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.
The Lady White tee is the only one I can find no fault in. Its vision is postwar American sportswear as it might be interpreted by a minimalist French obsessive and it is executed perfectly. It’s the kind of shirt that might make you finally understand what Daisy was crying about in The Great Gatsby.
By The Numbers
- Fabric: 100% cotton
- Postwash Fabric Density: 1.81g/LI (Heavy)
- Postwash Total Weight: 186g
- Construction: Tubeknit
- Postwash Measurements (inches):
- Front Length: 22.5
- Pit to Pit: 21
- Shoulder to Shoulder: 17
- Hem Width: 20.5
- Neck Width: 5.5
- Sleeve Length: 8.25
- Sleeve Height: 8
- Sizing Recommendation: True to Size
- Shrinkage: 2.8%
- Weight Loss: 4.1%
- Price Per Shirt: $49.50
- Available for $99 at Standard & Strange
Fit
The shape of this tee is inspired and made me feel how you always want to feel in a t-shirt–like an idealized and unproblematic 1950s American.
It has the second smallest Total Linear Inch measurement of the tees we tested, but it’s distributed in the best way so it doesn’t feel small.
Not too long, not too short; seam hits right at the shoulder; tight enough in the sleeves, neck, and body that it could be worn as an undershirt but loose enough that it’s not restrictive and could be worn on its own. This was actually the last tee I received for the test and as soon as I put it on, I knew, “Yep, this is the one.”
Fabric
The Lady White fabric is very good. It’s near the heavier end of the spectrum at 1.81 grams per linear inch. It doesn’t have the soft, almost brushed feeling of some of the other tees, but the knit is dense and it is sturdy and it drapes well.
And it performs decently well on the sheerness test. The text on our logo sticker could easily be “Andools”.
Construction and Detailing
The construction is flawless. Look at how the shoulder stitch runs into the collar ribbing, which is then perfectly double-needle overlocked with like a millimeter of tolerance around the inside and then lines up perfectly with the shoulder seam on the opposite side. Most brands hide that stitching with a piece of extra fabric because they can’t get it that good.
This may sound like I’m commenting on the ridge placement of a Ritz cracker, but that kind of stitching is nearly impossible to get right at scale. No one really notices small details like this, but they add up to a palpable sense of quality. Without going this granular, you can’t really understand why everything about a tee like this works, you just know that it does.
The branding on the tee is minimal. There’s a small ecru piece of fabric stitched to the collar with the size printed in blue, and a few lines printed in grey directly on the tee below it. One of those lines says “Athletic, For Sport”. This would come off pretentious on a lesser shirt but ties back into that sense of vision. Lady White gets to say this because they created a shirt that earnestly backs such a claim up.
The Verdict
Lady White launched with this tee and this tee alone. Founder Phil Proyce poured all of his effort into a single garment and it’s remained the brand’s flagship product for four years now. Yes, it’s comparatively expensive at over 50 bucks a tee if you account for tax and shipping, but owning something perfect rarely comes cheap.
Consider if:
- You’re looking for perfection no matter the cost
- You want a slim but unrestrictive fit
- You like heritage styles but also subtlety
Avoid if:
- Spending $50 on a t-shirt feels like a crime
- You read the spark notes for The Great Gatsby in English class
Available for $99 at Standard & Strange
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.
