The 12 Best Waffle Thermals for Advanced-Level Layering

Nashville brand Imogene + Willie is well known and deservedly lauded for its selvage denim, but it's other offerings often fly under the radar. Case in point, this pitch-perfect vintage-leaning thermal.

Outside of Japan, I'm not sure anyone does vintage re-issues better than i+w, the brand's catalog is full of 50s and 60s references (and the occasional tried and true vintage piece). Here, the brand channels thermal underwear's military origins and uses just a hint of nylon to retain shape. And, importantly, they make one for the ladies, too.

In my opinion, J Crew always has been and always will be the best of the mall brands. This goes double for the brand's sub-label, Wallace & Barnes, which reissues classic workwear and Americana silhouettes with the production resources of a large brand. Read: durable, heritage quality for a very good price.

Case in point, these honeycomb crewnecks, which are not technically a waffle, but pretty damn close, so we're allowing it. Through a glitch in the system, I was sent three of these bad boys when my size in indigo was sold out. Don't tell anyone, but I'm keeping all three.

For this one, I'll kick it to Luke Guillory, Esquire's commerce editor:

"I've always loved a waffle thermal, but it's one thing I never want to spend big on. That's not very 'style guy' of me, but I think of a thermal, functionally, as underwear. It's a warm shirt for winter workouts or a house shirt. It gets pit stains from workouts and grease stains from cooking, and it all feeds into my cultivated persona: uncle who buys his nephews knives against the wishes of the family.

"Really, though, you can't beat the thermals that Knocker makes. Dirt cheap and 100 percent cotton. Does the job, and you'll never mourn it when it inevitably gets stained."

This is the only thermal in the roundup that requires a science degree to parse out the materials. While I won't claim to understand the specific chemistry behind it, I will say that Uniqlo's vaunted heat-tech works. In the thermal version, you get science fiction warmth without the GORP-core fit, a win-win in my book. And, like everything else at Uniqlo, the price-to-value ratio is insane.

If you do a double-take at the price of this Billy Reid thermal, let me whisper one word to you: cashmere. This baselayer is probably the opposite of basic. A cotton/cashmere blend makes the case for elevated essentials via the rarefied neck hairs of a Mongolian goat. There are other details that make it stand out too, like the reverse waffle elbow details and the jersey roll on the hem to dial in the vintage look and feel. A word of warning, though, once you start adding cashmere into your wardrobe, you're on a slippery slope. It's like upping your sheet thread count. You can never go back.

Okay, a diamond isn't technically a waffle, but this thermal is good enough to overlook the geometric inconsistency. These days, Merz is best known for its very good tees, as seen on Jeremy Allen White in The Bear. But the German brand does more than outfit the biceps of Hollywood's leading man du jour; it also quietly makes very good basics across the board.

This thermal stands out for its triangle inserts under the arms and burly, yet soft, one-hundred percent cotton weave. The biceps, unfortunately, are sold separately.

Soft Goods cuts and sews each of its garments in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood, the same zipcode as the old Tigers stadium where Al Kaline played all 22 seasons of his MLB career. Doesn’t get much more Americana than that. And this thermal pulls out all the stops: custom-designed waffle knit fabric, set in collar, and a flatlock body construction for that Goldilocks zone of stretch and durability.

In full disclosure, I do some work with the brand. After I wrote about their heavyweight tee earlier this year, I met founder Josh York, and we hit it off as two Michigan guys who care about good clothes. That said, this is a genuine rec. If you need some extra verification, style writers Michael Williams of the first wave menswear blog A Continuous Lean and John Thompson of the up-and-coming menswear newsletter Live a Little both endorse the SG thermal.

Parisian running brand Sastify takes some flak in marathon circles for being exorbitantly pricey. But, piece by piece, not many brands in running (or in menswear) pay as much attention to materials and fit as Sastify. Take this merino wool waffle thermal for example: spun from lightweight, Japanese wool, it insulates and drapes to perfection. Wear it running, sure, but also wear it as a regular winter baselayer to non-athleisure-coded spaces. If you're looking for a cotton piece, there's one just around the corner. I recently had a chance to preview the brand's 2026 line, which included the cleanest-looking thermals since 80s/90s Harley-Davidson dealership merch.

I was skeptical of the need for a short-sleeve thermal until I tried Taylor Stitch's' version. Color me convinced. It's my go-to winter underlayer for cardigans and fisherman sweaters and really anything where you need an undershirt with a little more insulation but less bunching in the sleeves. And if it does get a little hot indoors, you can pop off the outer layer without embarrassment -- though you may have to sit through some good-natured lumberjack cosplay jokes. Still not convinced on the short sleeves? The brand also makes a killer long-sleeve version.

Can Buck Mason make a bad shirt? I've yet to encounter it if so. This thermal is no exception. It's knit from medium-weight American cotton in a mill in Pennsylvania with a rib-spun collar for durability and a double wash for softness. AKA thermal nirvanna. BM also makes a heavyweight version with the brand's original curved hem and an even heavier near-sweatshirt-esque version in a natural indigo, but this USA-knit straight hem version is my favorite of the mix.

Alright, I've conceded and included one henley here. But for good reason. The Henley deserves a reputational comeback and a re-association with its rugged roots. The only way we can rescue it from the clutches of reality stars is with companies like Filson, a bona fide gold rush outfitter still making clothes up to frontiersman specs.

This Henley reads more backcountry than Bravo thanks to the heavyweight cotton and slightly oversized fit. Andrew Chen at 3sixteen also makes a great version of a waffle knit Henley, but you might need to seek it out in a brick-and-mortar store. Online is OOS on everything less than a 2x.

This is the warmest cotton thermal on the list. On a recent motorcycle trip in Texas, my Midwestern cold-weather hubris caused me to disregard a forecast for frigid temperatures and I froze my toes off on an hour-and-a-half ride to meet a friend for dinner. I texted him along the way to see if he could bring me an extra layer for the return trip, and he grabbed this beefy, Flint & Tinder piece for me. It's heavy and baffled, and between the cowboy ribeye and its extra insulation, I made it back to San Antonio with all my fingers and toes attached.