Do you wear an undershirt? Why?

In the course of normal office work, if you are fit and shower every morning, you should never sweat to the extent of staining your shirts! As for warmth, I live in a very cold place (Ontario) and I never feel the need for an undershirt. If I am cold, I will wear a waistcoat or sweater vest (and of course a decent overcoat when outside).



Asian Afro said:

I wear an undershirt for warmth. Winter is real where I live.

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JLibourel said:

I just wear an undershirt to keep warmer in cool weather. Don't wear 'em in warm weather.
I also sleep in my undershirt in cool weather.

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this i can understand but if it was that cold inside of my workplace, i would just wear a thin sweater over my dress shirt. no undershirt

pebblegrain said:

I used to wear an undershirt - when I was 15 yo.
There are various reasons why insecure hetero males wear undershirts.
They think it makes them look slightly bigger.
They think it blocks sweat.
They don't like showing chest (they are afraid this will look gay).
As soon as they get home they take the dress shirt off and douche around in their t shirt.
They think they can wear the dress shirt 3x before laundering (only Reevolving).
They are afraid their delicate hetero nipples will show without an undershirt.
They find dress shirts stiff and itchy, they like the kindergarten-recess type of comfort that a cotton t provides.
They think they are Don Draper

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same. I stopped wearing an undershirt after puberty. Up until that point, I think i wore the undershirt to downplay man breasticles



NAMOR said:

this is mind-boggling to me. I didn't realize so many individuals wore undershirts until I realized everyone at happy hour was wearing a disgusting yellowing t-shirt. What I really dont understand is why undershirts are worn by those with office jobs that require zero physical exertion. how much are you really sweating at your desk? or while walking 3 flights of stairs?

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You're younger, but think you under estimate the stamina of the typical desk worker. Nearly 70% of this country is overweight or obese, NYC probably a bit less so.

Also, some people sweat from stress rather badly. Or, they sweat easily with office heating, poor body thermoregulation that can be related to hormone imbalance.

I personally never really wear undershirts, unless wearing certain non-cardigan sweaters.



andrewgreg said:

No, unless I need to wear a white dress shirt. Some dress shirt material is so thin, I wear a short-sleeve undershirt.
Or wearing a undershirt and layering a sweater/cardigan at home.
For other circumstances, No.

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Well if you can see your ******* under a very thin shirt, you can also see a ghetto ass hanes beefy t underneath said thin shirt.

Okay, snark aside, some people just sweat a lot. Even in an office environment locked at 68 degrees. I mean, the moment they are in front of a powerpoint, they are sweating. I dunno what I would do. I would think a t shirt would hurt as much as it would help sure maybe your pits look dry but you will be hotter overall and sweating on your face. I'm sure people who sweat know better what works for them.

If you are doing it because you think it looks good and for that reason alone, you are wrong.



FlyingMonkey said:

In the course of normal office work, if you are fit and shower every morning, you should never sweat to the extent of staining your shirts! 

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No.

An undershirt is just that, an undergarment, and should be worn as such. It is not a fashion statement.

The whole point of an undershirt is to minimize the amount of body fluids that stay on your skin. It is not just sweat, but slight amounts of body oil as well. A soft cotton undershirt will absorb and trap these better than a dress shirt will. Sweat also contains bacteria and Urea (which is in urine). Once an undershirt stain cannot be removed by cleaning, it should be thrown out.

The chemicals in antiperspirants also contribute to staining, and make the stain more difficult to get out.

And, keep in mind that when you use antiperspirants you are only using them under your arms where you sweat the most, but your entire body has sweat and oil glands. Think of the guy with the soaking shirt after a game of pick-up basketball, he didn’t just sweat from his pits, and neither do you – even when you are just moving around the office (just a lot less). And, stress or motion can cause you to sweat, Winter or Summer.

Soft cotton is good at absorbing sweat and oil (wool is even better which is why it makes a great undergarment for winter sports). Poly blends are terrible at absorbing anything and a lot of the mid to lower end no-iron dress shirts are poly blends. Check your dress shirts and see what the fabric is made of.

The issue isn’t really about staining your shirt, it’s about the bacteria, urea, and oils that are not wicked off of your skin properly and remain there to compound and block the pores of your skin. It won’t kill you (usually), but why not wear the undergarment for its intended purpose, and keep your body a little cleaner?



Nicola said:

It wicks sweat. In the spring/fall it does keep the torso warm. It can actually keep you cooler during the summer.

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+1 This is why.

When I wear a dress shirt, there's nothing underneath it and I never wear undershirts or wifebeaters. My ex once asked me why I didn't wear a t-shirt or undershirt underneath my dress shirt. Apparently, she thought that undershirts wear sexy on men. She was never actually able to explain to me why....very strange.

Yes.

I sweat more than most people. Undershirts help soak up my underarm sweat so that everyone doesn't see large darker/wet spots in my armpit areas. Almost all of my undershirts are grey with a deep vneck, so they're almost entirely undetectable.



glenjay said:

An undershirt is just that, an undergarment, and should be worn as such. It is not a fashion statement.
The whole point of an undershirt is to minimize the amount of body fluids that stay on your skin. It is not just sweat, but slight amounts of body oil as well. A soft cotton undershirt will absorb and trap these better than a dress shirt will. Sweat also contains bacteria and Urea (which is in urine). Once an undershirt stain cannot be removed by cleaning, it should be thrown out.
The chemicals in antiperspirants also contribute to staining, and make the stain more difficult to get out.
And, keep in mind that when you use antiperspirants you are only using them under your arms where you sweat the most, but your entire body has sweat and oil glands. Think of the guy with the soaking shirt after a game of pick-up basketball, he didn’t just sweat from his pits, and neither do you – even when you are just moving around the office (just a lot less). And, stress or motion can cause you to sweat, Winter or Summer.
Soft cotton is good at absorbing sweat and oil (wool is even better which is why it makes a great undergarment for winter sports). Poly blends are terrible at absorbing anything and a lot of the mid to lower end no-iron dress shirts are poly blends. Check your dress shirts and see what the fabric is made of.
The issue isn’t really about staining your shirt, it’s about the bacteria, urea, and oils that are not wicked off of your skin properly and remain there to compound and block the pores of your skin. It won’t kill you (usually), but why not wear the undergarment for its intended purpose, and keep your body a little cleaner?

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Sh*t! It does all that?

I'm wearing two then.

Undershirts keep me a little warmer in the winter, and they soak up the sweat instead of my shirt in the summer. I think it would be gross or uncomfortable to go without one, at least where I live. Where do you live, NAMOR? Do you spend most of your day with central and heating or air?

Oh, I see: Sacramento, CA. Isn't the weather pretty moderate and nice there? Not too humid, and not too cold? If that's the case, then I can see not wearing an undershirt. But you live in a pretty nice area!

I wear them every day, primarily to 1) absorb sweat, and 2) mask tattoos that might otherwise be visible through a dress shirt.

I'd like to see some of the more smug contributors to this thread come and spend time in a tropical climate, wearing business clothes each day. You'll soon know what it's like to sweat so much you need to carry a mop with you.

I wear a tight fitting, lightweight undershirt because it protects my dress shirt from the enormous quantities of sweat tipping through my pores every time I leave the building. If I didn't wear it, then I'd have sweat patches all over me and my shirts would be spoiled.

As a bonus, I also find that my shirt clings to the fabric, creating a cleaner, more fitted overall look.

Because I sweat?