Designer t-shirts, and what you are paying for

What you are actually paying for

Nobody explains this, so here it is in the four parts that matter.

Fabric weight, measured in grams per square metre. Lightweight is under 160 GSM. Midweight, or all-season, is 160 to 200. Heavyweight is over 200. A higher GSM means a thicker, weightier shirt that holds its shape better and lasts longer, and it is the single biggest driver of how a t-shirt feels in the hand.

Worth saying plainly: we could not find an authoritative standards body behind those bands. Every source is a manufacturer or retailer. Treat GSM bands as industry convention rather than a specification, and treat any retailer quoting them as gospel with some caution, ourselves included.

Yarn quality. Longer staple cotton spins into a smoother, stronger yarn that pills less. We have deliberately left out any staple-length or Supima claim, because we could not verify a live source for the figures usually quoted.

Collar construction. This is where cheap t-shirts fail first, and it is why "how to stop t shirt necks stretching" is one of the most searched questions in the category. A denser rib, a taut bind and a proper shoulder-to-shoulder tape are what stop the neck going wavy after a dozen washes.

Cut. Edwin, OAS and Universal Works all cut wider and shorter than the high street. That is a design decision, not a sizing error.

Fit, and the boxy cut question

The mainstream t-shirt fit is longer and narrower than what most of this collection does.

Edwin, OAS and Universal Works cut boxy: wider through the body, shorter in the length, often with a dropped shoulder. Worn as intended they sit at the top of the hip and skim rather than cling. If you size up in one of those expecting extra length, you get extra width instead.

Paul Smith, NN07 and Oliver Spencer are closer to a standard regular fit.

Wax London tees follow the same size-up logic as their shirts, so if you are between sizes, the larger one is usually right.

Universal Works chest measurements run from 91 to 96cm at small up to 112 to 117cm at double extra large, and their relaxed pieces can be sized down if you want them closer through the body.

Washing, and the two problems people actually have

Small holes at the front hem. Almost always abrasion against a belt buckle, a worktop edge or a seatbelt, not moths and not a fault. It shows up on lightweight shirts far more than heavyweight ones, which is a practical argument for the higher GSM.

The smell that survives washing. Usually detergent residue and bacteria trapped in the fibres rather than anything left on the surface. Washing at too low a temperature with too much detergent makes it worse rather than better. Turning shirts inside out helps, as does using less detergent than the bottle suggests.

For pilling, the same rules apply as to knitwear: inside out before washing, no fabric softener, and reduce abrasion where you can.

We have not published a cotton shrinkage percentage. Every figure available came from an unsourced blog, and the honest answer is that it depends on whether the specific shirt was pre-shrunk, which varies by brand.

Where this sits against the high street

Being direct about it: if you want a plain white tee for under a tenner, this is not the collection and we would rather you knew that before you clicked.

What this collection gives you instead is a choice between distinct cuts and weights from labels that are hard to find in Ireland at all. Edwin, OAS and Universal Works in particular have very few stockists on this island.