Work Shirt Workout: Who reigns supreme between Smith + Rouge, Noble Outfitters, and Carhartt?
A revised version of this article originally was published for North 40 Outfitters. Read that blog here.
Barring nudist days at your home office I can almost guarantee that you wear clothes to work. For this reason, work shirts, made for hard use and style alike, are a popular choice for many. Why buy two things when you can have one shirt that does it all?
I wanted to see what the best work shirt was out there, so I grabbed the top 3 sellers at North 40 and got to work, and by that, I mean I went camping! I’m not a lumber jack, but I occasionally play one on the weekends when we get the kids all together and I get to use my poor excuse for muscles to impress my wife while chopping wood. I figured this would be the perfect time to test out these shirts in many different environments. We went hiking, kayaking (read more about kayaking safety here), caught crawdads, made fires, and overall put the shirts through their paces. After far too much time in the sun here’s what I found out:
Overview:
Let’s start off with some basics. I’m 6’0” and about 165 lbs. I received all three shirts in a medium size no matter how they fit off the rack. North 40 sells a lot of work shirts, but the three most popular are the Carhartt K87, Smith + Rouge Pima Tee, and Noble Outfitters “Best Dang Work T-Shirt”. These shirts were surprisingly diverse in their take on what a work shirt should look like.
Carhartt K87: The old veteran
The K87 has seen it all. Construction site, weekend parties, dirt biking, and wrangling cattle; This ubiquitous t-shirt has been around since work itself was invented. This is the shirt to beat when it comes to tough and rough work wear... and I mean rough! This shirt is thick and sturdy for sure, but it could just about rub the skin off an alligator with its industrial grit fabric. Now, bear in mind I already had a sunburn at this point, but when I went to put on the Carhartt K87 I immediately wanted to take it off. It is simply too rough. I’ve never had a shirt that needed to be broken in, but like a good pair of leather boots it may be worth it in the long run. You’ll get solid protection from this shirt and value from it for years to come. Carhartt says it gets softer with wear and I believe it since this thing can hardly get stiffer. This is not, in my opinion, a casual afternoon shirt. It’s also not as stylish as the competitors. The shoulders fell almost an inch past my wiry frame (and perhaps that’s the issue here) before being washed. Shrinkage was minimal after a warm cycle and sometime in the dryer. The overall fit of the shirt was baggy which makes sense for a flexible shirt on the jobsite, but less so for a well fitted T for any other time.
The Carhartt K87 is offered in both short and a similar long sleeve version. Carhartt also has many different colors for the K87 meaning that you can tailor what you want based on your personal preferences, safety colors, weather conditions, or your company’s branded colors too. It’s a rugged work shirt and at about $25 for the short sleeve, affordable too. Overall, if you want a no compromise work shirt for truly hardy performance on the jobsite then the Carhartt K87 is still the shop boss, but certainly won’t win you a fashion show.
Smith + Rouge Pima Tee: Work Cosplay
Hailing from Montana, Smith + Rouge is a younger brand with a lot of promise. They take a very different approach to their products, especially when it comes to work wear. Where the K87 was baggy and gritty, the Pima Tee is well fitted and suptle. I’d wear this shirt every day... it’s just that comfortable. The name says it all really; Pima is a Peruvian cotton reserved for higher end fabrics. It is soft, flexible, and yet still holds its own for worksite useability. I wore this shirt for most of my time at the lake and it performed flawlessly, but I’d have my reservations wearing this every day at a construction site. It is never going to be as tough as the K87. It just can’t be. I’d say that this is more of a fashion Tee that can be used for work than the other way around. It’s more at home on a hike or being used by a backcountry wildlife photographer than framing drywall or pouring cement. The price reflects this too. While not expensive, especially for the use of such premium cotton, the Smith + Rouge Pima Tee is about $30, so still more than the Carhartt. Still, with triple stitched hems and a reinforced collar this T-shirt will last you a long time.
The Smith + Rouge Pima Tee only comes in a limited color selection and the whole pallet is rather subdued. I’d take just about anything they offer, but seeing a larger color selection would be nice. They sell the shirt in both long and short sleeve varieties. There was some shrinkage after washing, but nothing major and the fabric is giving enough that it didn’t really matter. This shirt made me look good, was extremely comfortable, and will continue to be a staple in my wardrobe. It may not be the tank of a t-shirt that the Carhartt K87 is, but if you’re like me and don’t need the extreme toughness in your day job then this may just be the best option for you. Treat yourself a bit and get a Pima Tee.
Noble Outfitters “Best Dang Work T-Shirt”: The All-Arounder
When I took my three children camping I didn’t realize how great of an analogy to these T-shirts they would be. My youngest is a bit wild and lives in his own world (Smith + Rouge). My oldest is reserved and dependable (Carhartt). My middle child is somewhere between my oldest and youngest in almost every way and that’s how I feel about the Noble Outfitters “Best Dang Work T-Shirt". This is a good shirt in every way, but it’s not great in any single category other than price. At just $20, the Noble Outfitters “Best Dang T-Shirt" is a steal! It feels much more rugged than the Smith + Rogue but doesn’t try to take your skin off like the Carhartt. It’s better fitted than the Carhartt, but still wears like a true work shirt instead of the more fashion forward Smith + Rouge products. This is the Goldilocks t-shirt in almost every way. I opted for the long sleeve version just to have a bit of variety, but they sell it in short sleeve as well. Noble Outfitters even offers a Regular or Tall option so you can better fit the shirt to your true body size. There’s not as many color options as the Carhartt, but more than Smith + Rogue. I used the long sleeve to sleep in at night when it got a bit chilly as well as getting the camp ready in the mornings and sitting by or prepping the fire at night. I have no complaints. This is a solid t-shirt and really earns it’s name as the “Best Dang T-Shirt".
The FullFlex performance fabric wicks away sweat when it’s warm and the thicker 6.5 oz cotton keeps you warm when it’s cold. If you are looking for one shirt to do it all then this is your best bet. It is well rounded, well fitted, but also flexible and rugged enough to stand up to abuse on a job site. On top of that it boasts UPF50+ sun protection (I really should have worn this shirt more) and flat tags for comfort. It also had no noticable shrinkage after being washed so you can feel confident with the fit of the shirt when you try it on in store.
So Who Won?
As you may be able to guess by now there is no clear winner. It really depends on what YOU need out of a work shirt and what kind of work that you are doing. If you are on a seriously rugged job site then the K87 is the way to go. If you are more concerned about comfort than out and out performance then the Pima Tee is your best option. If you want something that can play in both worlds and has the absolute best value of the bunch then the “Best Dang T-Shirt" is the clear winner. No matter which you choose you’ll be able to wear your new shirt for years to come and with how affordable all of them really are, why not just get the whole set?!
