You’re in charge of getting T-shirts for your organization’s next event. Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? Then you come check out our showroom and realize that there are literally thousands of options available. It can feel very overwhelming!

We’ve tried to make things a little easier for you by creating a virtual showroom with some of our top picks for T-Shirts. You can find it here.

But let’s break down the basics of selecting the right shirt for your next project. We’ll start with the basics and for those T-shirt keeners, we’ll get into some of the finer details at the end.

Let’s start with three basic questions:

1.       How much wear do you want it to get?

Your project goals will help you know how much wear you want the item to get.

If you want the shirt to be one that gets a lot of wear, you’re likely going to want to spend more to get a T-Shirt made with softer material with more retail fit and style.

But, if you’re looking for a shirt that will help your staff or volunteers stand out during an event that will likely only be worn for the event, economy is the way to go.

2.       How much do you want to spend?

If you have a very specific budget, there isn’t a lot of rationale to look at multiple options. If you can adjust design or other elements of a budget in order to consider different options, then take a look at what the additional spending will get you.

GOOD T-Shirts will generally be $5-10 each (blank) depending on the number being purchased. They are a commodity item and will be boxy and simple in construction.

BETTER T-Shirts will generally be $10-15 each (blank) depending on the number being purchased. They will likely be cotton/polyester mix and will be softer and have a more retail style and fit.

BEST T-Shirts will generally be $15 or more and will be more similar to what you would see in retail stores. You will likely find trendier colours (heather colours, vintage wash, etc.) and the style will be much more fitted.

3.       Who is going to be wearing them?

It’s always important to know your audience. If you are purchasing shirts for industrial workers, a heavier weight, 100% cotton shirt is likely going to be your best bet. It’s going to be more durable and handle heavier wash cycles associated with shirts that are going to get dirty during general wear.

If the shirts are going to be worn in a more professional setting or those wearing the T-shirt as a fashion piece, style is going to be more important. Think about what you normally see your audience wear, it will give you an indication of what they want.

Purchasing for children? Young children will grow out of the shirts within a year (or less) and tend to be a little rougher on clothing, so economy is generally the way to go. As they grow into tweens/teens, develop their style and don’t grow out of clothing as quickly, finding options with retail fit, style and even brand names will be more appreciated.

Are you reselling? Unless it’s a limited event shirt design (yes, most concert t-shirts are an entry level product that you will spend $40 for the nostalgia and memories), charitable fundraiser or a very committed fan base, you will want to look at a BETTER or BEST T-Shirt if you are expecting people to purchase your finished product.

If you are purchasing for sports and the shirts will be worn while engaging in sports, a performance T-shirt is likely what you need as they will be more lightweight and have moisture-wicking and anti-microbial properties. If you’re looking for athletic wear, check out our showroom for sports teams here.

Here are some other considerations that can impact your options:

Do you need youth and ladies’ styles/sizes?

If you know that you want to get youth and ladies’ styles/sizes and you want them all to have a similar style and colour, make sure you let us know. Only certain styles will have companion youth and ladies’ options.

Should you offer Ladies’ styles/sizes?

When you can, yes. If you know your audience and are working on a smaller scale, women will always appreciate a better fitting style. Ladies’ styles/sizes are normally more hourglass in shape and have shorter sleeves than the unisex companion. And remember, if you want to see these shirts worn on an ongoing basis, fit and style are important.

But, if you are doing a mass giveaway or don’t have solid information about the make-up of your audience, it will add a lot more complexity to determining sizing and handing them out and you’ll need more space to keep everything organized. With just unisex styles and sizing, you can have 6-8 different items to be selecting from, double that once you add in ladies’ styles/sizes.

Do you have a specific colour or colours in mind?

If you need a very specific colour (perhaps a team or corporate colour) or range of colours or need a colour to remain consistent between different apparel options, make sure you let us know. Most GOOD shirts are generally going to be in bright primary/secondary colours (black, white, red, navy, royal, etc.).  BETTER and BEST shirts will have more shades, heathered options and muted tones.

How many of each size should you buy?

If you’re not buying for a specific group of people who have provided sizing to you, this can always be challenging. Again, the more you know about your audience, the more accurate you can be.

Let’s start with some industry facts. Below you can see the sales of shirts by size in the US and how that translates to a guideline for ordering sizes.

You can adjust the guidelines based on your knowledge of your audience, it's a good starting point.

• Will you have a lot of tweens, young adults or women? Perhaps increase the number of smaller sizes, especially if you’re purchasing an adult unisex shirt and no youth or ladies’ styles. (Ladies will generally wear one size smaller in a unisex style.) 
• Are you purchasing a more retail style and fit? Perhaps default to larger sizing as these will be more fitted and smaller in sizing.
• What do you know about the make-up of your audience? Is your group generally smaller or larger than average, adjust accordingly.

When in doubt, the default is generally to increase amounts in larger sizes because someone can wear something a little larger than they would normally wear but smaller won’t work. And just know, no matter what breakdown you select, you will always run out of some sizes before others.

And now, for the crowd that always wants more detail. Here are some common terms you might see when comparing different t-shirt options:

Fabric Weight - eg. 5.3 oz/yd² (US) 8.8 oz/L yd (CA)

This is a measurement of the weight of the fabric used to create the shirt, not the weight of the shirt, this keeps the comparison consistent except that it is measured differently in the US verses Canada so make sure you are comparing apples to apples. The Canadian measurement is generally about 65% higher than the US measurement.

The heavier shirts (6 – 10 oz in Canada) will be more durable and warmer but also bulkier and stiffer. Lighter weight t-shirts are going to be softer, cooler, and be more pliable and drapey, but more prone to snags and may not last as long.

Fiber/Material Type

Most people are familiar with cotton and there are ranges of cotton. Your basic GOOD T-Shirt will be made from normal cotton fiber with minimal processing and will be stiffer and scratchier than other materials. This does tend to soften over time and washing.

You will also see ringspun cotton which means it has gone through a process to soften and straighten the fiber. When you see that a shirt is made with ringspun cotton, it will be lighter and softer than regular cotton. It is also a tighter knit which will make it more durable.

Polyester is light and flowy but will snag or tear easier than cotton. It tends to be specific to athletic wear and can look out of place when not doing something athletic.

That’s why most BETTER/BEST shirts will be a blend of 2 or more fibers. Many triblend shirts will have a small percentage of spandex or rayon that help to create stretch or vintage feel to shirts but can cause difficulties with certain decoration methods that use heat.

Singles

Singles refers to the diameter of the yarn used to weave the fabric which is determined by the number of times the fabric is twisted. The higher the number, the finer, softer and thinner the shirt.

Let’s look at how these work with an example. Gildan makes a number of entry level GOOD T-Shirts and they also have a Softstyle® version with would fit into the BETTER class.

• Gildan Heavy Cotton T-Shirt – 8.8 oz/L yd, 100% cotton, 20 singles
• Gildan Softstyle® T-Shirt – 7.2 oz/L yd, 100% ringspun cotton, 30 singles

As you can see, the Softstyle® shirt is a lower weight, made from ringspun cotton and has higher singles. All will combine to make this a softer, drapier fitting t-shirt. It will be more comfortable to wear but won’t last as long in industrial environments.