The 9 Best Heavyweight T-Shirts to Make You Look Like a Hollywood Heartthrob

We’ve written about it before, and we’ll write about it again: The Beefy-T is a bona fide Esquire favorite. It has an impeccable fit and unbeatable price. No need to reinvent the wheel here; this is the Platonic idea of a low-maintenance tee. Esquire editor Luke Guillory swears by buying a true-to-size version, then immediately washing and drying it (machine, no hanging) for the perfect fit. If you like the boxier look, go up a size. Pound-for-pound, dollar-for-dollar, a Beefy-T is as good a value proposition as it gets.

The dream of the '90s is alive in more than just Portland these days. Buck Mason brought back the boxier fit of the pre-Y2K era and paired it with the brand’s signature attention to fabric details and archival specs, slightly tweaked for the contemporary moment.

We love this tee. It has a shorter hem (not a crop, though; this’ll still cover your belly button, trust us), a slightly longer and more relaxed sleeve, and a wider fit. And it’s still kicking in its original white after months of use and washes, the rare white tee worth paying over fifty dollars for.

Flint and Tinder is one of Huckberry’s house brands. But F&T has more in common with Real McCoy’s than off-brand grocery store cereal. Huckberry uses the brand as a vehicle to reissue classic menswear styles, from pearl snaps to pleated pants. The pieces are unpretentious and quietly classic. Like this Heavyweight Pocket Tee, which comes in abundant colorways and vintage-leaning construction that’ll only get better with every wash. They do take a few wears or two to break in, so if you’re looking for something with the same heft but more softness out of the box, try the Detroit-manufactured and Aaron Levine-designed Trumbull tee.

I’m increasingly impressed by everything I try on from LA-based AYR. The brand’s Slacker jeans were a recent Father’s Day treat and have made it into my regular denim rotation among the likes of Buck Mason and Wrangler. The brand has also mastered the tee. I’ve got the 100-percent Peruvian cotton Original T, which fits beautifully, but qualifies more as a mid-weight piece. There are no doubts about the Heavy O, this thing is burly. It's 100-percent cotton in a 10/1 singles weave; this stops just short of being a sweatshirt, in a good way. Like the selvedge denim of the cotton tee world, you’ll want to beat it up.

A&F is so far into its contemporary reinvention that the days of oversized moose graphics and shirtless store greeters are mostly a faded memory. The mall brand now produces excellent basics with contemporary fits. It’s a great place to try out a more modern silhouette, like a crop, for a relatively affordable price. Like all mall brands, there are some hits and misses. The key is to dig into the specs and make sure it’s everything it claims to be. This tee is 100-percent cotton and fits the bill in a range of patterns and styles, from on-trend camo to classic stripes. Into the cropped style and want to invest a little more? Graduate on up to Todd Snyder.

Things are trending baggy these days. But you don’t have to follow the trends. We’d advocate for awareness without capitulation—at Esquire, we celebrate the classics. And Taylor Stitch nails the classic fit here with the Heavy Bag tee. Slim, but not skinny, it’s made from upcycled yarns that are shredded and re-spun, reducing the environmental impact of production. Nothing like looking good with a clear conscience.

I have too many links saved in my “shopping list” bookmarks bar. Professional hazard, but sometimes it means I miss the drop of something I’ve really been looking forward to. Namely, this Vintage Heavy x Airstream collab soccer jersey, now sold out. As a consolation prize, I’m grabbing one of the brand’s graphic tees. This trout one is just the right amount of kitschy and right on the money as fashion folks finally catch up with the fly-fishing crowd. But there’s also a cheeky (unlicensed?) Land Rover design and a very licensed Peanuts one. The one thing they’ll all have in common is a heavy weave and an unbeatable fit.

I recently picked up a few items from racquet brand Spence, hoping that the “look good, play good” principle would help me finally win a tennis match against my wife. They haven’t, but that’s not the brand's fault. And certainly not this t-shirt's fault. This athletic tee is inspired by 1950s sportswear but cut to modern standards. It’s the best of both worlds, a Japanese-woven high-twist cotton that’s not the paper-thin plastic polyester of most sports shirts. It drapes extremely well, but still capitalizes on cotton’s natural breathability. I’ve been wearing it off the court just as much as I’ve been wearing it on the court.

Soft Goods is quite a powerhouse of a manufacturing brand, sewing tees in Detroit. The company does a fair amount of wholesaling and partnerships with other detail-oriented brands (Shinola for one), but has established itself as a little IYKYK t-shirt outlet for those looking for an unbranded piece that can stand up to abuse. I’ve got the brand’s tee in both a deep brown and gentle cream (like a good cup of coffee, really), and they’re worthy contenders. I wore them on a recent basic rider motorcycle course, figuring that if I crashed my community college-lent bike, the tee would hold up. I didn't crash (thankfully), but it was still the right tee to wear. Fair warning, the online stock is low right now, but you can check to see which of the cool menswear shops in your zipcode carry the brand here.