A small set of shades that all work with the same bottoms.

With no print on the front, the color of a plain tee is the whole design. That makes color the easiest place to go wrong and the easiest place to get a lot right. A handful of tees in shades that work together can cover most days of the week, as long as the shades were chosen as a set rather than one at a time.

White Is Several Colors

Bright optic white has a slightly cool, blue cast. Soft white sits a touch warmer. Ivory and ecru lean clearly toward cream. Side by side they look like different colors, and they behave differently against skin: cool whites look crisp and sharp, warm whites look softer and more forgiving in daylight.

Hold two whites under your chin in front of a window and look at your skin rather than the fabric. The white that makes your skin look even, rather than gray or sallow, is the white to build around.

Pick One Dark and Commit to It

Black, charcoal, and navy all do the job of a dark tee, but they do not always sit well with one another in the same outfit. Black is the most graphic. Charcoal is softer and hides lint and dust better. Navy reads almost black at night and clearly blue in daylight, and it pairs easily with denim. Choosing one of the three as your main dark keeps the set coherent.

Add a Mid-Tone

Between the white and the dark, a mid-tone gives the set range. Heather gray, oatmeal, and a muted olive are easy to wear because they sit comfortably next to both ends. A mid-tone is also the shade that looks most natural layered under a jacket or a cardigan, since it does not create a hard line at the neck.

Choose One Real Color

Once the neutrals are in place, one clear color keeps the set from feeling flat. Pick it by temperature: if your white is warm, a warm color such as rust or a soft terracotta belongs with it, and if your white is cool, a cool color such as a dusty blue or sage sits more naturally. The color then works with every neutral in the set rather than just one of them.

Test the Set Against Your Bottoms

Lay each tee next to the bottoms you wear most, one at a time. Every tee should work with most of them. A shade that only suits one skirt is a shade you will rarely reach for, however much you like it on its own. When every tee passes, the set is done, and getting dressed becomes a choice between good options rather than a search for one.

Color and weight are chosen together on every tee we carry, which we explain on our About Us page.

Thank you for shopping with us, and for choosing the plain tee on purpose.