We Tested 27 'Quiet Luxury' Tees. Only 3 Survived.

The premium t-shirt industry has a dirty secret: most of them are four dollars of fabric and fifty dollars of branding. We know because in October we spent $1,847 buying every brand anyone we know mentioned, washed them twelve times each, and threw them in a ring.

§The test

Three editors wore one shirt per week in rotation. Each shirt went through the same wash cycle (cold, gentle, tumble low). After twelve cycles we scored each on four things: shape retention, colorfastness, neckline integrity, and — the killer — how it looked under a blazer.

"If your $120 ribbed tee looks like a $12 tee after the fourth wash, we have bad news about your $120."

— Naomi, reviewing the Totême

§The three that survived

• 01Uniqlo Supima Ribbed Crew — $24. Outlasted everything twice its price. Buy four.
• 02Kotn Essential Tee — $45. The most honest label in the test. Canadian-made, fair trade, survived cycle 12.
• 03A.P.C. Standard — $110. The only 'luxury' tee that earned it. Neckline still crisp. Holds for 3+ years.

Everything else we threw into the donate pile. We're not naming the losers — but if you know, you know. The ones with monograms. The ones at the airport. The ones in Condé Nast gift guides.

Write a nicer headline if you want. This is the shape of the data.