Ultimate Guide To How Many T-Shirts You Truly Need

By Alex Assoune Oct 15, 2021

How many t-shirts should you own? You've come to the right place to find out if you have too many t-shirts in your wardrobe. With the following easy tips, you can improve your fashion style, save money, and protect the planet.

You should own 5-6 casual tops, t-shirts, tees, as well as 2-4 workout tops or tanks. One t-shirt or top for each day of the week is a good rule of thumb to build a conscious wardrobe focused on simplicity and versatility.

You don't need that many t-shirts to look and feel your best. Simply mix and match many different pieces together and make various outfits with just a good selection of styles and colors.

Simple fashion aesthetics are good for the eye and the environment. You can build a conscious wardrobe by investing in quality, timeless pieces, and keeping simplicity in mind.

Consider your lifestyle and personal preferences, closet size, go-to fashion style, and staples in your wardrobe to figure how many t-shirts you truly need.

The number of t-shirts you should own is much lower than you think. It depends on your lifestyle, how often you can do your laundry, and how much room you have at home.

To help you spend less money on clothing, look and feel your best, get dressed much easier, and improve your fashion style, here is the ultimate guide to how many t-shirts you should own.

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Consider your lifestyle

Are you wondering if you have too many t-shirts in your wardrobe? Then, you probably don't need more clothes. You need fewer pieces that you love and wear all the time.

You can have an easier time getting dressed in the morning if you fill your wardrobe with a limited number of pieces. It's all about the attitude and desire of dressing purposefully, with intention.

To determine how many t-shirts you need in your closet, take a closer look at your current fashion style and lifestyle. Knowing your dressing style is important to express your creativity and look your best with garments that are truly you.

Once you know how you like to get dressed, look at what you do normally during the day. What activities do participate in daily? When do you go to work? How often do you work out? How many times do you meet with friends? Do you go out regularly during the evening?

These are the questions you should answer to figure out how many t-shirts and other clothing pieces, shoes, and accessories you need. Think about how often you need to wear a t-shirt during the week to figure out a good number for you.

Wash your clothes regularly

How often you can wash your clothes is also a crucial factor to consider when building a conscious wardrobe. If you can wash your garments often enough, you can wear the same t-shirt again and don't need that many in your closet.

Keep in mind that you don't need to wash your clothes too often. You should wash your t-shirts only when you need to. And don't wash clothing pieces that you don't wear.

Casual clothes such as tees and t-shirts can last up to five times wearing them before they need to go through the washing machine. It depends on their materials, how dirty they are, how much you sweat, and how active you are during the day.

Take good care of the t-shirts you already own so they last longer, saving you money, time, space, and energy. Otherwise, you risk damaging the fabrics and losing your favorite pieces sooner than expected.

Keep an organized closet

Try to keep your wardrobe simple with only essential pieces that you love and make every garment you own a winner. It's fun to buy new t-shirts and try various styles to change your look.

But if you have no space left for them in your closet, it doesn't make any sense, does it? Look closely at how much room you have left at home before you go on a shopping spree.

If you like to have more options, make sure you have enough room in your closet to store them. And make a conscious effort to truly like every new t-shirt you buy and wear.

It's a good idea to be extra picky about what you buy and keep. Adopt a more conscious approach to building your wardrobe if you want to own fewer clothes and spend less money overall on unnecessary fashion items.

Only keep your style essentials in your closet and what you truly need to earn more time, space, and money for the things you truly love. You'll also have an easier time getting dressed with style and taste.

You can always make more room before buying new garments. Go through your clothes whenever you can to get rid of what you don't need or wear anymore and note what you are currently missing before shopping.

How many T-shirts should I own

You should own 5-6 casual tops, t-shirts, tees, as well as 2-4 workout tops or tanks. One t-shirt or top for each day of the week is a good rule of thumb to build a conscious wardrobe focused on simplicity and versatility.

For most people, one t-shirt for each day of the week is plenty enough to meet everyday needs. Keeping a simple wardrobe is crucial to have more space, more fun, feel more organized and liberated with less stress.

It's better to only keep in your closet what you truly need and like to wear. The t-shirts you own should make you feel and look great at all times. Get rid of clothing pieces that feel uncomfortable or aren't you anymore.

Keep your wardrobe minimal with only style essentials that you love. It's an amazing way of maintaining your peace of mind, improving your fashion style, and increasing your budget.

Here is a useful list of how many t-shirts an average person would need. Hopefully, these simple tips will help you cut back on your clothing budget and get more use out of the t-shirts you already have.

5-6 casual tops, t-shirts, tees, etc.
3-4 sleep shirts or tank tops
2-4 workout tops, tees, tanks

Don't worry if these numbers don't fit your needs right away. You don't have to make drastic changes in your wardrobe suddenly. Just start reducing today one piece at a time and adapt your lifestyle progressively.

Feel free to make adjustments along the way. It will become much easier to craft fabulous outfits with fewer clothes overall if you practice owing less and improving your dressing sense.

With a modest lifestyle in mind, try to declutter and enjoy the simple things. Your happiness doesn't depend on all the clothes, shoes, accessories, or jewelry you've accumulated.

Where to buy quality t-shirts

Many affordable and sustainable clothing brands offer wardrobe essentials such as t-shirts that are classic, chic, stylish, ethically made, and eco-friendly.

If you are interested in high-quality, affordable t-shirts responsibly made from low-impact fabrics and dyes, look for the most transparent, accountable, and sustainable brands.

Here are some of the best affordable clothing brands that offer eco-friendly, high-quality t-shirts made with recycled or organic materials to enhance your style and maintain your confidence with a good conscience.

Outerknown

Category: Basics, knitwear, outerwear, swimwear, loungewear, bags, accessories
For: Women, men
From: Los Angeles, California, United States
Values: Organic, Fair Trade, recycled
Prices: $50-$60

Outerknown is a sustainable clothing brand that creates timeless and comfortable clothes for women and men rooted in sustainability and transparency. It makes affordable t-shirts, tees, and tanks with the most planet-friendly fibers.

Outerknown keeps strict sustainability rules and aims to raise the standard for quality, sustainable design in the global fashion industry. It uses organic and recycled materials to reimagine and embrace circularity.

Accredited by the Fair Labor Association (FLA), the ethical fashion brand invests in the livelihoods of over 5K workers through Fair Trade USA. Three of its partners are Fair Trade Certified.

SHOP OUTERKNOWN

Tentree

Category: Basics, knitwear, loungewear, outerwear, bags, accessories
For: Women, men, children
From: Vancouver, Canada
Values: Organic, B Corp, recycled, give back
Prices: $30-$40

Tentree is an Earth-first fashion brand designing t-shirts for women, men, and kids for a healthy, sustainable world with recycled materials and organic fabrics such as cotton and hemp.

It offers sustainable and comfortable tops you never want to take off in timeless colors such as black, gray, blue, white, brown, purple, and pink.

The sustainable fashion brand is B Corp certified and partners with global charitable organizations to plant trees and rehabilitate natural ecosystems.

Tentree aims to guide you on your journey and empower you to do your best when it comes to the environment. It already planted over 48 million trees and restored land in over eight countries.

SHOP TENTREE

Nau

Category: Basics, knitwear, loungewear, outerwear, bags, accessories
For: Women, men
From: Portland, Oregon, United States
Values: Organic, recycled, give back
Prices: $50-$60

Nau is a sustainable clothing brand that makes comfortable, ethical, affordable, and timeless classics. It uses eco-friendly fabrics to create versatile and long-lasting t-shirts for women and men.

Nau offers eco-friendly basics, outerwear, and knitwear made of sustainable materials such as organic cotton and recycled polyester. It commits to creating timeless clothing under the highest standards.

The ethical brand makes beautiful and multifunctional fashion pieces with quality and the best fit in mind. Its mission is to make the world more sustainable by sourcing and designing for sustainability, creating clothes that last a lifetime.

SHOP NAU

Made Trade

Category: Basics, knitwear, sportswear, loungewear, outerwear, swimwear, underwear, sleepwear, bags, accessories, shoes
For: Women, men
From: Portland, Oregon, United States
Values: Organic, Fair Trade, recycled, vegan, BIPOC, made in the USA
Prices: $30-$50

Made Trade is a sustainable and ethical company that makes goods for the sustainable wardrobe and home. It offers organic and affordable fashion basics and t-shirts for women and men up to extended sizes.

The company stocks timeless, cute, and comfortable tops, knitwear, outerwear, and other wardrobe essentials made with sustainable and natural materials.

Made Trade is committed to transparency and making a positive impact on the world. The curated online marketplace sells a great selection of ethical, organic, and minimalist clothes.

Made Trade adheres to sustainable and fair practices that support both artisans and the Earth's natural resources. It strives to make the world a more beautiful place through higher sustainability standards.

SHOP MADE TRADE

Reformation

Category: Basics, denim, outerwear, swimwear, activewear, loungewear, underwear
For: Women
From: Los Angeles, California, United States
Values: Organic, recycled, made in the USA
Prices: $30-$40

Reformation makes sustainable clothing for women. It offers a varied collection of chic, cute, and comfy t-shirts with relaxed-fitting that give your upper body room to breathe.

The eco-friendly brand designs effortless silhouettes that celebrate the feminine figure with the most beautiful and sustainable fabrics possible. It pays attention to minimize its social and environmental impacts.

Reformation uses sustainable materials such as organic cotton, recycled cotton, linen, and Tencel lyocell. It makes some of its clothes with upcycled and recycled fabrics and regenerated nylon or deadstock fabrics.

SHOP REFORMATION

Everlane

Category: Basics, denim, loungewear, knitwear, outerwear, swimwear, activewear, underwear, shoes, bags, accessories
For: Women, men
From: San Francisco, California, United States
Values: Organic, recycled
Prices: $20-$30

Everlane is an ethical brand creating modern and beautiful essentials, at the best factories, without traditional markups. It's a great destination to buy quality, fair, affordable, and sustainable t-shirts.

The fashion retailer is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and sells primarily online. It uses a high proportion of sustainable materials such as organic cotton and recycled fabrics.

The sustainable brand also offers ethically made and designed-to-last basics, tops, tanks, tees, bags, shoes, and accessories for women and men. It believes in exceptional quality to make a difference.

Everlane is widely known for its radical transparency. It educates consumers on its supply chain, factories, employees, and the price breakdown of each product.

SHOP EVERLANE

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About the Author: Alex Assoune

Alex Assoune (MS) is a global health and environmental advocate. He founded Panaprium to inspire others with conscious living, ethical, and sustainable fashion. Alex has worked in many countries to address social and environmental issues. He speaks three languages and holds two Master of Science degrees in Engineering from SIGMA and IFPEN schools.