We’re repeatedly told it’s best to splurge on a pair of luxury shoes or an it-bag - but in our office, some would rather spend serious money searching for the perfect white tee.
While a nice bag can last a lifetime, a white tee will never last more than a year, (you might still have it in your closet, but there’s no way it looks good). However, the satisfaction of finding the best-fitting, softest, most flattering t-shirt to be the blank canvas for everything else in your closet is enough to validate its short life span.
Britt guesses she has about twenty white t-shirts ranging from $7 Hanes undershirts to a $100 James Perse linen tee, (the most she’s ever spent). But then again that’s pretty much all she wears, whether with a brocade skirt or ripped jeans. She’s currently lusting after this Alexander Wang version, and would like you to justify the $138 purchase.
Natalie is in the same boat (shoe…ha!), although she usually just stocks up at American Apparel (still overpriced remembering the price of those Hanes.) She’s bought a few James Perse items in her past, but she doesn’t feel so bad about it, because she knows that you’re not just paying for cotton, you’re paying for the perfect fit and the ability to practically triple your wardrobe via strategic layering and other slights of fashion.
When it comes down to it, buying a $100 t-shirt might be as ridiculous as buying a $5,000 handbag, except it’s more within reach, it’ll actually be on your body rather than just to the side, and it’s less of a commitment.
Which makes it OK, right?
posted by A Girl
Feb 28, 2008 12:06PM
i swear by petit bateau tees...they always look polished, wash well, are long enough in the torso, and the colors are not too loud or boring.