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Finding the perfect tee is never as easy as googling “best T-shirts” (though, yes, we do a pretty good job of fielding those frantic inquiries, too). For a such a seemingly quotidian garment, it's bewildering how complicated the search for the right one can actually be. And that frustration isn't limited to deeply neurotic fashion types or folks who geek out over single-stitch hems or the shape of a collar; pretty much anyone even mildly interested in clothes is intimately familiar with the slog. For most people, a handful of the usual suspects crop up along the journey: the Gildans, the Uniqlos, even the occasional artisanal joints from labels like Merz B. Schwanen.
But in a sea of competition, there's still breathing room at the surface for a worthy newcomer. Enter the Buck Mason Field Spec T-shirt. If you've heard of Buck Mason, it's likely thanks to the brand's best-selling curved hem tee, perhaps its biggest claim to menswear fame—and the source of no small amount of good-natured ribbing online. For better or worse, it's hard to see past those telltale curved hems, which is exactly why the Field Spec tee remains a sleeper hit.
The Field Spec takes its cues from military-issue tees of yesteryear. It comes with a triple-stitched bound collar and is cut from a beefy cotton-jersey fabric that clocks in at a whopping 310GSM. That's about twice as heavy as Buck Mason's standard T-shirts, and could easily be categorized as a light sweatshirt. (Buck Mason makes a long-sleeve version, too; they still call it a T-shirt.) But unlike other heavy-duty tees, the Field Spec is dreamy and soft, with a feathery hand that feels more like a brushed sweater that's been worn a hundred times over.
As impressive as the fabric is, it would be all for nothing if the fit wasn't spot-on. At a cool 5'9" and about 155 pounds, I've been wearing the medium almost nonstop since I bought it, and it fits perfectly. Not too baggy, not too slim—an ideal classic fit that'll never go out of style (if you were going for a vacuum-sealed Brando look you have my apologies). The shoulders don't overhang or sit too high. The sleeves hit at the middle of my humble biceps, and the collar sits close to the neck without feeling tight. Most important, though, the hem lands smack dab in the Golden Zone—the narrow sweet spot right at the middle of the fly.
Not only does that help it look great untucked, it lengthens the legs, gives your pants a proper framing, and makes your proportions look as satisfying as the Fibonacci sequence. Crucially, the Field Spec tee also works well sized up or sized down (insert requisite Brando reference here).
The first T-shirt came about sometime at the turn of the 19th century, and people have been searching for the right one ever since. My journey hasn't gone on for quite as long (just a few decades or whatever), but it finally seems as though it's coming to an end. The only thing left to do now is stock up.