When choosing apparel, the extensive collection of t-shirt brands and garment styles may seem a little bit overwhelming at first. This guide will serve as an attempt to help break down these selections for you.
100% Cotton
These are your basic and most common types of shirts. They are affordable and yield great print results. One thing to note is that even though they are usually pre shrunk, 100% cotton shirts are still known to shrink a little after washing. This would also be the best option for novelty tees, business promotions, team shirts, etc.
Styles that are 100% cotton:
· Gildan
100% Ringspun Cotton
Garments from 100% Ringspun Cotton are thinner and softer than your regular 100% cotton t shirts and, due to the manufacturing process, are more durable as well, and as a result, is our most popular garment types. They have a higher-end feel and do not shrink as much as your average 100% cotton shirt. If budget isn’t an issue and you’re looking for good quality, durable apparel, we would strongly recommend this route.
Styles that are 100% ringspun cotton:
· American Apparel
· Anvil
· Alternative
· Bella + Canvas
Other Things to Consider
Beyond these two options of 100% Cotton and 100% Ringspun Cotton, selections can be broken down even further with organic varieties as well as garment weights.
· American Apparel
– 2001ORG / 2102ORG
– 2105ORG
– 2456ORG
– 2201ORG
– 4001ORG
· Alternative 6021
· Anvil 420
While choosing an organic option will be based solely on personal preference, garment weights can be considered.
Garment weights are usually reflected by their durability. The heavier the garment the more durable, while the lighter the softer. Keep in mind that because ringspun cotton shirts are manufactured to be more durable and lighter than regular cotton shirts, a lighter 4.3 oz ringspun cotton shirt will usually be more durable than a heavier 6 oz cotton shirt.
Battle of the brands
Here is an even more in depth comparison between brands and styles.
Gildan 64000 Softstyle shirts are our most affordable, softest feel cotton shirt. They are loose-fitting and produce good quality printing results. Up from that are your Gildan Heavy Cotton shirts and Gildan Ultra Cotton shirts. The difference between the three are your weights:
· Gildan Softstyle = 4.5 oz
· Gildan Heavy Cotton = 5.5 oz
· Gildan Ultra Cotton = 6.1 oz
Keep in mind, the heavier the weight the thicker the garment will feel, with the heavier garments being more durable than the lighter garments.
Our Gildan 2000 Ultra Cotton shirts are also offered in the widest selections of sizes, ranging from Small to 5XL.
American Apparel 2001 (men) / 2102 (women) shirts are our most popular garments. These are 100% ringspun cotton, making them lighter and softer, yet as durable as the heavier weighted shirts. They are also slimmer-fitting than any of our other selections.
Our other popular Anvil varieties includes the Anvil 980 Lightweight Tee.
· Anvil 980 Lightweight Tee
– 4.5 oz
– 100% ringspun cotton
The Anvil 980 is our most popular shirt, along with the Alternative Apparel 1070 (men) / 1072 (women) shirts. These shirts come in second in popularity as they cost slightly more than your Anvil selections but are our highest quality options which are also the most comparable to American Apparel. The torsos on these shirts do tend to run longer than other brands.
We hope this has helped you better understand the range of t-shirt brands and garment styles available from MostlyGifts.com and our exclusive partners at Shirterrific.
