The Best Heavyweight T-Shirts for Bulking Up Your Wardrobe

When buying sweats or a new coat, weight matters. The heavier, the warmer, we assume — a big, weighty jacket works better than a windbreaker, for example. And that’s often true, but when it comes time to buy our basics — T-shirts, underwear, etc. — we often emphasize the opposite qualities: designs that are lightweight and form-fitting.

So, are heavyweight T-shirts counterintuitive or even wrong? Subversive or sloppy? No. While the additional weight might limit how often you can wear it during T-shirt season (summer), it helps the tee take on a new role within your wardrobe. Sure, you wear it the same way, but it looks entirely different, especially if you typically wear synthetic performance shirts.

How Heavy Is a Heavyweight T-Shirt?

Nowadays, most T-shirts are pretty damn light. That’s going to make a “heavyweight” tee feel, well, weighty. In reality, though, because there’s no real definition for “heavyweight” versus “regular” tees, the shirts below weigh anywhere from 6 to 13 ounces. 6 is a widely recognized threshold, but some “regular” weight tees weigh the same, meaning there’s little consensus on what makes a medium-weight tee different from a heavy one.

The T-shirts that push 10 or even 12 ounces, though, are heavy — there’s no doubting that. They’ll be roughly two times the weight, which means they’ll drape better, be more structured, and, best of all, last longer. True Classic Tees are 4.3 ounces, for example, and they feel cheap — and are nearly translucent.

How to Style a Heavyweight T-Shirt

A heavyweight T-shirt works beneath a bulky zip-up hoodie or an oversized flannel, or, as I prefer it, on its own with regular-fitting jeans or chinos. With the additional weight often comes a regular, straighter fit, which is contrary to most slim-fitting releases out right now.

In fall and winter, you’ll be a little warmer in one of these than you would your usual lightweight tee, which means it could make for a nice base layer beneath a bigger parka (if you don’t want to try a thermal tee or knit sweater). In the summer, it’ll be hard to wear one of these without sweating through. I nearly melted in Buck Mason’s Field Spec Tee, for example, but it was also black and I was in Pittsburgh (where 90 percent humidity days are commonplace).

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Best Overall Heavyweight T-Shirt

Taylor Stitch The Heavy Bag Tee

• $50.00 at taylorstitch.com

• Weight: 8 oz

Taylor Stitch’s The Heavy Bag Tee is made without water, thanks to the raw materials, upcycled cotton and recycled polyester, which are shredded, cleaned and re-spun into tees. They come pre-shrunk, and they are slim: tailored through the torso and tighter in the armpits — size up for a looser fit, the brand recommends.

Buck Mason

Best Upgrade Heavyweight T-Shirt

Buck Mason Field-Spec Cotton Heavy Tee

• $55.00 at Buck Mason

• Weight: 8 oz

  This T-shirt is a sweatshirt at heart, I’d say. It’s made from 100 percent cotton in a fuller, roomier cut. The collar and sleeve cuffs are more pronounced, too, and the handfeel is more like a rugby shirt than your standard undershirt.

Amazon

Best Affordable Heavyweight T-Shirt

Carhartt Loose Fit Heavyweight Short-Sleeve Pocket T-Shirt

• $20.00 at Amazon

• Weight: 6.75 oz

This is a favorite of Platforms Editor Scott Ulrich, who thinks “bigger, boxier shirts look cool.” It’s big and, well, boxy, with longer sleeves and a straight, unfussy torso. It’s a decent tee, for sure — like a Gildan on steroids.

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Best Faded Heavyweight T-Shirt

Freenoth Cloth Shifter Tee

• $80.00 at standardandstrange.com

• Weight: 13 oz

Freenoth Cloth’s Shifter Tee is “tough but fair,” the Standard & Strange shop says. The 100 percent cotton fabric it’s sewn from is made in the US and the sewing happens here, too — in LA, to be exact. The 13 oz body is serious, but it’s knit in a way that makes the shirt feel cool to the touch even when it’s hot out. Is it heavy? For sure, but not in an overwhelming way.

CDLP

Best Performance Heavyweight T-Shirt

CDLP Heavyweight T-Shirt

• $100.00 at cdlp.com

• Weight: ~9.7 oz

CDLP’s unique fabric combination results in a tee that performs but feels almost as soft as silk. That’s because the fabrics in question are lyocell (wood pulp fiber) and pima cotton, which, when combined, create a shirt that’s both smooth yet textured, breathable but not flimsy.

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Best Slim-Fit Heavyweight T-Shirt

Mott & Bow Heavyweight Pocket Carlton Tee

• $35.00 at mottandbow.com

• Weight: ~7 oz

Do you just want a standard T-shirt with a little more weight? Mott & Bow makes few adjustments to the shape of its heavyweight tee, which fits like a fine featherweight tee, not Carhartt’s crunchy pocket tee. It’s a manageable weight, too, but one that’ll still flatter your chest and shoulders.

Standard & Strange

Best Legacy Heavyweight T-Shirt

Standard & Strange Wakayama Special Loopwheel Tee

• $95.00 at standardandstrange.com

• Weight: 8 oz

There’s no going wrong with Standard & Strange’s relatively new Wakayama Special Loopwheel Tee. It’s one of the best T-shirts bar none — it just happens to be heavyweight, too, at least by our standards. That being said, it breathes well, fits nicely and flatters, whether you wear it beneath a zip-up hoodie or on its own with shorts.

I’ve had mine for a while now, and it’s definitely one of my most-worn T-shirts — one I turn to no matter the season.

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Best Multi-Pack Heavyweight T-Shirt

3Sixteen Heavyweight T-Shirt (2-Pack)

• $106.00 at

• Weight: ~6.6 oz

Hooked on heavyweight? This 3Sixteen set comes with two 6.6 oz gray T-shirts with triple-needle coverstitch collars that’ll never stretch or sag. Both shirts in each pack are sewn in San Francisco, but the fabric comes from Canada.

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