Extra Soft Men's T-Shirts

October 2, 2023 4:00 PM

What are your favorite extra soft men's t-shirts?

The ideal t-shirt would have these qualities (in order of importance):
- "Men's" shirt meant for a person with broader shoulders and a smaller waist
- Soft
- Black
- Available in the US by mail and/or in person in NYC
- Torso length good for a person 5'7"-5'9" (explicitly not a "tall friendly" brand)
- Probably a slight V neck but could be convinced otherwise (not an undershirt)
- Somewhat close/slim cut
- Under $50

This post is inspired by a shirt I brought home from Marine Layer which was very soft but did not work as a gift because it ran kind of big and seems to be for long-torso'd folks.

posted by A Blue Moon to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (10 answers total)

My Everlane shirts are the ones that have held their softness the best. The Uniqlo supima cotton are no slouch, but they definitely used to be a lot cheaper; haven’t bought them recently to speak to updated fabric or construction (looks like they got refreshed to follow the trend for a baggier cut).

On preview: sorry, I missed the black requirement. Everlane only comes in a weird faded black.
posted by supercres at 4:54 PM on October 2, 2023

LL Bean Comfort Stretch Pima Cotton Tee
posted by matildaben at 5:14 PM on October 2, 2023

Though they're mostly a kids retailer, the folks at Primary have some really excellent grown-up T-Shirts as well.

They're exceptionally soft.

Honorable Mention: Land's End Super T.
posted by toxic at 5:21 PM on October 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Kohl's's "Sonoma Goods for Life" brand is my recent favorite tee. There's a "super soft" variant in crew neck, and the v-necks in regular softness are quite nice; both available in black.
posted by xueexueg at 6:18 PM on October 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

Next Level t-shirts are the best cheap shirts I know of. They're soft and fit slim people well. Make sure you get the all cotton ones.
Almost all other brands in this price range ($10-$12) are total crap, especially Gildan.
posted by Liquidwolf at 6:28 PM on October 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

For slim folks with broad shoulders, the slim washed jersey V-neck tee from J.Crew Factory would be my top suggestion. Unless it's easy for you to get to Forest Hills you'd need to order online. The regular J.Crew stores would have a very similar shirt called the slim broken-in V-neck t-shirt, which might be a slightly different cut and is definitely overpriced.

A few other t-shirt options:
Uniqlo is reliably great and would also be one of my top picks, though they've definitely gone a bit baggier in style (but still have some shape to them). Bonobos fits well but the quality doesn't match the price. LL Bean is excellent quality and would be a runner-up pick, though I've sometimes found their t-shirts too big at the waist. Land's End are cut way too long and are too boxy.
posted by theory at 6:40 PM on October 2, 2023

I am a big fan of Old Navy's extra-soft t-shirts. Surprisingly soft and really reasonably priced. No harm in heading to the store to try for yourself...
posted by birdsquared at 9:05 PM on October 2, 2023

I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of the David Archy bamboo rayon t-shirts on Amazon. They call them undershirts but the weight is substantial enough that I wear them all the time on their own. Price point is great and the ones I have held their shape now for at least 2 years.
posted by openhearted at 4:20 AM on October 3, 2023

Recommend the American Apparel tri-blend track t-shirt via Amazon for this. The company is now owned by Gildan rather than that Dov guy so we should be good...
posted by GamblingBlues at 6:57 AM on October 3, 2023

True Classic crew-neck and shallow v-neck t-shirts, "designed for guys’ bodies. They accentuate the arms & shoulders," including all-black 3 packs (crew / v-neck) for $50. Size Small body length is 28".
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:02 PM on October 3, 2023