Curella Says… its back to basics.

A few days ago, I noticed that my basic black cotton tee from Gap which I’ve worn for like 10 times since I bought it a year ago had lint on it, shrunk and even the stitching was coming off. For the cost of £9.99 (US$20) that I paid, it means that each time I wore it, it cost me a quid (US$2).

Now, I really don’t enjoy buying basic and plain tees. I mean, what’s so interesting about them right? However, basic tees really come in handy when it comes to layering and they usually go with most of your wardrobe and they are essential clothing items that you find yourself reaching for everytime.

So, what makes a good basic tee? Now, we don’t want to be unrealistic and ask for perfection because nothing is perfect after all. I personally think that one should be able to wear their basic tee for say, at least about 100 times without it shrinking, and for the material to be soft and comfortable and flatter my shape well.

After doing some little reasearch online, it seems that to prevent shrinkage in your basics, you should try to look out for shirts with modal in them. Apparently, the best cotton in the world in supima cotton, followed by egyptian cotton and pima cotton. If you can find a regular cotton mix with modal, it probably should be good enough and at least prevent shrinkage, plus its also easier to find this combination on the high street.

Speaking of which, I was in Topshop today looking for black trousers for my new job and I came across the Kate Moss section once again. I have a habit of touching everything I see in shops and happened to get a feel of these basic ribbed vest tops in her collection. They were so ridiculously soft so I had to check out the fabric content label. Now, you may think its expensive to pay £12 (US$24) for a plain vest top but let me tell you, this is quite a good quality vest top. When I checked the fabric content, I realised it had 50% cotton & 50% modal. It is definitely a piece worth investing on.

There are also certain brands like C&C California, James Perse, Splendid, La Petite Salope, etc that specialises in making fantastic basic tees. I have been studying their fabric content and styles today and if you want to splash out your cash on some good quality basic tees, Splendid is definitely the best one to go. Almost all their shirts are made with 50% pima cotton (3rd best cotton in the world apparently!) with 50% modal, so you can definitely be assured that your Splendid tee will last you ages and ages. The tees cost about £20 ($40) each on this wonderful website that sells tons of good quality basics. www.tee-zone.com and yes they do ship internationally and shipping is pretty reasonable.

If you like your shirts 100% cotton, you might also want to try Adam + Eve for their 100% pima cotton tees. Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie and Jessica Simpson are said to be fans of this brand’s basics so it might be worth a go.

Or if you are skint like me, you might want to go to Topshop.com and look for tees with modal and cotton in it. I have just ordered a couple actually because that is all I can afford right now. I am definitely going to invest in a couple of Splendid basics when I recieve my first salary from my new job.

Not everyone has a disposable income to buy expensive basic tees, so I highly reccomend buying just 2 to 3 tees in styles/colours that you regularly wear or find incorporates with most of your wardrobe well. A black or white basic I think is definitely most important, so you should really get at least either one in any cut or sleeve-length you personally need the most. I’m personally going to go for black, white and red and maybe blue as well. These are the colours I find most important that go with my wardrobe best.

I need basic tees to layer under low-cut shirts, basic tees to wear under a loud jacket, basic tees to wear with anything i’m not sure of what to team with and basic tees for days where I just want to be comfortable and simple. Just think of how good it’ll feel to be wearing super-soft pima cotton without having it shrink after a few washes. Ooooooh.