The Most Common Workwear Garment Decision
For most UK businesses ordering workwear for the first time, the choice comes down to polo shirts or t-shirts. Both are versatile, cost-effective, and embroider well. But they communicate very differently — and the right choice depends on your industry, your client-facing requirements, and the physical demands of your team’s work.
At Customised Workwear, we sell thousands of both every year. Here’s an honest comparison to help you choose.
The Case for Polo Shirts
Polo shirts have a collar. This single feature makes them significantly more professional-looking than a t-shirt in most environments. The collar creates structure. It frames the face. It reads as “smart casual” rather than “casual” — an important distinction in client-facing roles.
Polo shirts work particularly well for: customer service teams, retail staff, hospitality front-of-house, account managers, trade teams working on residential properties, and anyone who has direct client interaction during their working day.
They also accept embroidery particularly well. The structured weave of a good poly-cotton polo produces clean, stable embroidery with no puckering. Browse our polo shirt range in our workwear shop.
The Case for T-Shirts
T-shirts win on comfort for physical work. No collar means no restriction around the neck during heavy lifting, bending, or high-intensity work. For trades, warehouse operations, manufacturing, and festival/event staff, the t-shirt is the practical choice.
They’re also slightly more affordable per unit — meaningful when ordering for large teams. And they carry embroidery well in a slightly more casual register — which suits some brand identities better than the formality of a polo.
Can You Use Both?
Many businesses use both — t-shirts for physical-role employees and polos for customer-facing staff within the same team. This works well when both garments carry the same embroidered logo in the same position, creating visual consistency across the team despite the different garment types.
Our workwear bundles are designed to accommodate mixed garment orders with a single consistent embroidery specification.
Quality Indicators to Look For
Regardless of which style you choose, look for: a minimum 180 GSM fabric weight, reinforced seams at underarm and collar, a tagless label option (important for comfort in direct-skin garments worn all day), and a colour range that matches your brand requirements.
Contact us and we’ll help you choose between polo and t-shirt based on your specific team profile and working environment. There’s no upsell here — just the right recommendation for your situation.