Cheap T-Shirts That Feel Anything But: 19 Under $50 Tees to Buy Right Now

T-shirts are one of those formerly dime-a-dozen commodities, like salads or movie tickets, that we’ve all been conditioned to accept as luxury items. And sure, there’s a time and place for a $85 Sunspel joint or even a $1,625 crystal-embroidered Versace creation. (As far as the latter goes: the time would be 2006, and the place would be Christian Audigier’s yacht.) But the same way an 80-cent bodega coffee can occasionally provide more of a boost than a $7 cortado, sometimes you just need a T-shirt to be a T-shirt—an affordable swath of fabric that covers your chest, brings a touch of unexpected color to your fit, and does little else. The kind of shirt you aren’t afraid to sweat in, or sleep in, or feel like you’re wasting if you only wear it around the house.

While prices can get comically steep, cheap T-shirts that won’t rip at the faintest sharp movement do still exist—and these days, there’s a veritable murderers’ row of options, cut from dense, heavyweight cotton or airy, highly cuddle-able supima. Layer them beneath your beefiest knits and burliest winter coats or rock ’em solo when you’re safely back inside with the heater on blast.

The 19 cheap T-shirts we’ve highlighted below probably won’t be taking home any CFDAs for superior tailoring, but they’re comfortable, versatile, and each cost less than $50 a pop (heck, half of ’em cost less than $20). It’s not really a question of if you need one—it’s more of a matter of how many your tiny, cramped drawers can comfortably house.