The Problem with White Shirts

Someone has to say something.

View in Browser  Wednesday, November 26, 2025 This one is controversial! Esquire's style director, Jonathan Evans, stakes out an indefensible position on the iconic white T-shirt. It's no good for the average guy, he writes. And it should be avoided. I, for one, disagree with him. But you should hear him out; he does land some strong points. Read his column below. If you feel moved, leave a comment below the story. Happy Thanksgiving!   – Michael Sebastian, editor-in-chief Plus: What actually inspired Stranger Things in the first place? Nike's Black Friday Sale is unbelievably good This is not how I wanted to get Rush Hour 4 Sorry, but the White T-Shirt Is the Worst T-Shirt Someone has to say something. Ready for a little menswear blasphemy? Fantastic! Here we go. Despite all evidence to the contrary, I believe that the white T-shirt is the most inferior of all T-shirts. I know. I know. This sounds like a dumb, contrarian take designed to rile folks up. And, sure, it is that. A little bit. But it's also the truth.   Granted, some very big names disagree with me. Earlier this month, I spoke with Glen Powell about, among other things, the infamous "wet white T-shirt scene" in Twisters and asked for his thoughts about the style in real life. "A white tee is one of those things that's the most adaptable color and style," he said. "It also depends on the brand you're wearing; not everybody looks in the same good in the same white tee. But the white tee in general, in my opinion, can dress up or down. It's a very versatile look."   We've got a fan! But consider this: You are not Glen Powell. And even if you're lucky enough to look like him, your white tee will succumb to reality—to stretching, to staining, to life—eventually. Because even though the white T-shirt is iconic, even though it can be briefly transcendent, it is, ultimately, the worst. READ THE STORY Remember "The cruelty is the point?" Well, shocker, they've become even more cruel. Charles P. Pierce unpacks President Trump's decision to send 37 life-without-parolees to a Colorado supermax. >> Apple AirPods cost only $69 right now. That has, literally, never happened before. Sam Peters tells you all about the best Black Friday sale for personal tech. >> Mark Kelly Is an American Hero. Trump Has Called For Him to Be Executed. Arizona Senator Mark Kelly has flown combat missions over Iraq and Kuwait, made four trips to the International Space Station, and served five years in Congress. After taking part in a video reminding members of the military that they don't have to obey illegal orders, President Trump called it "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH." He's since walked back those comments—but now the Pentagon is considering court-martialing him.   In 2023, Kelly participated in Esquire's long-running What I've Learned interview series. He spoke to us from his office in Washington, D.C.   "The wildest job I've had is the United States Senate."   "Some of my other jobs, whether it was flying airplanes in the Navy or fifteen years at NASA, were about science, data, and facts. On Capitol Hill, those are somewhat fluid concepts. Sometimes you see people just make some shit up. That's surprising. In the United States Senate, people take this job seriously. People from both sides of the aisle try to stick with reality and facts. But occasionally, that gets pushed aside for political purposes."   "My mom was the first woman to be a police officer in West Orange, New Jersey. She worked in a jail before that, as a guard. She was a trailblazer. She taught my brother and me about hard work and doing something that's really outside your comfort zone." Interview by Michael Sebastian Long Live the J. Press Flap-Pocket Oxford An average man should not know or care about this, but there's a good amount of menswear guys on the internet getting worried about J. Press. Their thinking goes: Jack Carlson, of Rowing Blazers fame, is going to make the brand too trendy. They think it's all going to all be novelty sweaters, that the classics will be thrown out.   To that, I say: please chill out. Heritage brands need to try and bring new consumers into the fold. As a former "I hate my prep school uniform," teenager and current navy blazer guy, I recognize more than anyone the need to spice things up to create new navy blazer guys. Jack Carlson would have gotten a teenage me back into prep a lot earlier than it happened naturally. I mean, every brand does this. My beloved Lucchese makes cowboy boots for Post Malone's new Austin Post fashion line, which (if you ask me) is a pretty obvious RRL dupe. (I mean, look at the logo...) It still cranks out the classic cowboy boots it's done for over a century, and I'm still a customer.   What I'm saying is J. Press and its designers, no matter how many more runways are shown, are going to keep making the classics for the diehards like you and me. Those classics are many in number, but my favorite, the one I wear most often, is a flap-pocket oxford. If you have one, buy another. If you don't have one, let me tell you why you ought to. By Luke Guillory Follow Us Unsubscribe | Manage Preferences | Privacy Notice | CA Notice at Collection Esquire is a publication of Hearst Magazines. ©2025 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This email was sent by Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-3779