This review is a piece of our Great White T-Shirt Review series, in which we tested nearly two dozen plain white t-shirts to help you understand what’s on the market today. In it, we tested for qualities like fit, construction quality, fabric density, shrinkage, and see-through-ness, amongst many others.
Sunspel, the tee your butler spends more time handling than you do wearing. This t-shirt costs $90 and it has half as much cotton in it as one that costs $4. And I kind of hate myself for how much I like it.
By The Numbers
- Fabric: 100% cotton
- Made in: England
- Postwash Fabric Density: 1.05g/LI (Light)
- Postwash Total Weight: 108g
- Construction: Overlock side seams
- Postwash Measurements (inches):
- Front Length: 23.5
- Pit to Pit: 22
- Shoulder to Shoulder: 18
- Hem Width: 21
- Neck Width: 7
- Sleeve Length: 8
- Sleeve Height: 8.5
- Sizing Recommendation: True to Size
- Shrinkage: 3.36%
- Weight Loss: 3.42%
- Price Per Shirt: $90
- Available for $90 at Sunspel
Fit
The Sunspel tee is another one of those that has a uniformity of vision that makes it function, and the fit is an integral part of it. The shirt isn’t slim fitting, and it isn’t wide either, it’s just kind of “there”.
This is in large part due to the fabric, which I’ll get into next, but the Sunspel tee is the shirt that’s the most like not wearing a shirt at all. It’s just so light and drapey and flowy.
Fabric
The Sunspel fabric was by far the lightest of anything we tested. It feels gauzy, like tissue paper almost. Which may seem cheap at the outset, but who’s buying this shirt? It’s for landed gentry to wear between the hotel and the beach in San Remo and for financial dweebs to wear under a suit in London’s Square Mile. It’s not going to be put through the paces in the same way as all the other workwear offerings we’ve covered. Scroll up and look again at how weird it looks with my beat to shit jeans!
And if the target clientele is either going to be vacationing or tucking it in, a lighter fabric makes sense. But it might not make sense for you. That said, it still feels like it has the structural integrity of one of those sanitary toilet seat covers.
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The sheerness factor was pretty laughable. This is also the tee that Daniel Craig’s James Bond wears, which only makes sense because it is the most likely to shred off and reveal his chiseled physique.
Details and Construction
This tee feels dainty, delicate, as if sneezing in it would pop a seam. This isn’t to say it’s shoddy, more that durability was far from a priority at the Sunspel design meeting. It’s more like wearing a Faberge egg.
Look at that tag; it’s secured by two tiny stitches in the corners. It’s more like a formality that it’s there at all and Sunspel expects your valet to remove it with a pair of ornamental scissors before your neck would ever be sullied with its presence.
The Verdict
This shirt is kind of a $90 joke, but if you’re in on it, and you didn’t personally pay for the tee, it’s kind of fun! I fully expect it to start degrading within 15 or 20 wears, but I would be surprised if their target market even wears these past 10. It’s complete luxury, but you must also have the luxury to replace it.
Consider if:
- You’re cool with your cost per wear on a t-shirt to be in the $5-$10 range
- You modeled your business cards off of that scene in American Psycho
- You’re one of those people that buys all the James Bond stuff but never takes it out of its packaging
Avoid if:
- You’re reading this review, shopping is for the plebiscite
Available for $90 at Sunspel
As mentioned, this was just one of many other reviews of plain white tees. Have a look at the full comprehensive review including all the other t-shirts.
