The best tank tops for men go by many names: A-shirts, muscle tees, sleeveless tees, singlets. But we’re just calling them tank tops. Thanks to menswear’s obsession with camp collar shirts and everyone re-watching The Sopranos, the style’s exploded in popularity. They’ve even gone so far as to warrant their own renaissance with boat loads of designers twisting the tank in new and exciting ways.
That’s all great news because the tank top deserves to be in your wardrobe, if not for its many fashionable varieties, surely for its utter utility. Play to their undergarment roots and they can be a shirt-saving undershirt, the invisible hero to your outfit. You can hit the gym in a performance tank with all the moisture-wicking and quick-drying properties science can imbue. Or you can play the capital-F fashion card and wear a tank to complement your fits. The classic move is to layer a tank top under an unbuttoned camp shirt (with a dope chain around your neck, of course). But don’t be afraid to venture out into the fun, freaky side of tank tops and wear one as the lead role of your outfit.
It’s a great big world of tanks out there and we got into the weeds of it all to find only the best tank tops for men. So whether you’re after a workhorse undershirt, a muscle-baring workout partner, or a show-stopping sleeveless tee, you can find the cream of the crop right here.
The Best Basic Tank Top
You’ve probably owned a six-pack of these at some point or another, and with good reason: Hanes’s no-frills, no-tags, all-cotton ribbed tanks are a preposterous value. They’re cut flatteringly from pure cotton, which means they’re presentable enough to wear on their own, and breathable and comfortable enough to survive the swampiest days of August. They’re best served, of course, as an undershirt—ideally peeking out from beneath a flowy button-down or polo sweater, the way the goodfellas in Goodfellas would do it.
The Best Workout Tank Top
If you’re looking to make some gains in your tank, you’ll need one that wicks away moisture, dries quickly, and blocks odor. This one from Lululemon does all three better than most activewear tops do just one. The seamless construction also means a more comfortable workout with no chafing. They come in a vibrant range of colors, too, so you can flex your excellent taste alongside your muscles.
The Best Designer Tank Top
Issey Miyake’s iconic pleats are catnip for fashion types, and they work as well on this extremely chic tank top as they do on Miyake’s ubiquitous trousers. It’s understated and covetable in the best ways possible, with a perfect drape and subtle texture that’ll amp up any look.
The Best Muscle Tee
Russell invented the crewneck sweatshirt a century ago, but its sleeveless T-shirts are just as worthy of your hard-earned dough as their fleece goods. They’re cut from a buttery soft cotton jersey in a slim (but not too slim) fit that’s ideal worn as a base layer or all on its own. If your upper arm game is Dom Toretto-level beastly, these have just the right proportions to show off all your hard work.
Plus 17 More Tanks We Love
