Classic / Regular
- What it feels like
- Comfortable with some ease through the body
- Why you might like it
- Easy to wear all day and more likely to work as a standalone t-shirt too
- Watch for
- Too much extra fabric can bunch under a dress shirt
If You’re Not a Rock Star, Wear a Freaking Undershirt
Why most men should wear one, and why we also love the rule breakers
I’ve always loved watching a good courtroom drama, whether it’s a classic Tom Cruise movie like A Few Good Men or a TV show I’m binge-watching instead of doing my taxes. Maybe that’s why, when I think about whether a guy should wear an undershirt under a dress shirt, I picture myself standing in a wood-paneled courtroom in front of a judge and a jury of 12, passionately delivering my argument.
My position is simple: most men should wear an undershirt under a dress shirt. Period.
This sentiment was somewhere in the back of my head even before I founded a company with the intention of disrupting the arguably boring men’s undershirt industry. Before I thought of Bored Rebel and our now-patented Graphic Undershirt™ designs, I had already noticed that men look more polished when they wear an undershirt.
Fast forward to when I started building my apparel company, and the more I dug into the state of men’s undershirts today, the textile science and our style culture, the more I realized that “more polished” is the cumulative effect of what happens to a dress shirt on your body from the moment you put it on until the moment you take it off. Cue the iconic scene from Tom Cruise in Risky Business please. (And if you’ve never watched it, my god, you should.)
7 Damn Good Reasons Men Should Wear an Undershirt
- Your dress shirt looks better with an undershirt. It’s crisper, more polished.
- An undershirt creates a sweat barrier between your skin and your dress shirt.
- Undershirts help prevent wrinkles on your button down.
- Your dress shirt stays cleaner so you have to clean it less often.
- Your dress shirts can last longer when you wear a freaking undershirt every day.
- Chest hair and nipples are less likely to show through.
- The right undershirt can make you more comfortable, even when it’s hot.
1. A Dress Shirt Looks More Polished over an Undershirt
My husband, Karl (who’s the kind of guy you’d want to grab an IPA with btw), has worn undershirts since the first day of his first job after grad school. He’s very pro-undershirt.
Oddly, I had never asked him why. That is, until I sat down to write this guide.
He kept coming back to the same idea: the undershirt helps the dress shirt hold its shape. His words honestly confused me a little at first. “It fills in the gaps, the air gaps,” he said more than once. I often don’t get things the first time he says them. Did I tell you he’s an engineer?
After I dug into this “air gap” thing a bit, here’s what Karl was noticing…a properly fitted undershirt gives the looser dress shirt a smoother, drier and more uniform fabric surface to drape over than bare skin. The result? A more polished look.
Here’s where the clothing science gets interesting. Researchers actually measure the air gaps and contact areas between the body and clothing because those spaces affect things like heat and moisture transfer. The gaps vary with body shape, garment fit and fabric, and garment fit turns out to be one of the biggest factors determining how much of the clothing touches the body. The research wasn’t designed to decide whether a dress shirt looks better over an undershirt, but it helps explain the mechanics Karl was noticing. Textile study ↗
Without an undershirt, the dress shirt sits directly over your body. It touches in some places, hangs away in others and moves over all the contours, hair and so on underneath it. Add a close-fitting undershirt layer, and the outer shirt is now draping over a garment that provides a smoother, more even surface.
Karl, an aerospace engineer, didn’t know the engineering behind why he prefers the look of wearing an undershirt. He just knows it looks better.
And, on this, we agree.
2. An Undershirt Creates a Sweat Barrier Between Your Skin and Your Dress Shirt
Your body sweats. Your undershirt gets there first.
It sounds obvious once you say it, but I’ve talked to plenty of men who don’t wear undershirts and have simply never thought about the benefits, including using them as a sweat barrier.
Even a fairly mediocre undershirt provides something useful: another layer between your body and the dress shirt everyone can see.
Perspiration and odors hit the undershirt first. A sleeved undershirt also puts fabric directly between your underarms and the outer shirt, which is particularly useful given where sweat has a habit of showing up.
Can somebody sweat through both layers? Absolutely. This isn’t a Batman suit. It’s an undershirt. But (and you knew there was a but, didn’t you?) a decent wicking undershirt, in particular, can help. A lot.
You really do want to avoid the unfortunate look of a dress shirt wet with your sweat. We can all agree that’s bad, right?
3. An Undershirt Can Help Your Dress Shirt Stay Crisper and Wrinkle Less
Dress shirts that are not a wrinkle-free performance-type fabric need a little help to stay looking crisp.
Most commonly, men’s dress shirts are made of cotton or a cotton-rich fabric.
Cotton is made primarily of cellulose. Within the fiber, cellulose chains are held together in part by hydrogen bonds. When cotton absorbs moisture, the fibers swell and water interferes with some of those interactions. The structure becomes easier to shift while the fabric is being bent or compressed.
Then add normal life.
You sit down. Bend your elbows. Lean against a chair. Reach for something. Your shirt bunches around your waist.
If that cotton is damp with perspiration while all of this is happening, it is more susceptible to forming creases aka unwanted wrinkles.
Researchers have been studying this for decades. Textile research has found that cotton has a greater tendency to wrinkle while its moisture content is changing than when the moisture level is stable, including under humidity conditions associated with actual wear. Modern reviews of wrinkle behavior in cotton describe moisture absorption and the resulting changes in cellulose bonding as part of the reason wrinkles become persistent. 1971 study ↗ 2026 review ↗
In plain English: wear a fucking undershirt. Be less wrinkled. Look less sloppy.
That makes the sweat barrier in the previous section even more useful. If an undershirt keeps some perspiration from reaching a cotton dress shirt, it is removing one of the things that makes the outer fabric more vulnerable to creasing as the day goes on.
You will look better at happy hour, drinking that IPA, if you put on an undershirt with your tighty whities that morning.
4. Want to Clean Your Dress Shirts Less Often? Wear an Undershirt. Isn’t That Cool?
The American Cleaning Institute (I don’t know who these people are, but they’re very official and they can clean my home anytime) anyway…they say dress shirts can generally be worn a few times before washing unless they are dirty, stained or sweaty. Duh, on that last part, right? How often a particular shirt needs cleaning depends on the fabric, the weather and what you actually did while wearing it. ACI guidance ↗
An undershirt tilts that equation in your favor.
Perspiration and body oils hit the base layer first. If less of that reaches the dress shirt, there’s a better chance the outer shirt is still clean enough to wear again.
Fewer trips to the cleaner, fewer shirts waiting to come back, less laundry. All good news. And look at me using “fewer” and “less” correctly in the same sentence. English teachers, this one’s for you.
Obviously, use judgment. If your dress shirt smells (ew), the collar is dirty, or you spilled your $16 açaí bowl down the front of yourself…um, clean the damn thing.
Wear an undershirt. Save money. Buy more beer.
5. Wearing an Undershirt can Actually Prolong the Life of Your Dress Shirt
Here’s the second money argument.
Dress shirts aren’t cheap. Keeping perspiration and body oils off them matters because those substances themselves can stain, discolor and weaken fabric over time. The Dry Cleaning & Laundry Institute (did you know this even existed?!) specifically flags perspiration and body oils as factors in shirt wear and says an average shirt may last roughly 35 to 50 washes. DLI guidance ↗
Cleaning also isn’t physically neutral. Textiles experience chemical and mechanical stress during repeated washing, and research on cotton has found structural degradation and strength loss with repeated laundering. This seems obvious. The more you wash your clothes, the more you shorten their life. Laundering study ↗
That is exactly why an undershirt helps.
If the inexpensive, washable base layer intercepts more of the sweat and body oils, the dress shirt above it can stay cleaner. That usually means fewer necessary cleanings.
So yes, an undershirt can save you money in two separate ways:
- You may pay to clean your dress shirts less often.
- And the dress shirts you already own may last longer.
Abuse the undershirt. Save the dress shirt.
6. Do You Want to See Chest Hair and Nipples? Just Sayin.
Yes, chest hair can literally poke through a dress shirt. And humans are super weird about our bodies, especially nipples. So…one way to handle this is…you guessed it…WEAR A FREAKING UNDERSHIRT!
A good-quality undershirt is going to do a better job helping with all of this.
7. The Right Undershirt Can Simply Be More Comfortable (Even when it’s hot!)
A bad undershirt is, well, bad for your comfort.
Scratchy. Stuffy. Bunching. Too short. Sweaty and wet.
There’s a lot that can go wrong. Have you ever had an undershirt become untucked under your tucked-in dress shirt? Ugh. You’ll be annoyed and counting the seconds until you find a socially appropriate place to unzip your pants and fix the situation.
But a good undershirt that fits well and is soft, wicking and breathable…now that can be life-changing. You’ll be in a better mood and you’ll have a better life. Do you see it now?
Common Reasons Guys Skip Undershirts, Answered
- “It’ll make me hot.”
- It really shouldn’t if you pick well. Choose a breathable, moisture-wicking fabric.
- “Undershirts are uncomfortable.”
- Be honest: have you only tried bad, cheap ones? There are far better fabrics, fits and lengths available.
- “Why should I spend money on another shirt?”
- It can save you money in the long run. You’ll need to clean your dress shirts less often and they can last longer.
- “I tried one and hated it.”
- One crappy undershirt is excellent evidence that you owned one crappy undershirt.
- “Cool people don’t wear undershirts.”
- Bull. Some very stylish men deliberately show a crewneck. Others wear an undershirt so that it's invisible. And everyone we’ve ever talked to thinks Bored Rebel Graphic Undershirts are cool.
Men’s Undershirts Have a PR Problem
Think about men’s underwear.
My God, are there options.
Briefs. Boxers. Boxer briefs. Cotton. Modal. Performance fabrics. Ball pouches. Premium brands. Stylish brands. Sexy brands. Any color under the sun. Prints! The logo of your favorite sports team. Dogs. Bicycles. Basketballs. Bananas. Hot Dogs.
Men’s underwear has personality and choice.
Now picture the men’s undershirt aisle.
If your brain just produced an image of rows of cheap plastic bags stuffed with compressed white t-shirts, we’re right there with you. B O R I N G.
There are good undershirts on the market now. Better fits. Better fabrics. Better performance. Function improved faster than personality.
I’m biased, but it’s still a category that is boring AF. Zero personality. Zero. Overall, it’s a pretty ignored category. Given its size that’s kinda surprising because it’s not like there aren’t plenty of guys who do wear them.
But for the guys that don’t…a lot of you probably formed your opinion about undershirts pretty early on. Maybe it was a school dance, an internship or a first job where button-downs and khakis suddenly become your daily uniform.
The undershirt sitting on the store shelf looks like an uncool piece of shit your dad wears. There is very little about it that makes a 19-year-old guy think, I should investigate this further. So he skips it.
Then he keeps skipping it.
Ten years later, he may never have reconsidered the decision. Undershirts aren’t cool. That’s the PR problem the men’s undershirt industry has and likely the reason why you don’t wear them.
Good thing you’re reading this because everyone, and we mean everyone, thinks Bored Rebel Graphic Undershirts™ are actually cool. We’re pretty proud of that around here!
I Would Never Tell Lenny Kravitz to Cover His Chest
Sometimes the entire point is that there is no undershirt.
The shirt is deliberately open. Maybe there’s a jacket involved. The guy’s chest is visible because that is exactly what the person getting dressed intended.
Lenny Kravitz has made chest-baring, open-shirt dressing part of his iconic style and I’m 100% okay with that. I mean seriously, what stiff would object?
Timothée Chalamet has repeatedly done his own version of the no-shirt suit, including shirtless tailoring during the Wonka era. Brad Pitt, Glen Powell and Jay-Z have all done their own versions of the chest-baring tailored look.
Please, no one end this trend. Ever.
You certainly don’t need to win a Grammy to pull off this look, but be intentional about it. That’s all. Carry on.
What the Heck Is the Deal With All Those Plastic Bags Stuffed With Crumpled Undershirts?
Quality, value, what you’re actually paying for, and how to spot marketing BS
When I first started seriously researching men’s undershirts, I bought a lot of them. Cheap ones, expensive ones, multipacks, different fabrics, different fits. I opened the packages, felt the shirts, inspected the construction, washed them repeatedly and generally spent considerably more time contemplating men’s undershirts than anyone should.
What surprised me most was how ignored the entire category seemed. While there are good men’s undershirts out there by good brands, the overall picture struck me as pretty blah. I think that’s the official term.
Better quality was generally found as you moved up in price, which is hardly a surprise. The cheap men’s undershirts were often, well, cheap. The so-called undershirt industry seemed to work like this: make a basic undershirt, choose two or three positive things to say about it, put SOFT! TAG-FREE! STAYS TUCKED! on the package and call it a day.
My reaction was basically: That’s it? 100 years of men’s undershirts and that’s all you got? I was underwhelmed sans a few technical innovations here and there.
I would walk down the men’s undershirt aisle in store after store, noticing the ugly disarray of cheap plastic bags stuffed inevitably with what seemed like a mound of flimsy white tees. I felt bad for the graphic designers whose job it was to create the cheesy, over-hyped marketing graphics used to hawk the contents of said plastic bags.
What I didn’t see walking down those aisles…thoughtfulness, creativity, or personality. I didn’t see a good gift. I didn’t see anything I would feel good about buying for myself or, in my case, for my husband.
Given this shopping experience, I get why someone would just buy the cheapest thing they thought would work, as quickly as possible, and move on.
But a good undershirt, as you saw in Chapter One, can be a fucking awesome thing.
We’re going to help you find one.
BUYING A GOOD UNDERSHIRT: A CHECKLIST THAT GETS TO THE POINT
If you just want to know what to look for and get on with your life, here you go.
SHOULD HAVE
- Moisture management / wicking
- Breathability
- Soft, comfortable fabric
- A fit that doesn’t look bulky under a dress shirt
- Enough length to stay tucked
- A tag-free or otherwise non-irritating interior
NICE TO HAVE, DEPENDING ON YOU
- A neckline that keeps its shape over time
- Extra wicking protection if you’re a heavy sweater
- Construction that survives frequent washing
- High-quality fabric for longevity
- A tight enough knit to keep chest hair from popping through
- Odor-control technology
- A cut that can double as a standalone t-shirt
- Graphics that add personality and won’t show through under a dress shirt
- Packaging that makes it feel like a good gift
There are obviously other things you might personally care about. Maybe you love a certain fabric. Maybe you prefer a little elastane. Maybe you have extremely specific feelings about your neckline.
Soft is Not a Description You Can Count On
When someone claims that an undershirt is “soft” there is no way for you to empirically judge the garment based on that one word.
Have you ever shopped for a diamond? Diamonds are graded. You have cut, clarity, color and carat to help you determine quality. Could you imagine if we had The Undershirt Institute of America (UIA) that individually graded the quality of every undergarment?
Hilarious thought. We’d have UIA-certified Undershirts.
Since a UIA doesn’t exist in real life, we’re going to give you some tips to help you figure out evaluating softness on your own.
There is an entire field of textile research around what is called fabric hand, meaning the way a textile feels when you touch and manipulate it. Softness is only one part of that. Smoothness, stiffness, thickness, flexibility, surface texture and the way the fabric drapes can all affect how we perceive it. Fabric-hand research ↗
A fabric might feel fantastic for five seconds and then stretch out, pill, shrink, twist or become rougher after repeated washing. A great undershirt still has to feel good after you beat it up a bit.
Wicking Should Be a Basic Requirement and Why You Shouldn’t Buy 100% Cotton Undershirts
This is a hill I want to die on.
A good undershirt should manage moisture.
It is a base layer. It sits directly against your skin. You sweat. We all do, even if you’ve been blessed with cool-as-a-cucumber DNA and can give a commencement address in front of the entire graduating class of Fill-in-the-Blank University without a single bead of sweat forming on your forehead. Still buy a wicking undershirt, please.
Here are two science-y words that are actually useful when you’re buying an undershirt:
Hydrophilic and hydrophobic.
Cotton is hydrophilic, which essentially means water-loving. It readily absorbs water.
This is why cotton makes a very good bath towel.
When you sweat into cotton, the fiber takes up and holds quite a bit of that moisture. Research comparing cotton and polyester textiles has found cotton to be considerably more hydrophilic and to retain substantially more water. Polyester, by comparison, is much more hydrophobic and absorbs very little moisture into the fiber itself. PMC study ↗
At first that sounds backward. If polyester repels water, why would we want it anywhere near a sweaty person?
Because absorption and wicking are not the same thing.
Wicking is about moving liquid through and across the fabric. In a properly designed moisture-management fabric, tiny spaces within the yarns and fabric act like capillary pathways, helping move sweat away from the wetter area and spread it across more surface area where it has a better opportunity to evaporate. Fiber type matters, but so do yarn structure, knit construction and finishing. Textile research has repeatedly used combinations of hydrophilic and hydrophobic materials to improve moisture transport. Moisture research ↗
Here’s what’s super important to know: Cotton is naturally not a wicking material. It’s absorbent AF but it doesn’t move sweat to the exterior of the fabric where it can quickly evaporate…that’s wicking.
There is an asterisk.
Cotton fabrics can be specially engineered or treated with performance finishes that change how the finished fabric handles moisture. Textile finishing and surface modification can substantially alter wetting and transport behavior. Textile review ↗
If a company has gone to the trouble of giving its 100% cotton undershirt actual wicking performance, I would expect them to tell you. It is a feature worth advertising.
If the package simply says:
100% COTTON
I would not assume you are buying a wicking undershirt.
For most guys, your undershirt should have some meaningful moisture-wicking capability.
If you are a very heavy sweater, go further. There are specialized performance undershirts specifically designed to handle much more perspiration.
For everybody else, the shopping advice is ridiculously simple:
Look for moisture-wicking or moisture-management performance. You’ll typically find this characteristic more among the synthetic materials.
Then Why Are So Many Undershirts Still 95-100% Cotton?
Have you heard the saying, “If you want to know the answer to why, it’s always this one thing. Money”?
I have a theory about this.
For decades, the cotton industry has done an extraordinarily good job marketing cotton to us. Somewhere along the way, I think a lot of us learned to hear “100% cotton” and think “higher quality.” We were essentially trained, by marketers, to think this.
There really was an enormous marketing effort behind cotton.
Cotton became the first commodity to be marketed directly to consumers. The familiar cotton-boll seal followed in 1973, and in 1989 came the Fabric of Our Lives campaign that many of us can still hear in our heads decades later. Marketing efforts on behalf of cotton are still plentiful to this day. Cotton Inc. history ↗
That doesn’t mean cotton is bad. I like cotton. I buy it and put it on my own apparel products. Cotton can be incredibly soft, breathable, sustainable, comfortable and lovely to wear.
BUT 100% cotton does not necessarily mean higher quality.
The truth is complicated, unfortunately. Textile quality comes down to fiber length, how the yarn is spun, the knit or weave, fabric weight and density, dyeing, finishing, and dimensional stability, not just fiber content. Sewing and construction matter too, but that's a different question: how well the finished garment is put together, not how good the fabric is.
I’ve experienced this myself getting a bunch of different samples of Pima cotton. The difference in quality shocked me. Some were super soft and others weren’t. And now we know why. There’s more to the story than just the name of the material.
Here’s what you can do. You can touch the fabric. Look at the sewing. Inspect the neckline and seams. Try it on. See whether it feels substantial or flimsy. Buy from a company you trust. Read reviews with an eye toward how things hold up after washing.
But you cannot look at material content on a tag and know you have a high-quality undershirt.
Will It Keep Its Shape? That’s What Fabric Recovery Means.
An undershirt gets abused in a very repetitive way. You pull it over your head, stretch it around your torso, tuck it into pants, sit in it, reach in it, sweat in it, pull it back off and throw it in the laundry.
Then you expect it to come back and do the exact same thing tomorrow.
Fabric recovery is simply the ability of the material to return toward its original shape after it has been stretched or distorted.
This does not mean you need to hunt for a particular percentage of spandex.
Knitting, fibers, yarns, finishing and garment construction can all affect shape retention. What matters to you as the guy wearing the thing is much simpler.
Does the torso get baggy?
Do the sleeves flare?
Does the neckline expand?
Does the shirt that looked fitted in February appear to have given up on life by August?
That’s why recovery matters.
And nowhere is bad recovery more obvious than around the neck.
Would you like some eggs with your bacon neck?
If you don’t know the term bacon neck, that’s too bad because we really got a kick out of that sub-title around here.
If you don’t know it, you’ve seen it. Bacon neck on an undershirt or t-shirt is the wavy, stretched-out neckline that starts resembling bacon in a frying pan. Now that you can’t unknow this, you’re going to see them everywhere. Sorry!
And if where you’re seeing them is the mirror. Err, let’s fix that.
The underlying problem is that the fabric has lost its ability to maintain shape and recovery. A neckline gets stretched every time it goes over your head. Then washing, drying and repeated wear change the dimensions and mechanical behavior of knitted fabrics over time. Textile researchers have measured exactly those kinds of changes in knits through repeated laundering. (I really am curious about who these researchers are and what they eat for breakfast.) Textile study ↗
So when an undershirt says it has a reinforced or stay-flat collar, that is a real problem worth solving.
Day One Is Easy. How Does It Look on Day 48? And Day 1,461?
One of the hardest things about buying clothing is that it’s not easy to judge longevity.
THE AFTER-WASH & WEAR QUALITY TEST
| What happens | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| It shrinks dramatically | It wasn’t pre-shrunk. You can buy a bigger size if you otherwise like it. |
| The neckline ripples or stretches | Collar construction or recovery isn’t holding up. Hello, bacon neck. |
| The torso gets baggy | The fabric isn’t recovering well after wear and laundering. |
| The shirt twists | The knit may be developing spirality, the industry term for that annoying rotational distortion. In the industry to address this, you want what’s called low torque. |
| The surface pills | Fibers are working loose and creating those fuzz balls. Some may not be noticeable. A lot can make your shirt look ratty. |
| The feel changes | This can go either way. Some fabrics soften beautifully with washing. Others become harsher or less smooth. Laundering, drying, fabric construction and finishes can all change the way a textile feels. |
| White becomes dingy or yellow | Sweat, body oils, product residue, laundering and oxidation can all contribute. Products like OxiClean can sometimes help. |
| Seams or hems distort | Construction quality is showing itself. |
So yes, your shirt absolutely can get softer after washing. Cotton in particular can change noticeably depending on the fabric, manufacturing finishes and how you launder and dry it. Textile research has measured both increases and decreases in softness under different laundering conditions. Laundering study ↗ Fabric-hand overview ↗
This is why wash durability sits on my nice-to-have list rather than the handful of things I want you obsessing over before you buy.
But once you own the undershirt, time is one of the best ways to learn how good it really is.
How Long Should an Undershirt Be?
This is mostly a tall guy problem, but not always.
If you tuck in an undershirt, it needs to be long enough to stay tucked while you sit through performance reviews, run back to the restaurant for your phone or practice your golf swing in the hallway.
If you’ve ever had your undershirt come untucked while your dress shirt is still tucked in, you know that this is likely a technique used to torture people in purgatory.
TALL GUYS: START HERE
| Your height | What I’d look for first |
|---|---|
| Under about 6'0" | A normal dedicated undershirt length may be plenty. |
| Around 6'0"–6'2" | Standard may work, but a long torso can push you into a longer cut. |
| Around 6'3"–6'5" | Start seriously looking at actual shirt lengths and consider Tall options. A side note on Bored Rebel: we’ve tested our Graphic Undershirts on guys this tall and they still stay tucked. |
| 6'6" and up | A dedicated Tall/Extra Tall cut or unusually long undershirt becomes much more important. Height alone still does not determine your exact length. |
Does Your Undershirt Still Look Good When the Dress Shirt Comes Off?
Here is another quality test that has nothing to do with textile laboratory measurements.
Take your dress shirt off. You should be standing in front of a mirror with your undershirt on and pants on…because gheesh, we never said anything about taking your pants off.
Ok, back to being serious. How does your undershirt look? Ratty? Hm. Time for a change?
For years I bought my husband the cheapest undershirts I could find on Amazon because I wasn’t thinking very hard about undershirts. They were hidden under his clothes. Who cared?
Turns out, I did.
The increasingly ratty, stretched-out undershirts I had been buying him were not exactly a fit for my hot as hell husband, you see.
Stylists know this. How you feel in your clothes affects you more than you think. Wear a better undershirt and manifest a better life for yourself. Hyperbole aside, you get the point.
WHAT CAN ACTUALLY MAKE AN UNDERSHIRT WORTH MORE?
| You may be paying more for… | What you may actually get |
|---|---|
| Better fabric | Better feel, comfort, breathability or performance |
| Better moisture management | A more comfortable base layer when you sweat |
| Better shape retention | A shirt that keeps looking and fitting more like the one you originally bought |
| Better collar construction | No bacon neck |
| More thoughtful fit and length | Less bunching and fewer untucking problems |
| Better sewing and finishing | Comfort and durability |
| Better quality control | More consistency from shirt to shirt |
| Specialized features | Extra sweat protection, odor control or specialized necklines |
| Better design | Something you actually enjoy wearing |
| Better presentation | Something that feels giftable rather than what looks like a bag of emergency undergarments |
| Brand or luxury positioning | Sometimes you simply value the brand or customer experience. That counts too. |
How Much Should You Actually Spend on an Undershirt?
There is no magical price where quality suddenly switches on. Sorry.
Will it be harder to find an undershirt that genuinely meets our checklist minimum standards if it’s under $5 per shirt? Yep. But $120 undershirts don't all hit the mark either.
Just know what you’re buying.
And try to learn what you’re willing to pay more for.
Better fabric. Better performance. Better fit. Better construction. Better durability. Better design. More personality. A trusted brand.
Why Your Favorite Band Tee Makes for a Terrible Undershirt
What’s the difference between an undershirt and a t-shirt? And the fashion faux pas of having a graphic tee show through a dress shirt.
There is always one guy.
He’s wearing a reasonably respectable dress shirt, maybe even a suit, but underneath it you can make out some words. You think, does that say... Led Zeppelin?
Yep. It’s the guy who wore a graphic tee under his dress shirt to work.
In the course of building Bored Rebel, I talked to probably hundreds of men and women about how guys can’t wear a graphic tee that shows through a dress shirt because it’s a fashion faux pas. This was not news to people. What I found was that almost every guy seemed to know this already. At some point in his life, it occurred to him that wearing his favorite graphic t-shirt under a dress shirt is a bad idea. Maybe he tried it and noticed the looks. Maybe he witnessed Chad from IT trying to get away with it.
This little fashion “rule” became a tiny speck of knowledge in the back of his brain that he never had reason to revisit.
Undershirts are supposed to be plain, and that was the end of it. This is one of those oddly unquestioned things about men’s clothing that I find disproportionately interesting. It’s also a big part of what eventually led me to create Bored Rebel. It’s kinda fun to question the status quo, create something better and be a wee bit of a disrupter.
But first, we need to answer the seemingly simple question under it all. What IS the difference, once and for all, between an undershirt and a t-shirt?
What’s the Difference Between an Undershirt and a t-shirt?
Here’s a nuance I’ve never seen anywhere that I think is shockingly simple and accurate.
Whether a garment is an undershirt or a t-shirt depends on how you wear it... Now, whether it’s a good undershirt or a good t-shirt is an entirely different question. But think about it.
WORN UNDER
If you’re wearing a t-shirt as an undershirt, it’s a base layer. Period.
WORN ON ITS OWN
If you’re wearing a t-shirt that was marketed as an undershirt, but you’re wearing it as your outer garment, it’s a t-shirt.
There are obviously shirts specifically designed to function as base layers, just as there are t-shirts designed primarily to be seen. The truth is that most t-shirts would make bad undershirts and vice versa. You can have a specific cut that works well for both.
While this question does lend itself to a lot of nuance, here’s the bottom line. Generally, an undershirt should be designed to be close enough to the body so that it doesn’t create unwanted bulk under a dress shirt. A t-shirt can be designed to fit loosely on a body and even be wildly oversized as a style statement. Ideally, an undershirt is designed to do the job of keeping you more comfortable, protecting your dress shirt and making you look better throughout the day.
Can a Regular t-shirt Be Worn as an Undershirt?
Absolutely.
But most regular t-shirts won’t be particularly good at the job.
A lot of regular t-shirts make lousy undershirts because they weren’t designed for that purpose.
They may betoo thick.Too loose.Too short.
They may bunch under a dress shirt or trap moisture instead of managing it. And, yes, the funny cat graphic across your chest may be somewhat visible through your button-down.
There are also perfectly understandable reasons guys want to wear regular t-shirts as undershirts. They already own them. They’re more interesting. They may feel substantially nicer than the stretched-out bargain undershirts they bought in a plastic bag six months ago.
That still doesn’t make them good base layers.
THE SEVEN-POINT UNDERSHIRT TEST
Want to know if a t-shirt can pull double duty? Check these seven things.
A GOOD UNDERSHIRT SHOULD HAVEWHY IT MATTERS
01
Moisture management / wicking
It sits directly against your skin. Sweat has to go somewhere.
02
Breathability
You’re putting another shirt on top of it.
03
Soft, comfortable fabric
You’ll be wearing it directly against your body for hours.
04
A fit that doesn’t look bulky under a dress shirt
Extra fabric can bunch, wrinkle and make the outer shirt sit poorly.
05
Enough length to stay tucked
An undershirt working its way out of your pants all day is maddening.
06
A tag-free or otherwise non-irritating interior
If a tag is scratching your neck for eight hours, nothing else about the shirt matters very much.
07
No graphics that would show through a dress shirt
Avoid this fashion faux pas.
That’s it.
A t-shirt that checks those boxes can potentially make a very good undershirt. One that doesn’t may still be a fantastic t-shirt. It just has a different job.
Can a Good Undershirt Also Be a Good t-shirt?
Absolutely.
This is another place where I disagree with some of the conventional advice around undershirts.
You will sometimes see an undershirt defined almost entirely by how invisible it is supposed to be: extremely thin, very fitted, usually plain, sometimes with a very deep V-neck. Those characteristics can make perfect sense if your only goal is creating a base layer that practically disappears.
But that doesn’t mean every good undershirt has to look like something you would never willingly wear outside your house.
A shirt can fit cleanly underneath another shirt, manage moisture, stay tucked and feel great against your skin while also looking good enough to wear by itself.
That is not a contradiction. It’s just a harder design assignment. Just ask Tom Ford. Bored Rebel makes this crossover cut as well.
Why Bored Rebel Put a Graphic on an Undershirt Anyway
When I became interested in men’s undershirts, I kept coming back to the same question: Why does putting on a dress shirt mean the shirt underneath has to become boring?
There was a legitimate functional reason conventional graphics didn’t work. If you put a big design across the chest, it could show through the dress shirt.
Okay.
So instead of accepting that undershirts had to be plain, I started thinking about whether you could change the graphic.
That eventually became Bored Rebel’s patented Graphic Undershirt.
Our sayings run vertically down the center of the shirt so the design sits behind the thicker placket of a buttoned dress shirt. Button up, and the graphic stays hidden. Take the dress shirt off and you’re wearing an actual graphic t-shirt rather than something that looks like you forgot to finish getting dressed. Bored Rebel’s current shirts are intentionally designed to work both as base layers and standalone tees.
And that, really, is the larger point of this chapter.
There is no law saying an undershirt has to be plain. There is no law saying a shirt that works beautifully underneath a dress shirt can’t also look great on its own.
Tighty Whities Aren’t Only for Underwear
How should a men’s undershirt fit? From classic to very fitted, there is more than one right answer.
There is a lot of advice out there telling men exactly how an undershirt is supposed to fit.
THE OLD RULEBOOK
Very close to the body.Tight through the chest.Snug around the arms.Practically invisible underneath your clothes.
Okay.
But there is one fairly important person missing from some of this advice:
the guy actually wearing the thing.
My North Star for undershirt fit is pretty simple. If you are comfortable in it, and the fit works underneath whatever you’re wearing over it, I’m good with it.
You know what tight feels like on your body. You know whether you’re going to be annoyed by that shirt at 4:30 in the afternoon. You know whether you like something hugging your torso or whether that makes you feel like you’ve been shrink-wrapped.
Personal preference gets a vote.
How Tight Should an Undershirt Be?
Fitted enough that it doesn’t create unwanted bulk underneath your clothes.
Comfortable enough that you can forget you’re wearing it.
That’s really the answer.
A wildly oversized t-shirt underneath a fitted dress shirt is obviously going to create problems. Extra fabric has to go somewhere, and usually it ends up bunching around the waist, under the arms or across the torso.
But going in the opposite direction doesn’t automatically make an undershirt better.
If it is so tight that it restricts movement, digs into your armpits, squeezes your stomach in a way you didn’t sign up for or simply makes you uncomfortable, congratulations. You have solved one problem by creating a much more irritating one.
There is a whole range between those extremes.
THE UNDERSHIRT FIT SPECTRUM
Fitted / Slim
- What it feels like
- Close to the body without squeezing
- Why you might like it
- Clean layering with less bulk
- Watch for
- Make sure you can still move comfortably
Very Fitted
- What it feels like
- Hugs the torso and arms closely
- Why you might like it
- Minimal extra fabric underneath clothes
- Watch for
- Not everybody enjoys being hugged by a t-shirt for 12 hours
Compression / Shaping
- What it feels like
- Deliberately tight and supportive
- Why you might like it
- Can create a smoother silhouette or provide the compression some guys specifically want
- Watch for
- This should be something you intentionally buy, not something your undershirt springs on you unexpectedly
There is no winner here.The best fit is the one that does its job and feels good to you.
I’m a Goldilocks Person
THE GOLDILOCKS FIT
For me personally, and for my husband, Karl, I like what I think of as the Goldilocks fit.
Not too tight.Not too loose.Just right.
Bored Rebel Graphic Undershirts™ have what I would describe as a classic fit. They sit close enough to the body to work comfortably underneath a dress shirt without a bunch of unnecessary fabric, but they aren’t designed to suction themselves onto your torso.
That matters to me because I love the dual purpose.
Karl can wear one underneath a dress shirt, take the dress shirt off later and simply be standing there in a t-shirt that looks great on him.
I think it’s a sexy cut.
Yes, I realize my husband is the model in this particular research study. I remain comfortable with my findings.
That doesn’t mean the Bored Rebel fit is the right fit for every guy. Some men genuinely love a much closer cut. Some want compression. Some want more room.
Fine.
The point is that an undershirt does not have to be extremely tight to be a good undershirt.
Don’t Forget About Length
Fit isn’t only about circumference.
An undershirt can feel fantastic through the chest and torso and still drive you completely insane if the length is wrong.
Too shortand it works its way out of your pants every time you sit, reach or move around.
Too longand you can end up stuffing a surprising amount of fabric into your pants, particularly if you’re a shorter guy.
You don’t need a mathematical formula here. You need enough length for the shirt to stay tucked through normal movement without so much excess fabric that you start wondering whether part of the shirt belongs in a different ZIP code.
Tall guys may need Tall sizing or deliberately longer undershirts. Shorter guys may want to pay closer attention to garment length rather than assuming every undershirt labeled their size will fit proportionally.
What About Stretch and Elastane?
STRETCH ≠ FIT
A lot of modern undershirts include elastane, also called spandex, in the fabric blend.
That can be a very useful thing.
Elastane gives fabric stretch and helps it recover toward its original shape after being stretched. In practical terms, that can help a fitted shirt move with you instead of fighting you and can help it maintain its shape throughout the day. Elastane study ↗
But don’t assume that seeing a particular percentage of elastane tells you exactly how tight an undershirt will be.
It doesn’t.
The pattern, sizing, knit construction, other fibers in the fabric and the amount of ease built into the garment all affect the final fit.
A shirt with elastane can be comfortably fitted.
It can also be extremely tight.
If you’re shopping online, hopefully the product description gives you enough information about the cut and stretch to understand how the shirt is intended to fit before you buy it.
Are you comfortable? Does it fit well under your clothes?
Ask yourself:
- Is the undershirt bunching anywhere underneath?
- Are the sleeves creating visible lumps?
- Can you move your arms comfortably?
- Does the shirt stay tucked when you sit, stand and reach?
- Is anything pulling, squeezing, rubbing or otherwise annoying you?
- If you plan to wear it on its own sometimes, do you actually like how you look in it?
And finally:Are you comfortable?
If the answer is yes, you probably have the right fit.
A Shockingly Divisive Topic: Crew vs. V-Neck
Lots of undershirt style options and zero agreement. What to do.
Here is something I did not expect to learn when I got into the men’s undershirt business:
Guys have very strong feelings about necklines.
TEAMCREW NECK
TEAMV-NECK
Crew neck guys like crew necks. V-neck guys like V-necks. Some men have been wearing the same style for decades and appear to see no reason whatsoever to reopen the matter. There is a small portion of guys who go both ways, but these folks generally prefer the undershirt not to show and only wear crew necks with ties.
I have actually thought about making TEAM CREW NECK and TEAM V-NECK yard signs. But unless I’m filming a Super Bowl ad that would be weird.
My take: times have changed. Wear the neckline you like.
Does an Undershirt Have to Be Invisible?
There is a very established school of menswear thought that says yes.
You can absolutely still find plenty of stylists and menswear experts insisting that if you open the collar of your dress shirt, your undershirt should never be visible. Crew necks therefore become something you wear with a fully buttoned shirt and tie, while V-necks are recommended when you leave the collar open.
I disagree.
I think we have moved past the idea that seeing the neckline of an undershirt is automatically a fashion faux pas.
And fashion itself gives us some evidence that the rule has loosened. In 2006, GQ took a pretty hard line against undershirts showing. By 2019, GQ was calling the white undershirt a “crucial outfit addition” while showing it worn visibly by stylish guys.
Look around and you can see why.
Brad Pitt arrived at the 2024 Venice Film Festival wearing a white shirt layered over another white shirt. Liam Payne has been photographed in the classic open-shirt-over-white-tee combination. KJ Apa, P.J. Tucker and Brooklyn Beckham have also been featured wearing visible white tees or undershirts. There are endless examples in movies, television, street style and celebrity dressing of a crew neck deliberately visible under another shirt.
I see it constantly in real life too.
Because of Bored Rebel, I notice men’s undershirts to an abnormal degree. I notice them walking around my neighborhood. I notice them on guys coming home from offices. I notice them on television. I talk to men about what they wear and why.
My completely non-scientific but unusually well-informed observation is that crew necks are more popular among the men I encounter.
I also see more V-neck loyalty among older men, many of whom learned somewhere along the way that an undershirt simply wasn’t supposed to show. That being said, plenty of very stylish 20-something guys wear V-necks too.
The bigger point is that both look completely normal today.
A Visible Undershirt Under a Dress Shirt Can Even Look Sexy
I happen to think a quality crew neck peeking out from underneath a dress shirt can look great. Yes, even sexy. It hints at what’s underneath, right?
And if you like that look, there is no compelling reason for some menswear purist on social to talk you out of it.
If you don’t like seeing your undershirt, that is equally valid. Wear a V-neck. I’m a big fan of individualism in style and otherwise for that matter.
And if you are wearing a tie with your dress shirt buttoned at the collar, the crew neckline itself should be covered anyway.
It’s your wardrobe. You decide.
Crew, V, Deep V, Tank... What Are Your Options?
How Deep Should a V-Neck Be?
As deep as you need it to be.
2 buttonsA regular V-neck may disappear with two buttons undone.
3 buttonsA deeper V is useful if you prefer wearing three buttons open and still want your undershirt hidden.
7 or 8We may have left undershirt territory altogether.
And if you are contemplating seven or eight open buttons, we may have left undershirt territory altogether. Now you’re in Lenny Kravitz land, so to speak. And we won’t complain.
The practical point is simply to think about how you normally wear the shirt over your undershirt.
The more open you like your collar, the deeper the neckline needs to be if invisibility matters to you.
Does Wearing a Black Undershirt Make You a Stylish Person?
The rising trend of undershirts coming in all sorts of colors.
It’s a confident fashion choice, a black undershirt. So we’re going to go with yes.
YES.
Yes, it makes you a more stylish person.
White is obviously the easiest decision you can make in the world of men’s undershirts. It goes with virtually everything. You don’t have to think very hard. Grab a white undershirt. Put on a dress shirt. Continue with your day.
But undershirts don’t have to be white.
Black, navy, gray, skin-tone shades and plenty of other options are increasingly easy to find. And I think we’re going to see more of this, not less.
And if you want to add a little color to your wardrobe, why not?
You just have to think about it a tiny bit more.
There Are Really Two Reasons to Care About Undershirt Color
Maybe you wear a crew neck and some of it shows underneath an open dress shirt. In that case, color becomes a style choice.
Black under a dark charcoal shirt can look great.
Navy under a darker blue shirt can look great.
You don’t need an exact match (which would probably be annoyingly hard to find anyway). You just want the colors to make sense together.
Different goal.
And here is something slightly counterintuitive:
White is not necessarily the least visible undershirt underneath a light-colored dress shirt.
If a dress shirt is thin enough that you can see through it somewhat, you may notice the point where a bright white undershirt sleeve ends and bare skin begins. A shirt closer to the wearer’s skin tone creates less contrast, so that line can become much less noticeable.
Menswear companies that specialize in invisible undershirts specifically recommend choosing a shade closer to your skin tone for exactly this reason.
The useful principle is simply this:
If your goal is invisibility, look for an undershirt that comes reasonably close to your own skin tone rather than automatically choosing white.
What Undershirt Color Goes With What?
Here is my very non-Pantone-required guide.
WhiteAnything
The easiest option. Under a thin white or very light dress shirt, however, it may be more visible than an undershirt closer to your skin tone.
BlackBlack, charcoal and other very dark neutral shirts
Particularly good when some of the undershirt will show. Avoid black underneath blue or light-colored shirts.
NavyNavy, dark blue and other shirts in the blue family
If you’re working with blues, navy usually makes more visual sense than black.
GrayGray, charcoal and other muted colors
An easy neutral. Lighter gray can also be less conspicuous underneath some lighter dress shirts than bright white.
Skin toneAnything
This can be the stealth option. The closer the undershirt is to your skin tone, the less contrast it may create underneath a sheer outer shirt.
If you’re into colors like black or navy, the goal is often to let the neckline show while pairing it with a dress shirt whose color and fabric keep the undershirt from showing through the chest.
There are obviously more colors out there. Green. Brown. Burgundy. Whatever someone decides to design next Wednesday. The same basic rule applies: if the undershirt is going to show, coordinate it with the clothes around it.
If Nobody Can See It, You Can Stop Caring
There is also a point at which none of this matters.
If your dress shirt is sufficiently opaque, your undershirt isn’t showing at the collar and nobody can see the color underneath...
Wear whatever you want.A bright purple undershirt could be happening under there and society would continue functioning normally.
The style guidance matters when the color can actually be seen, either through the dress shirt or at the neckline.
Otherwise, move along.
Yeah. It’s Confusing. Here’s a Fabric Cheat Sheet.
What it actually is
Natural cotton fiber
Why you might like it
Soft, familiar, breathable and widely available
What to know for an undershirt
Cotton absorbs a lot of moisture. We recommend buying an undershirt that has moisture-wicking qualities. Ordinary untreated cotton is not a great moisture-management choice for a base layer because it can hold onto sweat and stay wet longer.
What it actually is
Cotton mixed with polyester, sometimes with elastane too
Why you might like it
Can combine cotton-like softness with faster drying, durability and better moisture performance
What to know for an undershirt
The percentages alone do not tell you whether it wicks well. Look for an actual moisture-wicking or moisture-management claim.
What it actually is
A manufactured synthetic fiber
Why you might like it
Quick drying, durable and commonly engineered specifically for moisture management
What to know for an undershirt
Polyester absorbs very little moisture into the fiber itself. In a well-designed performance fabric, it can move sweat and dry quickly. Quality and feel vary enormously. Polyester is commonly favored for moisture-management clothing because of its low moisture absorption. Fiber study ↗
What it actually is
A manufactured synthetic fiber. Nylon is a type of polyamide.
Why you might like it
Smooth, strong, lightweight and often stretchy in blends
What to know for an undershirt
Common in technical apparel and performance blends. It can wick well, but the finished fabric matters more than the fiber name alone. Fiber study ↗
What it actually is
A regenerated cellulose fiber made from plant material such as wood pulp. Viscose is a common form/name of rayon.
Why you might like it
Usually very soft, smooth and drapey; absorbs moisture readily
What to know for an undershirt
Yes, viscose can wick, but it is also highly absorbent. That means it can hold considerably more moisture than polyester and may dry more slowly. Don’t assume viscose alone means high-performance moisture management. Fabric construction and blends matter a lot. Fiber study ↗
What it actually is
Usually rayon or viscose made from cellulose that originally came from bamboo
Why you might like it
Typically soft, smooth and comfortable against the skin
What to know for an undershirt
It generally has the performance characteristics of viscose/rayon, because that is the finished fiber. “Bamboo” alone does not mean moisture-wicking, antibacterial or high-performance. Check the actual fiber content and performance claims. FTC guidance ↗
What it actually is
A regenerated cellulose fiber generally made from wood pulp
Why you might like it
Particularly soft, smooth and comfortable next to the skin
What to know for an undershirt
Often blended with elastane for a closer fit and better recovery. Modal can help manage moisture, but read the details from the manufacturer. Cellulosic study ↗
What it actually is
Another regenerated cellulose fiber made from wood pulp, using a different manufacturing process from traditional viscose
Why you might like it
Soft, smooth and good at moisture control
What to know for an undershirt
Often found in premium next-to-skin garments. TENCEL™ is a brand name, and TENCEL-branded fibers can be lyocell or modal, so read the actual fiber content. Cellulosic study ↗
What it actually is
Fine natural wool from Merino sheep
Why you might like it
Soft for wool, breathable, temperature-regulating and particularly good at controlling odor
What to know for an undershirt
A particularly useful base layer in cold climates and for skiing or other outdoor activities. It provides warmth without necessarily requiring a heavy fabric. Its temperature regulation and odor resistance also make it useful for travel and repeated wear. Usually more expensive. Odor study ↗
What it actually is
A highly stretchy synthetic fiber. Elastane and spandex are essentially two names for the same thing.
Why you might like it
Adds stretch, recovery and a closer fit
What to know for an undershirt
Usually a supporting fiber rather than the main material. Even 5–10% can noticeably change fit and recovery. It does not automatically make a fabric moisture-wicking. Elastane study ↗
What Do Those Fabric Percentages Actually Mean?
A blend is basically telling you which fibers are doing which jobs.
95% / 5%
Take 95% cotton / 5% elastane. This is still overwhelmingly a cotton shirt. The elastane adds stretch and helps the garment recover its shape. It does not magically turn cotton into a performance moisture-management fabric.
60% / 40%
With something like 60% cotton / 40% polyester, polyester is now a substantial part of the fabric and can meaningfully affect drying, durability and moisture behavior.
90% / 10%
And 90% modal / 10% elastane gives you a fabric dominated by modal, including much of the softness and feel associated with it, with a meaningful amount of stretch and recovery added by the elastane.
Here is the important part:
Fabric percentages are clues, not a performance score.
Two undershirts with identical fiber percentages can still feel and perform differently. Yarn, knit construction, fabric weight, thickness and finishing can all change how a textile handles moisture and feels against your body. Textile research on underwear fabrics backs up just how much construction matters alongside fiber content. Textile study ↗
The History of the Men’s Undershirt Is Anything But Boring
A tale that includes Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, James Dean and Bad Bunny.
For a garment whose original job was literally to hide underneath another garment, the undershirt has had a weird amount of cultural drama.
It has been underwear. Military gear. Workwear. A symbol of rebellion. A sex symbol.
A supposed slump in undershirt sales back in the 1930s has been attributed to Hollywood legend Clark Gable not wearing one in a movie.
Then Hollywood legends Marlon Brando and James Dean helped turn the white undershirt into one of the most iconic looks in American fashion. And much more recently, Bad Bunny has reinvigorated the style.
THE TIMELINE
A Timeline of the White Undershirt
Mid-1800s
It starts as underwear.
Long before anyone was debating crew neck versus V-neck, men wore under-vests and eventually one-piece union suits underneath their clothes. As one-piece underwear gave way to two pieces, the top half started looking more and more like something we would recognize as an undershirt. V&A history ↗
Nobody was trying to make a fashion statement.
They were trying to stay warm, absorb sweat and avoid washing their nicer clothes constantly.
1913
The U.S. Navy makes the crew-neck undershirt standard issue.
U.S. Naval uniform regulations introduced a white, buttonless, short-sleeved crew-neck undershirt. Sailors could wear it by itself while working at sea, which helped begin the very important cultural transition from underwear nobody was supposed to see to shirt people could actually see. V&A history ↗
1920
The word t-shirt enters our world.
By 1920, t-shirt had become a word, named for the rather obvious fact that the garment looks like a T when you lay it flat. The first known use of the term “t-shirt” in print came from F. Scott Fitzgerald, in his 1920 novel This Side of Paradise. PBS American Masters ↗ It’s still mostly underwear.
1934
Clark Gable does NOT wear an undershirt, and people lose their minds.
In It Happened One Night, Clark Gable takes off his dress shirt and reveals that there is no undershirt underneath.
You have to understand…this movie moment became fashion legend.
For decades, the story has been repeated that American undershirt sales dropped because men saw Gable looking spectacular without one and followed his lead.
The American Film Institute found a contemporary New York Times reference claiming the scene hurt undershirt sales, but AFI could find no additional evidence confirming it. AFI Catalog ↗
So I would file this under Things That May Be True and Are Way Too Good Not to Tell You About.
Either way, the fact that one supremely famous man simply not wearing an undershirt could become a cultural event is fascinating. One has to wonder. Could this still be having an impact today? I’ve long argued that men’s undershirts are a boring category. Useful, yes. A particularly cool thing to wear? Not so much. Bored Rebel, of course, has set out to change this. (Had to throw that in!)
1940s
Men wear undershirts regularly, but start to keep them on as t-shirts for things like yard work.
World War II accelerated the transformation.
Servicemen wore t-shirts underneath their uniforms and sometimes by themselves while doing physical work. When veterans came home, many continued wearing them casually at home. Museums Victoria ↗
1951
Marlon Brando. The undershirt becomes a white t-shirt.
Then came one of the most celebrated movies of all time: A Streetcar Named Desire. Marlon Brando wore the undershirt as a white t-shirt. It was sexy. The world had changed.
The Victoria and Albert Museum credits Brando’s performance as one of the major moments that transformed the t-shirt from underwear into the uniform of the rebellious young man. V&A history ↗
1955
James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause. A white t-shirt and jeans became the cool thing to wear.
Four years later came the ultimate bad boy movie Rebel Without a Cause.
James Dean wore the basic white crew-neck t-shirt with jeans and a red jacket, and the look became permanently associated with youthful rebellion. V&A history ↗
Think about this for a second.
In 1934, Clark Gable was famous for taking off his dress shirt and not having an undershirt underneath.
Twenty-one years later, James Dean was famous for basically wearing the undershirt as the outfit.
Men’s fashion can move fast when extremely attractive movie stars get involved.
1960s–1970s
The t-shirt gets a personality.
Then the t-shirt really breaks free.
Printing technology made it increasingly easy to put images, slogans, bands, brands, political messages, jokes and pretty much anything else onto a shirt.
The former undergarment became a canvas for identity. Museums Victoria ↗
The t-shirt’s appearance keeps evolving.
The undershirt’s mostly does not.
2023
Bad Bunny’s Grammy performance helps fuel a style revival of the White Tee.
Bad Bunny opened the 2023 Grammys wearing a completely plain white t-shirt, Levi’s 501s, sneakers and a backwards baseball cap. GRAMMY performance ↗
At one of the most aggressively dressed-up events in entertainment, one of the biggest musicians in the world showed up looking like a very stylish guy who had just grabbed a t-shirt and jeans.
Vogue loved it. GQ called the broader phenomenon a return to “normal clothes.”
The white t-shirt was elevated.
2024
Personality is added to undershirts. Bored Rebel patents the Graphic Undershirt™.
Okay. This one is personal.
We noticed that undershirts everywhere were plain. In other words, they weren’t graphic tees. People had always been concerned about the print showing through a dress shirt, so undershirts remained plain.
We placed centered, vertical sayings on the chest of the undershirt so that the print falls under the thick part of the fabric by the buttons (the “placket”) when worn under a dress shirt. The print doesn’t show through. They are graphic tees designed to not have the print show through when worn under a dress shirt.
Bored Rebel received its first two U.S. design patents for the Graphic Undershirt™ in August 2024. Two more followed in December 2025 and January 2026.
Leave It to a Girl
How a woman reinvented the boring men’s base layer and invented the Graphic Undershirt™.
There is something objectively amusing about a woman with absolutely no apparel experience deciding to fix men’s undershirts.
But several years later, here we are.
People who study innovation talk about the concept of a beginner’s mind. It’s the idea that someone is approaching a problem without the assumptions, habits and "that's just how it's done" thinking that experts often accumulate over time. It’s a fresh pair of eyes.
In my case, the question was incredibly basic:
Why are men’s undershirts so freaking boring?
More about Bored Rebel ↗
It Started on the Bathroom Floor
I was still recovering from a not-so-fun case of workplace burnout when I started Bored Rebel. I was doing better, but I was still trying to figure out what came next for me.
I had also gotten really interested in graphic design.
Then one day I noticed some of my husband Karl’s clothes on the bathroom floor.
His underwear had personality. There were graphics. There were skulls. There was something fun going on down there.
His undershirt?
Plain white. Ratty. Boring. But I can just buy something better, I thought, right?
I did what any determined person with too much time during COVID and excellent online-shopping skills would do. I searched. And searched. I literally looked all over the world for a men’s undershirt with some personality. Nothing. And that floored me.
I started wondering why. I knew this, but couldn’t remember ever giving it a nanosecond of thought. A graphic tee would show through a dress shirt. It’s a fashion faux pas. So men’s undershirts, all over the world, are basically sans graphics.
At some point over the next few weeks, I started thinking something crazy (and let me be clear, I personally loved crazy ideas in the world of business):
The men’s undershirt category was actually ripe for a disruptor. And maybe I could be the one to do it.
Then I Discovered This Thing Called a Placket
I started examining Karl’s dress shirts and undershirts like they were evidence in a criminal investigation.
I started testing out ideas. Surely, I thought, light-colored ink on a t-shirt wouldn’t show through under a dress shirt. But fuck, it did. Mark that one off the list.
Eventually, after tugging and poking and having poor Karl take various shirts on and off like it was his second job, I noticed something that ended up being the key to everything.
There was this thicker strip of fabric running vertically down the front of his dress shirts where the buttons are.
What the heck was that?
I eventually learned that it is called a placket.
If you already knew that, there is a decent chance you either work deep inside the apparel industry or practice intellectual property law. Most normal people do not walk around with the knowledge of plackets.
But this little strip of fabric gave me an idea.
What if I put a graphic vertically down the center of an undershirt so that, when you buttoned a dress shirt over it, the graphic sat underneath the thicker placket? But it’s an odd shape being so long and narrow, so I wasn’t sure this would work at all.
Could you make a graphic t-shirt that wouldn’t show through a dress shirt?
My Highly Sophisticated First Prototype
My first prototype looked like something a seven-year-old might make during craft time.
I took one of Karl’s old (obviously ratty) undershirts.
Then I took a piece of clear tape, the kind you use to wrap a present, and stuck it vertically down the center of the shirt. I grabbed a thick black permanent marker.
And I wrote:
BADASS
Stacked letters, straight down the front.
I still have this shirt in my closet.
Naturally, I made Karl put it on.
Then I made him put a dress shirt over it.
And I stared at him.
Move around.
Sit down.
Button it.
Unbutton it.
What happens if the shirt shifts?
Can I see the black letters?
Do they stay put or will they move?
Because here was the problem: the idea was only good if it actually worked.
If the word BADASS suddenly appeared through somebody’s dress shirt during a meeting with a client, that would not be cool.
So I spent a lot of time trying to break my own idea. I learned things like the standard width of a placket, the sheerness of a white dress shirt, and the fact that absolutely everyone will take a free t-shirt.
I spent months having guys who regularly wore button-downs test prototypes in real life, asking what they thought, whether anything showed through, and what, if anything, didn’t work. I tried to break my idea, but I couldn’t. It worked.
But It Also Had to Look Cool
Hiding the graphic solved one problem. There was another. The design, well, it needed to look good. Better than good. It needed to look cool.
A cool graphic tee that was designed to be worn under a dress shirt without the print showing through.
So I started working on the graphic design itself, fortuitously turning the sayings sideways. I experimented with placement, proportions and how the whole thing looked on an actual guy.
Then I started getting prototypes professionally printed. I loved them. And, very, very thankfully, I wasn’t the only one.
Button up your dress shirt, and the saying disappears.
Take the dress shirt off, and you have a graphic tee. After evaluating roughly 300 t-shirts to find the ones that I landed on, it became obvious to me that the cut I wanted would be perfect for a base layer and as a solo tee that could be worn with a pair of jeans.
Naturally, throughout the testing process I wore them myself. At first my brain was stuck on the fact that these were men’s t-shirts. I would never have wanted to wear my husband’s old (ahem, ratty) undershirts, so that’s where my head was. But these were SO different. It’s a true unisex cut and I loved them for me, too. Over time, my t-shirts became firmly marketed for both men and women.
The Sayings Became Part of the Invention
The more I worked on the concept, the more important the actual words became. Because the original idea was words that would be hidden. It reminded me (and my friends who would listen) of tattoos. They were in fact a lot like tattoos, but without the needles. The design was hidden until you decided to show it to someone.
A lot of my earliest sayings came from my own experience in corporate life.
I am not naming names, but there were absolutely days when I would have seriously loved wearing MY BOSS SUCKS underneath my blouse. Just saying.
The hidden part was funny to me.
But I also realized the message could do something more than make somebody laugh.
One day Karl had an interview for a new job. Afterward, I naturally asked him, “Which Bored Rebel did you wear?” thinking it would be an affirmation like You’ve Got This or Today is Awesome. Even You Miss Every Shot You Don’t Take.
Nope. He had actually dug through his drawer that morning and specifically picked:
MY CAT HATES ME
It was a funny shirt. Interviews are stressful. It was perfect.
I loved that. Because this was exactly what I had been thinking about when I created these shirts. A Graphic Undershirt can change how you feel. Even if nobody else sees it.
After Launch Some Pretty Crazy Things Started Happening
Not long after Bored Rebel launched, the famous clothing designer and entrepreneur Rebecca Minkoff selected my story to feature in her newsletter.
I was dumbfounded.
Then Bored Rebel was selected to be included in the gift bag given to Oscar nominees. WTF? It felt magical. Like all the hard work was worth it.
Press started happening.
Then I approached Nordstrom. I flew to Seattle and met with the buyers. They picked up Bored Rebel right away. It was wonderful news. And when we launched on Nordstrom.com, I took a screenshot of Bored Rebel sitting there among a very small group of undershirt brands, including names everybody knows.
I still have that screenshot.
Now an Undershirt Can Actually Be a Great Gift
Something else changed once we put personality on a beautifully made base layer. It became incredibly giftable.
A normal undershirt can certainly be a useful gift. Buy somebody a really nice one and maybe he’ll appreciate it.
But when there are sayings to choose from, you can pick something specifically because it reminds you of him.
My Dog Thinks I’m Awesome became our bestseller.
We created wedding designs.
Work sayings.
Funny sayings.
Encouraging sayings.
Things with a little edge.
The undershirt stopped being just another basic and became something personal.