Help me find heavy-weight t-shirts

June 29, 2015 4:10 PM

I used to be happy with Lands End "super tees," but over the years, I guess to maintain their price point, they've gotten lighter and flimsier. What made me think there has to be a better product out there was watching Michael B. Jordan in Fruitvale Station this past weekend. (I wouldn't want such generous sizing, but that's just a matter of ordering something smaller, right?) I'm looking for plain t-shirts in a variety of colors, no graphics. Help?
posted by Short Attention Sp to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (13 answers total)

Mod note: Pulled the image link since the site in question seems to block referrer traffic, feel free to post another reference in a comment if need be.
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:12 PM on June 29, 2015

Response by poster: How about this one?
posted by Short Attention Sp at 4:15 PM on June 29, 2015

Best answer: For heavy-weight shirts, I like the shirts from All-American Clothing, which are actually made by Bayside (at least the ones I've gotten).
posted by jimw at 4:37 PM on June 29, 2015

I have one from J Peterman that is almost absurdly heavy-weight. I think it's one of these. My normal day-to-day t-shirts are from LL Bean, and they're not as heavy, but heavier than most. A happy medium for me.
posted by primethyme at 5:04 PM on June 29, 2015

Try LL Bean. They really keep their shape and last forever.
posted by Snazzy67 at 6:08 PM on June 29, 2015

Costco Pima cotton tees are very heavy duty, as are t-shirts from Eddie Bauer.
posted by TrarNoir at 6:23 PM on June 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Try Duluth Trading Company. I too used to like the Land's End, but noticed the thinning. Also, if you are tall they have the "longtail" Ts that are extra long.
posted by librosegretti at 6:23 PM on June 29, 2015

Duluth Trading Company were what my dad swore by.
posted by jessamyn at 6:34 PM on June 29, 2015

Best answer: I did some screen printing for a while, and tried a bunch of different t-shirt brands.

The heavyweight Gildan shirts are high quality, about $2.50 a shirt, and come in 60 colors!

I think Gildan shirts max out at to 5.3oz. There are some shirts that go up to 8oz, but I haven't tried them. The 8oz shirts would probably be very warm.


(By the way, if you're wondering what the ounce measurements mean, it's the weight of a 1x1 yard piece of fabric. Just as another datapoint; a heavy to very heavy sweatshirt might be in the 10-12oz range.)
posted by gregr at 7:18 PM on June 29, 2015 [4 favorites]

Best answer: American Giant has a 6.2oz heavyweight t-shirt. No personal experience of them (yet) as I was hoping they'd make v-neck shirts at that weight. Also, very not cheap, and the most recent reviews aren't great...
posted by holgate at 8:32 PM on June 29, 2015

Best answer: I ordered a few American Giant shirts only to have faded colors and a hole in one of the shirts after the first wash. The company refunded my order, and their sweatshirts are excellent, but I can't recommend their tees.

Have you tried Hanes' beefy tees? If you can swallow the price and want something US-made, 3Sixteen also sells heavyweight t-shirts. I haven't worn either, but both are well-regarded.
posted by lunch at 8:47 PM on June 29, 2015

Also recommending Hanes Beefy-T. Pretty sturdy, tagless, colorfast. I have some that are fifteen years old that are getting a little gnarly in the collars, but that's a pretty good life for a t-shirt.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 10:50 PM on June 29, 2015

Response by poster: I've ordered one of each of those marked best answer and will see what I like best before stocking up.

Thank you!
posted by Short Attention Sp at 5:11 AM on June 30, 2015