I’m still not sure what the “right way” is, but this has been enlightening (and entertaining) nevertheless. Thank you all.
This is exactly why I own v-neck undershirts to wear under dress shirts.
If that works for you, fine. I almost always wear an undershirt under a dress shirt, because if it’s cool, it helps keep me from feeling cold; and if it’s warm, it helps keep me from sweating through my shirt.
I tend to run hot but I don’t sweat, which is a bad combination. If I’m wearing a suit jacket it’s even worse. I would claw my way out of three layers of clothing.
All of my t-shirt undershirts are v-necks. I just prefer the feel of the neckline.
And I always wear a tee under a dress shirt. If I don’t, over time they develop pit stains.
Really? You mean like these?
Or…
Or…
As opposed to:
Pit stains are my main reason but also they are good soaking up any sweat before it shows through the main shirt (pit sweats but also torso sweat). Can depend a lot on the weather/conditions of course but, for me at least, just a good habit to wear an undershirt…just in case.
I rarely have multiple buttons unbuttoned like the guy in picture #1. The guy in picture #2 looks dorky. I never wear see-through dress shirts like the guys in pictures #3 and #4 (who look dorky because you can see the short sleeves through the shirt).
My main problem with crew-neck shirts under a button-up shirt is when the crew-neck collar starts to get frayed. With a v-neck you never see it, frayed or not.
True but they seem good for a year at least (more for me…probably two years) and they are cheap so a new bunch is not a big deal to buy. Frankly, they lose that pristine white before they fray too much for me.
ETA: Yeah, guy #2 would be better losing that sport coat.
My undershirts are either white or black. So I can come close to the color of my shirt. All are crew necks.
V neck undershirts and sweaters and sweater vests are simply dorky. But if they work for you then that’s cool, knock yerseff out.
I hate t-shirts. I had to wear them in the military, along with hats (which I also dislike), and I haven’t worn either since retiring. My stepfather always wore wife-beaters (strappy Ts), which is an odd choice.
Yeah, basically a tank top which to me makes no sense to wear as an undershirt. As others mentioned, the most important purpose for an undershirt when worn beneath a dress shirt is to absorb armpit sweat so it’s not visible on the outer shirt and doesn’t ruin it.
Really.
Except for the fact it’s a color photo, not B&W, #1 could easily be my Dad in 1955 a couple years before I was born. Totally antique bad look.
#2 with the sport coat is not much different except the coat is a really rumpled mess in a bad color and needs to go.
As said by others, #3 & 4 suffer from seeing the undershirt printing through. Don’t do that. If #4 had a crewneck with an equally wide collar it’s be equally ugly holding up his Adam’s apple.
Being female, I don’t have a dog in this fight, but this makes me wonder why they don’t make shirts that are like regular T-shirts, but simply without the sleeves.
They wouldn’t do as good a job at absorbing underarm sweat, but the fabric cutoff would be the same place as the outer shirt’s shoulder seams, so there wouldn’t be that jarring visible cutoff mid-arm.
Like this?
If you want to get the armpits covered there needs to be some sleeve.
Otherwise it is a tank-top (aka wife-beater).
They do. 'Sleeveless’ T-shirts are mostly made that way, not in the tank-top or ‘wife-beater’ style. I’ve had versions from common brands like Hanes that appear to be the same as their ordinary crew neck T without the sleeves sewn on.
OK, differentiation here:
There’s the undershirt which as mentioned is worn basically to protect the skin and the proper clothing from one another, but is not part of the outfit.
And then there’s a T-shirt which is an actual part of an outfit. The latter case of course the point is that it will be visible. (* see at the end).
The former seems to be what we really are speaking of? In which case my experiences are: Most of my regular “casual dress” shirts, and my dress shirts when worn in casual mode, are worn with the collar button undone, but with the regular buttons closed. So a moderate V is satisfactory as its edge stays just below the topmost button. Also my preferred shirt cut and fabric frees me from the “printing” problem in almost all cases. A full crew is something I wear when I have a dress occasion where I’ll have a coat-and-tie on all the way through the event, with a white shirt.
A lot of the issues do have to do with fit, too, which tends to be different between dedicated undershirts and “activewear” T-shirts of the same putative label “size” and then between brands and even lines in a same brand. One thing I have encountered in the case of undershirts has been the wide variance of the cut of the V-neck, with some so shallow it’s almost like a wide crewneck but with a folded angle that merely signals which way is front.
(* ) so for instance when I am using a T-shirt-as-outfit-layer, say an unbuttoned camp shirt over a colored T-shirt in summer, or during “shoulder season” where in the warmest part of the day I go T-shirt only but, in the morning, or early evening, I would throw a shirt on.
I’ll defend the A-shirt (or what some call “wifebeater”). I’ve never worn any other kind of undershirt with a jacket and tie, or even without a tie/tie loosened. Perhaps in high school, maybe. But it would never occur to me to wear a thicker cotton T-shirt/crew-neck which is destined to become soaked with sweat, and therefore, heavy and uncomfortable if it is a day where some small exertion is required.
Pit sweat is not a problem for me (antiperspirant seems to help), whereas copious amounts of sweat all over the torso and back can be a major problem at times. The A-shirt balances protecting the outer shirt with avoiding the additional bulk or heft of other styles.
Antiperspirant helps a lot but it ruins your shirts in the armpit area over time.
I’ve heard that.
Actually, I never wear white dress shirts anymore.
Strictly black A-shirts underneath black dress shirts, and an appropriate tie.
The “look” fits in at all sorts of places. 