The Romantic Appeal of the Sh*tty Tubular Tee
Meeting #22: On why imperfection is vital
Hello, and welcome to today’s meeting of the prep club. As always, last week’s Club Chair Bulletin is available here, or you can grab a copy on your way out. On today’s agenda we’re talking t-shirts, and then jumping off into a chat about how some of your wardrobe should look somewhat sh*tty.
Apologies if that word still offends you, unfortunately there isn’t really a better term to get quite to the heart of what I mean. Whilst I intend to make this clearer in due course, we’re not talking about things which are objectively bad looking, or bad quality, they’re just unrefined, or beat-up, or both.
This is also not a t-shirt buying guide, there are plenty of those out there, from folks better placed to make them.
The Perfect T-shirt
You likely understand the situation, Merz B. Schwanen, Whitesville, the beautiful, absolutely perfected examples of the white, tubular t-shirt. Nothing crazy heavy, snug in the right spots. It seems we’ve settled into this formula being the essential t-shirt, the blueprint for what we’re looking for. This is curious, because by most counts, a side seam construction is touted as a better way to make a t-shirt (Merz’s loopwheeling is a different story, I am aware), a method which grants better control over fit, and presents as higher quality in its appearance. The fact that we love the tubular construction so damn much drills down into something more poignant about clothing, and other parts of life too, sometimes the perfect example of something isn’t the highest possible quality.
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I’m going to pinch an analogy from the Neverrong podcast because its a bloody good one, think about the perfect burger, you’re probably not thinking of something with truffle, it’s some sort of smash burger, iceberg lettuce, pickles, etc. it’s a question of function and expectation. The perfect version is not quantifiably the best, rather it is that which best fulfils the expectation for a given thing. T-shirts are very much in this category.
The question then that we may want wish to posit, is what is the consumer expectation for the t-shirt, if not to be well made and well tailored? See, no matter what you do to it, the tee is never going to be an elegant garment. It started its life as underwear, it should be noted as did the collared shirt, and now it serves to communicate a particular grunginess, carelessness, in the context of heritage fashion. This really is where the tubular tee splits off from its oversized cousin, in function. When someone wears a plain white t-shirt, and it fits close to the body, maybe with some nice light-wash jeans, it’s a vulnerable, effortless Americana. It’s seeing something stripped back, it’s folk music.
The other detail too, holes are welcome, a couple marks are welcome. We’re looking for them to have softened with wear, shrank and stretched around the wearer.
This is all to say that, I don't think we want a t-shirt to communicate affluence, that shouldn’t really be its job, which brings up some interesting questions when we’re talking about $70-$100 examples. It’s more about a communication of cultural capital, it's the cooler-than-cool New York influencer posting street vendor hot-dogs and trips to upstate dives. As it forever seems to be, it’s a question of authenticity.
So when it comes to the bank-breaking white tees, the fee really is for a greater expression of authenticity to the t shirts of days gone by. However, you can probably get optically similar results for much less, just keep one eye on ethics while you’re at it. In terms of what matters for a tee, length is the biggest one, as a zoomer I am a fiend for cropping stuff, but a tee that hits just at the belt line is a beautiful sight. I’m inclined to advocate for sizing down with tees, if one is comfortable doing so, to get that length just right, and then to contrast nicely with a wider pant. There’s always the option of cropping and hemming them too, or not hemming, a raw seam here very much fits the aesthetic.
Beyond the base layers
I wanted to elaborate a little further into some examples other than t-shirts, there are a lot of examples, especially in the Ivy cannon, I touched on a similar sentiment when considering Ivy and The Environment.
One that really sticks out to me is Barbours. Whilst a wax jacket is a classic, there's something indescribably desirable about a Beaufort that’s gone to hell and back. Rips, tears, patches, get it fixed up, re-waxed, and take it out of the city for another rainstorm or two. A farmer’s Barbour, not an aristocrat’s.
I think a great deal about the extent to which I, as a middle class, state-school kid, am dressing “above my station” in some pieces, not that I’m out of place, far more so that I’m somehow implying an unhappiness with my identity, which is very much not the case. For those outside of the UK, the Barbour jacket, on a white guy, is frequently the calling card of the tory voter. What I am interested in is finding down-to-earth, authentic expressions of these looks. I think a trashed Barbour is a fine example.
The same goes for your penny loafers. The Saville Row gentleman sports a pair of perfectly polished pennies, the Ivy kid’s are creased like hell, quite possibly on their second sole and third heel. Maybe we’d call it sprezzatura. There’s an undeniable cool factor to the wear and tear.
Denim shorts, one probably isn’t looking for selvedge, they are going to be second-hand cut-offs or 90s mall specials. Again, the point of jorts isn’t really to be an abject show of dedication to quality. The culture around the garment is far more care-free, and thus one ought really to be care-free in their selection. As to the place that jorts might take in your wardrobe, that’s perhaps a discussion for another time.
For some pieces, you don’t need the most elevated example, in fact, you don’t even want the most elevated example. Consideration of role and expectation might save you a few bucks, but it might lend greater authenticity to your outfits.
As always, thank you kindly for your attendance today, and I hope you’ll join to attend the next meeting. Last week’s bulletin is available here, take a look for thoughts on overstatement and AI in fashion.
Prep Club adjourned, see you next time.
