Henleys have been on the receiving end of more than a decade’s worth of bad PR, which is why the versions you might encounter on so-called ‘men’s style’ moodboards often look yanked from the sleazy lows of the 2010s, when too-bulky celebs wore too-tight henleys under their too-tight blazers. In the time since, henleys have been meme’d, shit-talked, and put on blast by at least one of the hottest designers on the planet, alternatively castigated as basic, bro-ish, or blandly sexless. In 2026, I’m ready to admit that’s no longer true. In fact, with a little bit of styling know-how, henleys can be really good.
Here’s the secret to my epiphany: don’t think of them as T-shirt alternatives. Instead, treat ‘em as layering pieces to be styled over, under, and between whatever else you’re wearing. With a few styling maneuvers, henleys suddenly boast a wider range than we ever gave them credit for. So consider the round-up below my formal apology, with each and every henley here a mea culpa for the slander I once directed their way.
