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Outdoor Adventure
T-Shirts and Tank Tops (2024)
26
May
May
Summer running is both a joy and a challenge. The good news is you don’t have to bundle up and freeze until you work up a sweat—you can head out and be comfortable in your lightest, thinnest gear. The bad news is that, once you warm up, even the skimpiest clothes can feel clingy and oppressive. This is the season when we need running shirts that slip on effortlessly when we’re still half-asleep in the morning and float on our skin when we’re cramming in a tempo workout on a sticky afternoon. We searched for, and found, the best women’s running tops—t-shirts and tanks—that can handle the challenges of summer while making us look good and feel cool.
At a Glance
All gear in this guide was tested by multiple reviewers. If you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. This supports our mission to get more people active and outside. Learn more.
Best All-Around Performance
Oiselle Flyout Trail Tank
Sizes: 2–24/26
Pros and Cons
⊕ Very lightweight
⊕ Cooling
⊕ Quick-drying
⊗ Light fabric feels somewhat fragile
If you can only buy one new running top this summer, make it this one. This polyester/tencel/spandex top was an instant hit with all four testers. New Mexico-based tester Abigail Wise calls it “the Goldilocks of running tanks.” Multiple testers praised the tank’s fit. ”It’s not too tight, not too loose,” said one. The stretchy, perforated fabric doesn’t hold onto sweat and doesn’t cling to the skin, making it feel nearly weightless on the run. And with wide shoulder straps, this tank is perfectly comfortable under a hydration pack. The shoulder and back coverage also make it suitable for wearing with any type of sports bra, not just racerback styles.
Best Running/Casual Crossover Tank
Stio Crester Tank
Sizes: XS-XL
Pros and Cons
⊕ Ample coverage
⊕ Multipurpose verasatility
⊕ Durable
⊗ Runs large
The Crester tank has wide shoulder straps, a high neckline, and a fully covered back, which means that you can wear a regular bra with it for non-running scenarios. Ultra-trail runner Anna Grace Tiede Hottinger says, “I was able to wear it to work with some nice pants —and then immediately hit the trails. A huge win.”
With its straight cut, this was among the baggiest of all the tops we tested, but we appreciated that extra room on days when we didn’t feel like showing off our midsections, or just wanted a more airy feel while on the run. Abigail ran in it multiple days in a row, and swears the polyester-spandex fabric never got stinky. The Stio Crester is for anyone who wants a durable, breathable, simple, and versatile tank that can stand up to sweat.
Most Stylish+High Performance Tank
Rabbit EZ Tank Perf
$48 at Running Warehouse $48 at Rabbit
Sizes: XS-XL
Pros and Cons
⊕ Flattering style
⊕ Lightweight
⊕ Quick-drying
⊗ Straps too thin to wear under a hydration vest
This was the tank we reached for when we wanted to follow the maxim of “look good, feel good, run good.” Thin shoulder straps, a scoop neckline, and slightly flared bottom all lead to a tailored, flattering fit. The perforated poly-spandex blend is exceptionally soft and stretchy, feels light on your skin, and dries quickly. Lead tester Svati Narula found this out after a particularly sticky June run in Pittsburgh, where she was surprisingly comfortable and dry enough to sit in an air conditioned coffee shop immediately after sweating buckets in the sun. If you like classic racerback tanks that show a lot of skin around your chest, back, and shoulders, this is the coolest and softest version you’ll find.
Best All-Around Tee
Tracksmith Session Tee
Sizes: XS-XL
Pros and Cons
⊕ Versatile
⊕ Soft and Stretchy
⊕ Sturdy
⊗ Runs slightly large
Svati used this as an all-day tee, taking it from morning hikes to her desk to evening runs. Abigail occasionally slept in it, which makes sense given its super-soft fabric and slightly baggy fit. Made of 84 percent polyester and 16 percent spandex, the tee is exceptionally stretchy. It’s also finished with an odor-repelling treatment that seems to work—Svati wore it for multiple runs between washes. “You can just tell how well made it is,” avid runner Ellen Silva said of the sturdy knit fabric, adding, “It’s going to last forever.” The Session Tee comes in a variety of colors and can be worked into your workout wardrobe year-round.
Most Comfortable Tee
Nathan Sprinter Short Sleeve Shirt
Sizes: XS-XL
Pros and Cons
⊕ Extremely breathable
⊕ Good skin coverage
⊕ Comfortable tailoring
⊗ One tester found it “a bit plain”
What this semi-fitted tee lacks in style it makes up for in absolute comfort, even on the hottest days. Anna Grace says the polyester-elastane mesh fabric was super breathable on her most humid runs, while Abigail and Ellen both liked the small v-shaped cutout on the back of the shirt, which helps it lay flat over curvy hips. All appreciated the thin reflective stripe on the back, too, for safety on pre-sunrise runs. Don’t let the high neckline scare you—we barely felt it (or the rest of the shirt) while wearing it.
How To Choose a Running Top
When it comes to summer running clothes, look for breathability, moisture-wicking, and a chafe-free fit.
Materials
Sweat-wicking and quick-drying materials are essential. These are usually made of polyester or wool blends and have a wide variety of proprietary names and textures. Polyester weaves tend to be the most breathable and highly durable, while wool resists odors and has a natural feel next-to-skin. Try on as many options as you can to find the ones that are both soft against your skin and feel cool and airy.
Fit
The fabric should not restrict your arm movement or be so tight as to interfere with your breathing at all. When trying on garments, do some dynamic stretching such as lunges, arm swings, and arm circles to experience your body’s whole range of motion in the apparel.
Tanks vs Tees
T-shirts provide more coverage and therefore more sun protection, and they can also deliver more of a cooling effect, depending on the fabric and fit. Tank tops are typically less restricting and more breathable, because of their lack of sleeves. That doesn’t mean all tank tops have freedom of movement. Some are tighter than others, providing a more secure fit, while others are looser and airier. In addition to fit, consider how much skin exposure and coverage you’re comfortable with, and how the tank interacts with your bra and running vest, if you’ll be wearing one. And consider all the settings where you’ll want to wear the top, both athletic and casual.
How We Test
- Number of testers: 4
- Number of products tested: 25
- Number of miles logged while testing: 2,500
- Most extreme temperature experienced during a run: 100 degrees (paired with 90 percent humidity) on a 40-mile-run in Minnesota in August
- Most elevation gained during a run: 3,500 feet while pacing a 25-mile stretch of the High Lonesome 100 race in Colorado
We tested as many different shorts, tanks, tees, and other kinds of summer apparel (like sun shirts and crop tops) as we could get our hands on between June and October 2023, with an eye toward products that would be new to consumers in 2024. Our four testers ranged in age from 20 to 40, each with more than a decade of running experience and at least one ultramarathon under their belt. We evaluated products by comfort first, followed by style, utility (ability to carry phones and keys or multitask as casual wear was a big plus), and durability.
Meet Our Lead Testers
Svati Kirsten Narula is a writer and Outside contributing editor based in Santa Fe, NM. Svati ran her first cross country race 19 years ago and has been a dedicated distance runner ever since. To test this summer’s gear, she logged miles on dirt paths, singletrack trails, paved roads, and even a few sidewalks—mostly in New Mexico, with some additional test runs in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Colorado.
One of Svati Narula’s go-to routes for testing running gear:
(Gaia GPS is owned by Outside Inc.)
Ellen Silva is a Clinical Dietitian in Santa Fe, NM who has been running since 2009. She is an “any distance, any surface” type of runner and enjoys bringing down her road 5k time as much as training for mountain 100-milers and pacing friends in ultras. Her dog Finn accompanies her on short easy runs. They love living and training in the high desert, but this summer she enjoyed getting to test gear while in Hawaii, Maine, Arizona, Colorado, and New Hampshire.
Anna Grace Tiede Hottinger is a public policy professional and dog mom in northern MN. She has been running for just about her entire life, primarily as a method of fun and spending time outside. She tested her apparel on many runs, both short and long, while training for a 100-miler. Much of the apparel saw many hours in the woods, and experienced extreme heat, chilly rain and endured lots of mud!
Abigail Wise is an editor based in northern New Mexico. She’s retired from training for ultras but still logs a lot of miles between exercising her four dogs and getting her toddler some fresh air. Most of this gear was tested on pre-dawn tempo runs before work and longer weekend runs in the high-desert mountain sun.
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