3Sixteen Pima Cotton T-Shirt Pack – White

The plain tee is the most-worn and least-considered garment in most wardrobes, and the gap between a good one and a poor one is larger than anyone accounts for. It shows up in the fibre, in the weight, and in the collar. Pima is a long-staple cotton, meaning the individual fibres are longer before they are spun, which yields a smoother yarn that pills less and holds its shape longer. At 160gsm this sits in the middle, heavy enough to hang rather than cling and light enough to layer.

White is where all of that becomes visible. A short-staple yarn looks fuzzy in white within a month, and a poor collar goes wavy in white where black would disguise it for a year. If you want to know whether a tee is any good, buy it in white.

Styling and care

Under everything, and on its own with the cargo pant or the drawstring short it is the whole summer. Wash white cotton warm rather than cold, on its own, and dry it in the sun if you can, which is the oldest and still the best whitener. Avoid fabric softener, which is what greys a white tee over a season. Our general care guidance covers the rest.

We are not going to pretend a plain tee is a philosophical object. We carry these because they are the ones we wear, and because the collar holds. Christopher literally wears this shirt, both in black and white, multiple times every week.

One hundred percent American-grown Pima cotton, custom knitted in Los Angeles at 160gsm, made in the USA. Pack of two, white.

A straightforward tee cut, meant to be worn alone or under a shirt without fighting either job. Cotton jersey at this weight relaxes slightly through the body over the first several wearings and returns with washing. Take your usual size; if it is going under flannel all winter, staying true is better than sizing up, because the extra fabric is what bunches.

The same pack in black is the Pima Cotton T-Shirt Pack in Black. For a plain layer with a collar on it, the Knit Polo. It is worn with the Drawstring Short in July and with the CS-100x for the rest of the year. More on the house is on our 3Sixteen designer page, and everything we currently hold from it is listed under 3Sixteen.