I’m About to Buy This J.Crew Long-Sleeve for the Third Time
I found myself at a crossroads a couple of months ago: I stopped loving a lot of my long-sleeves. You might guess what I did next. I started earnestly trying on long-sleeves with the optimistic hope of the year’s first snowdrop. Unfortunately, and unhelpfully, every long-sleeve starts looking alike at a certain point. (Just like their short-sleeved brethren — I can’t tell whether someone’s wearing a Leset Margo or a Le Bon Shoppe Little Boy anymore.) I couldn’t figure out a superlative for anything I was trying on, and only by having the sheer determination of a Taurean bull did I not give up. Then, finally, I found my new favorite long-sleeve this January. It passed the ultimate litmus test of Would you write about this for the Strategist site? (ahem). No gatekeeping here: It’s J.Crew’s Boyfriend Jersey Relaxed Long-Sleeve.
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The key to any long-sleeve is weight. To me, “threadbare” may be acceptable in a vintage rock-band tee, but not in a brand-new, 100 percent cotton one. I was looking for something that wasn’t lightweight (thinness implies flimsiness to yours truly) or heavyweight (like the Merz B. Schwanen Jeremy Allen White wears in The Bear). J.Crew uses 100 percent cotton yarns and a jersey weave — “for a hint of stretch,” according to the product copy — in the Boyfriend Jersey Relaxed Long-Sleeve. The fabric feels even better than J.Crew’s pima cotton or feather jersey. There’s some heft to it — it gives Brawny paper-towel rolls a run for their money — but it’s not cardboardlike. After every single wash, it’s softer than I remember. And while I usually don’t put anything 100 percent cotton in the dryer, it survived a regular cycle accidentally without any shrinkage.
Now, “relaxed” may have you thinking of sizing down. However, with this shirt in particular, your regular size should give you the insouciance of an aristocrat. It also will prevent the shirt from being cropped (I’m about to be 30 — you don’t need to see my bellybutton). The silhouette is just as right for a wide-leg jean as it is a barrel-leg corduroy pant.
Starting at $49.50, it’s not the cheapest T-shirt, but it’s frequently marked down. I didn’t have to rationalize getting it twice — the first in burgundy and white stripes (it’s no longer available, but navy and white stripes are) and the second in a solid white that’s reasonably opaque enough not to necessitate a flesh-tone bra. I’m thinking of getting it in black next.
You can’t talk about a long-sleeve without talking about, well, its sleeves. The Boyfriend Jersey Relaxed Long-Sleeve’s are wide compared with the sleeves of the average long-sleeve. Not in a Stevie Nicks stage-performance way (a flick of the wrist won’t summon the coven). They are only slightly wide, and lie gently over the back of the hand. This allows you some freedom of movement but won’t cause trouble getting them through the arm of a jacket. I can reach over platters of steaming calamari topped with banana peppers and eggplant rollatini without getting pickling juice or tomato sauce on them. It almost makes me want to break out into maniacal laughter. Sleeves! It’s the sleeves! It’s the sleeves! (In Gene Wilder’s voice.) They turn what might otherwise be a humble T-shirt into a shirt-shirt. It’s the “not like other long-sleeves” of long-sleeves.
Some more long-sleeves we recommend
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It’s “like a shirt you borrowed from someone and never gave back,” says senior writer Emma Wartzman.
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Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s crewnecks were Petit Bateau (whose undies Chloë Sevigny buys in France).
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This is a black long-sleeve that senior writer Lauren Ro wears out to dinner.
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