In a well-rounded fashion diet, T-shirts are a lot like protein: You need them to grow big and stylish. Outfits looking wimpy? Add the best heavyweight T-shirts to the mix and watch ‘em pop. While standard T-shirts are like an everyday salad bowl—healthy, reliable, occasionally depressing on their own—heavyweight tees are more like a prime cut of ribeye—hefty, indulgent, a complete meal with or without the sides.
But heavyweight T-shirts aren’t simply heavier for the sake of it. That extra heft gives their fabric structure, so they’re less billowy and drape with a touch more rigidity. Like a hearty T-bone steak, they also hit a little bit differently in the colder months, when their midweight counterparts simply can’t compete unless they’re layered beneath a wool flannel or a V-neck sweater. (You pay a tad more for all that extra beef, but the added value is worth every penny.)
To help you dial in your closet prep during prime bulking season, we went deep on the best men’s heavyweight T-shirts on the market right now, from the scale-tipping splurges to the wallet-friendly whoppers.
The Best Men’s Heavyweight T-Shirts, According to GQ
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Best Heavyweight Tee Overall: Buck Mason Field Spec Heavy-Cotton Tee
Remember James and the Giant Peach? Buck Mason’s Field-Spec tee is a lot like the titular stone fruit—thick, airy, and ludicrously soft. But unlike that cinematic peach, the shirt is perfectly sized and not cartoonishly large; the silhouette leans just a touch relaxed and slightly shorter than others on this list, which makes it perfect for wearing untucked (and ideal for all you short kings). It’s rare for this writer to get compliments on a plain T-shirt, but if this is the single-most tee that stands out to innocent passersby. We love the weight, the feel, and the fit, but, as to be expected, shirts in this category are better saved for the cooler weather, so we find that we can’t wear the Field Spec tee too deep into spring. That said, if you can only include one heavyweight tee in your wardrobe, save up your pennies and get this one.
Best Budget Heavyweight Tee: Kirkland Signature Crew Neck Tee
If this were the Grammys, Kirkland Signature would be Beyoncé. No, really. While its signature crewneck is our pick for the best budget heavyweight tee, we could’ve anointed it our best value option. We could’ve even given it the crown for best heavyweight T-shirt overall, if not a Lifetime Achievement Award for its ongoing contributions to the genre.
For a tee that costs less than $10 per unit, it has some surprisingly stellar specs. It’s made from 205GSM combed cotton (a notch lighter than the beloved 3sixteen option further down the list), comes with taped neck seams and a classic cut, and is best bought exactly as it’s sold: A six-pack you can scoop with express shipping any time you need to re-up. However, there are downsides for the well-decorated Kirkland tee. For one, unless you’re 6’4” and lanky, these tees might be better off as undershirts considering how long and slim they are. They certainly require tucking in for anyone under 6”, or a trip to the tailor. And while multipacks can be great, we wish that Kirkland would sell its tees as singles. If you can work with those two caveats, there ain’t a deal better than these.
Best Upgrade Heavyweight Tee: Lady White Co. Rugby Tee
Lady White Co.
Rugby T-Shirt Black
Pros
- High-quality materials and construction
- Locally made
Cons
- Will outlast your next 5 relationships
- Perhaps too beefy
Lady White Co. has served certified T-shirt obsessives since its inception, and its Rugby crewneck is the heaviest in its arsenal, clocking in at a whopping 10 ounces of premium jersey. It’s cut, sewn, and knit entirely in Los Angeles—an anomaly in the T-shirt world—and the boxy fit and tight neckline reference Hanes’ legendary Beefy T, taken to a sublime extreme. There are plenty of artisanal tees on this list that aficionados will love, but like your homie who insists on bantering with the sommelier, some people just get excited seeing a California label. But this is about where heavyweight T-shirts start to lose grasp of their T-shirt-ness. That’s because at ten ounces the fabric starts to feel more like a sweatshirt and less like a typical tee. So if you went down this rabbit hole far enough, you’ll find that there may actually be an answer to the question “how heavy is too heavy?”.
The Softest Heavyweight T-Shirt: CDLP Heavyweight T-Shirt
Pros
- Lyocell and pima blend makes for an incredibly soft feel
- Good breathability
- Washes incredibly well
Cons
Soft T-shirts are relatively easy to find. Same goes for heavyweight tees. It’s when you try to find a tee that hits both that you learn that the soft and heavyweight might not be so compatible. We’ve come across some seriously luscious-feeling tees as well as some bomb-proof beefy T-shirts, but almost never find a tee that does both well. So when we tried CDLP’s Heavyweight T-shirt, we were surprised to see that a silky and skimpy weren’t mutually dependent. The brand known for making some of our favorite underwear also makes a great heavyweight T-shirt thanks to its spot-on straight fit, high-quality construction, and impossibly silky feel. Bonus: It comes in a few different colorways.
