A basic white tee is one my closet staples, whether I am pairing it with a blazer for work or jeans and sneakers on the weekend, it’s probably my most reached for item. I am putting 5 different brand’s white t-shirts to the test to see which brand has the best white t-shirt under $20 in the white tee showdown.
The Best White T-Shirt Under $20
The contenders are… (in no particular order)
1. Amazon Essentials Women’s 2-Pack Short-Sleeve Crewneck T-Shirt
2. J.Crew Factory Broken-in T-shirt
4. Madewell Northside Vintage Tee
5. Target Meriwether Short Sleeve Crewneck T-Shirt – Universal Thread
I will be judging on the criteria below
Price
Fit
Quality
See-Through Ability
Front Tuck Ability
To keep a level playing field, I ordered a size small in each shirt to see how true to size each brand runs, as well as a scoop neck in each brand to judge how deep the scoop runs.
Prices reflect what I paid for the t-shirt at the time of purchasing.
Amazon Essentials Women’s 2-Pack Short-Sleeve Crewneck T-Shirt
First up is Amazon, I have been finding myself shopping for clothes more and more on Amazon, so I thought this would be perfect to see how their basics compare to other brands. The brand of this shirt is actually Amazon. This was interesting to me because it’s not a brand selling to Amazon, the tag is branded Amazon.
I actually had really low hopes for this because I am always nervous to buy clothes off of Amazon, but I was really impressed by the quality for the price.
Price: $16 for a Two-Pack ($8 each)
The price of this t-shirt is $16 from Amazon, and it comes in a two pack so essentially you are only paying $8 per tee. They come in several different combos for the two-pack. I opted for the white and peach pack because I thought it was pretty for Spring, but you could just go for two white ones if needed.
Fit
The fit of this tee is average, I wouldn’t say it’s amazing, but it’s definitely not awful. My biggest complaint is it’s a straight fit from the armpit to the hem, so for someone like me with hips, it tends to cling to the wrong areas creating a boxy shape.
Additionally, the scoop neck on this tee was the lowest of all of the t-shirt, which I personally don’t like. I prefer for of high neck rather than a low scoop.
Quality
The quality of this t-shirt is surprisingly really nice. The make up the fabric is 56% Cotton, 38% Modal, 6% Spandex, so because of the 6% Spandex it pretty stretchy and very comfortable.
See-Through Ability
This shirt definitely wins in this category of the 5 tees this shirt is this least see-through and the thickest in the material.
The label on the back of the tee is printed on in a light grey, but as you can see from the photo above you can’t see it on it on the other side.
Front Tuck Ability
The front-tuck ability on this tee is ok because it’s a longer tee and a boxier fit it has quite a bit of bunching when you front tuck it. For this tee, I would probably opt for tucking it all the way in.
This t-shirt is offered in size XS-XXL
J.Crew Factory Broken-in T-shirt
By now it’s no surprise that J.Crew Factory is one of my favorite places to shop, however, I do find their fit to be a little inconsistent. This tee fits normal in a size small, but I ordered a tank in a size small in the same order and it was way too big.
Price: $19.50 $8
Of course, I got this tee on sale…never pay full price for J.Crew or J.Crew Factory. (See the last showdown here for a tip on shopping J.Crew sales)
This would have been one of the higher priced t-shirts out of the five at full price, even higher than Madewell, which is interesting from the outlet brand of J.Crew to be higher than the full price Madewell sister J.Crew brand. If you didn’t know they are all under the same parent company.
Fit
The fit of this tee is really nice, I really like the sleeve length. Not too short. Not too long. I also really like the scoop length.
There is definitely some room in the small, but it’s very comfortable and breathable. According to the size chart, I probably should have gotten an XS but I am scared of t-shirts being too tight and potentially shrinking in the wash, so I am glad I got the size small.
Unlike the Amazon shirt, it’s not too tight around the hips and hits a nice length on the torso.
Quality
This shirt is very soft, it’s the broken fit so it’s “made from high-quality cotton that’s been specially washed for extra softness”.
See-Through Ability
This tee is thin enough to be breathable yet thick enough to not be see-through. It has a slight heathering to the fabric but is not see-through with nude undergarments.
Front Tuck Ability
This shirt front tucks very nicely laying flat without being too bunchy.
This t-shirt is offered in size XXXS-XXXL
LOFT Ballet Neck Tee
Ok, LOFT…
I knew when ordering this tee that the sleeves were a little longer than the traditional short sleeve, however, due to the photos on the product detail page you couldn’t really get a feel of what the tee looked like. I was most disappointed in this tee.
Price: $24.50 $14.70
Just like J.Crew, LOFT is ALWAYS having a sale. I have a full blog post on tips and trick for shopping at LOFT here.
To be honest, I would have been pretty upset if I would have paid full price in this white t-shirt.
Fit
The fit is pretty good for the upper half of the torso with the neckline and sleeves, but the lower half is extremely long. It does flare out slightly so although, long it doesn’t cling to your hips like the Amazon one does, however, this length is just not something I would wear for a lot of reasons. It’s going to look wrinkled the moment you sit down. It’s not the most flattering because it is emphasizing my widest part of my body
I do really like the sleeve length because my arms are something that I am self-conscious of, so it’s nice to have the extra coverage here. I do also like the ballet neck because it looks more sophisticated and polished. However, I don’t like the scoop hem, I prefer something straight across for more versatility.
Quality
Quality is meh. I would say it’s average, the one call out I have is it’s very thin…which we will get into in the next category.
See-Through Ability
This shirt is definitely see-through. You can see the difference in color from my skin to my jeans and I have a light nude bra on but if I had a darker nude bra on you definitely be able to tell. It’s heathered and extremely thin which is why it’s see-through.
Front Tuck Ability
Surprisingly, it does rank pretty high for front-tuck ability. I think because of the scoop hem it front tucks nicely because there is less fabric on the outside, so it hangs nicely.
This t-shirt is offered in size XXS-XXL
Madewell Northside Vintage Tee
Madewell crushes basics, it’s like their thing. I have a few tees from Madewell, but I didn’t have a basic white tee, so this felt like the perfect time and they did not disappoint.
Price: $16
Unlike the other brands, Madewell doesn’t go on sale very often, but they don’t need to because the product is so good it’s worth paying full price on. This was the highest priced t-shirt at $16 + shipping.
Fit
The fit…I’m just going to say it now, the fit is unbeatable out of these five brands. It’s a perfect balance of boxy and fitted yet flattering and roomy.
I really like the length of this t-shirt. It’s the most cropped of them all, however, it’s long enough to be flattering untucked while still looking good front tucked or completely tucked in. (I am wearing high rise jeans for reference, if you were wearing low rise it might show your mid-drift.)
I also really like the sleeves, if you notice the sleeves have a slight flare to them. This makes your arms look skinnier and more flattering because of this small detail.
Quality
The quality is exactly what you’d expect. It’s soft but not too thin. In the words of Goldilocks, “it’s just right”.
This tee is 100% cotton and you can tell the moment you put it on.
See-Through Ability
This one is not see-through at all. I actually wore this under a blazer to work and felt completely fine in it. You can slightly see the printing of the tag on the back, but I didn’t find it see-through anywhere else.
Front Tuck Ability
Because of the slightly cropped fit, it front tucks the best with minimal bulkiness around the tuck.
This t-shirt is offered in size XXS-3X
Target Meriwether Short Sleeve Crewneck T-Shirt – Universal Thread
Target…Womp Womp. Out of all five, this was my least favorite tee, from the moment I put it on. I typically go for the A New Day brand at Target but had good things about Universal Thread, however, I was not impressed.
Price: $8
This t-shirt is the same price as the Amazon tee, however, the price of shipping was outrageous making my total $15.35. If you are considering this tee, definitely go in store, the shipping price is not worth it.
Fit
The fit of this tee is somewhere between Amazon and J.Crew Factory. It’s longer in the length, however, due to the fabric makeup it’s not clingy to your skin.
The neckline is perfect, I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
Quality
The shirt is also 100% cotton, but it’s extremely itchy. I’m not sure how the Madewell can be soft, while this one so itchy from the exact same fabric but it is. Clothes being itchy is a hard pass for me, so immediately this ranked super low. Who wants to wear an itchy shirt all day?
Something also interesting to note, is the tee is heathered, but the lines are going at a diagonal on the front, I’m not sure if this a defect or intentional, but it looks a little off.
See-Through Ability
This shirt is also VERY see through. You can see on the last photo a close-up and you can practically see my skin through the tee.
Front Tuck Ability
It does front tuck nice, which I appreciate, but it’s hard for me to get over the itchiness and see-through ability.
This t-shirt is offered in size XS-XXL
Final Thoughts
1. Madewell Northside Vintage Tee
2. J.Crew Factory Broken-in T-shirt
3. Amazon Essentials Women’s 2-Pack Short-Sleeve Crewneck T-Shirt
5. Target Meriwether Short Sleeve Crewneck T-Shirt – Universal Thread
If you are looking for something cheap and easy, the Amazon tee is your best bet. For the price and quality it really is a good deal, and throw in free shipping it’s a quality tee.
The J.Crew Factory tee is average, it’s nothing special. It’s soft and good quality, but I definitely wouldn’t pay full price for it. I do find that J.Crew Factory tees are hit and miss when it comes to holding up over time.
LOFT… I was so disappointed. Normally they are so good, but this tee was just so bad. The cut and the fit were not flattering. The only going for it was the longer sleeves and the neckline.
Madewell always crushes it and although the most expensive it’s definitely worth and is going to stand the test of time. It’s comfortable and soft while still be thick, breathable and flattering. Madewell also offers the broadest size availability out of all of the brands.
The Target tee was itchy and ill-fitting and for $15 with shipping, you might as well just buy the Madewell tee. Target had the most limited size range out of all of the brands, which is unfortunate.
Ultimately, the best white t-shirt under $20 is Madewell. They have the best quality and fit and it will last you awhile, so I recommend investing in the Madewell t-shirt. However, if you are looking for the best deal, Amazon is the winner.
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