym t-shirts. I like the material of American Apparel gym tees a lot, so anything in that sort of material would be great.

posted by Loto to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (8 answers total)

The Billabong slim-cut tee shirts are cut for surfers who have big lats from paddling. They mostly have "cool" abstract designs on the front, but the fabric is really nice and soft, not quite as flimsy as the American Apparel "Summer Shirt".
posted by nicwolff at 5:24 PM on March 14, 2007

Croft & Barrow, one of the brands sold at Kohl's, make undershirts and wife-beaters (there has to be a better name for those!) that fit me very well, at least until I wear them to the gym and rugby conditioning enough to stretch them out and ruin them. I personally think that the skintight UnderArmor (and similar brand) athletic shirts are tacky, but they seem to fit your bill and don't stretch with use.
posted by Derive the Hamiltonian of... at 5:58 PM on March 14, 2007

Try the white Kirkland brand shirts at Costco.
posted by mattbucher at 6:05 PM on March 14, 2007

About half my regular wear and gym shirts are rugby jerseys, because I love the sport and they fit so well. You can build customized jerseys (no logos, just color patterns) with either classic or new style construction at this company website:
http://www.barbarian.com/
I have yet to find a more durable shirt than a rugby jersey, and the new styles sport some pretty nice fabric. Most people in the U.S. have no idea what a rugby jersey is and many U.S. clothing manufacturers mimic rugby color patterns (striped polos), so without any logos I doubt you'll get any questions about the sport.
posted by Derive the Hamiltonian of... at 6:06 PM on March 14, 2007

Response by poster: Hah, would you happen to be another rugby playing physicist? I've got plenty of jerseys already which I wear normally, then a few for lifting and practice. Barbarian jerseys are great! They have the sort of fit I'm looking for in a t-shirt. Thanks, though!
posted by Loto at 6:18 PM on March 14, 2007

puma t-shirts are generous in the upper back/shoulders without being huge in the torso. the cut seems to work well for my athletically-build brother-in-law.
posted by netsirk at 6:46 PM on March 14, 2007

Go to this site... www.zyflex.com. You and I are in the same boat and these things fit the bill and offer some advantages you don't find in off the shelf stuff. If you are built they are described as somewhat loose but they don't bunch up on top because the bottom is pretty snug. I like the performance t-shirt but the sleeveless one might be something you would like to try also. On top of it all they are pretty reasonably priced. Take note of the bottom of the t-shirt when you look at the picture. You will see that it sort of has an elastic band at the bottom of it.- it holds the shirt in place so it doesn't flare out.
posted by bkeene12 at 7:36 PM on March 14, 2007

The t-shirts at H&M are cut with a bit less material toward the waist, and they also have ribbed fabric and other such styles.
posted by zachxman at 7:46 PM on March 14, 2007