It’s a fashion staple. It’s been around forever. It’s a fan favorite. It’s the perfect white tee. But what exactly is the difference between a $5 white tee and a $125 white tee? The answer isn’t that straightforward. There are various factors involved. Everything from the manufacturing process, type of fabric, to the branding can have an effect on how much we pay.
Manufacturing
The country in which a T-shirt is manufactured, along with the labor required, is a determining factor in its cost. However, you may be surprised to know that the amount of labor involved is factored into the cost of a T-shirt much less than one would expect.
Margaret Bishop, a professor at Parsons School of Design at The New School and at The Fashion Institute of Technology recently stated in an interview, “Many people erroneously think the labor cost makes a big difference in the cost of a T-shirt, but the labor is a very small portion of the overall cost of the garment.” In fact, labor costs may be negligible, especially if the T-shirt is mass-produced.
“If we see how much an American is paid, even at the lowest minimum wage, if you convert that into Indian or Bangladeshi rupees, no one is paid that kind of money [in India or Bangladesh],” said Preeti Gopinath, associate professor of textiles and director of the MFA textile program at Parsons School of Design at The New School. “That’s like a king’s ransom already for the person overseas. They’re paid, in our equivalency, maybe a dollar or 50 cents, not even per T-shirt, but maybe per hour or per a few hours of work.”
The economy of scale also plays a role in figuring out the overall cost of a T-shirt. For example, if a company produces 10,000 shirts, it would be cheaper than producing only 10 shirts, Gopinath explained. If the same mass-produced shirt made in Bangladesh for $5 was made in the United States in a small batch (maybe 20), the cost of labor and the retail price would be much higher, she added.
We also tend to associate “Made in America” with higher prices, but according to Bishop, that doesn’t always need to be the case. In some of her research she found that people were able to produce T-shirts in the United States affordably while still making a profit.
When it comes to the country of manufacture, it affects the overall cost largely because of import duties and shipping costs, Bishop said. “Import duty on clothing is determined by the garment style, fiber content, and country of manufacture. If a T-shirt is manufactured in a country that has a free trade agreement with the United States, the import duty will be zero,” Bishop said. “That same T-shirt, manufactured in another country, could have an import duty of 20 percent or more, depending on the fiber content and country of manufacture.”
There are also shipping costs involved with sending T-shirts from other countries to the United States. Bishop said that shipping white T-shirts from China, Vietnam, Thailand or Bangladesh to the Unites States will cost more in time and money than shipping from Haiti, Mexico, or Central America.
Fabric
“Fabric is the largest cost component of most wearing apparel,” said Bishop in an article in HuffPost, adding that fiber “is the largest cost component of most fabric.”
Cotton is one of the most commonly used fabrics for basic white T-shirts. Higher grades of cotton will cost more than lower grades. Gopinath states that “the longer the fiber, the smoother the yarn will be. If the fiber is short, many short fibers twist together and you’ll have more joints in the yarn. The more joints, the more texture.”
Other factors regarding cotton must also be considered that will affect cost. Is it Sea Island cotton? Egyptian cotton? Pima cotton? Additionally, if elastane is added to the cotton for stretch and better recovery ability, that adds to the cost as well.
There are also branded fibers. This, of course, costs more than unbranded ones (similar to generic versus brand-name pharmaceuticals). Processes called carding and combing also add a cost to the final product. Carding cotton is the standard process of brushing fibers before twisting them into yarn. That can possibly be followed by combing, to eliminate any shorts bits in the yarn and gives the cotton a smooth finish, Gopinath explained. Combing leads to a smoother, higher-quality yarn that’s also more expensive.
Also, remember that cotton that is 100 percent organic will come with a higher price tag. Something that is made of a blend of cotton and a synthetic fabric, like polyester, on the other hand, will likely be cheaper, since polyester and other synthetic fabrics are cheaper fibers, Gopinath said.
It’s not necessarily true that a designer T-shirt will be made with the most expensive cotton available, but, as Bishop explained, “it’s more likely that if it’s a very low price, the quality is not going to be as good as it will be for many of the more expensive brands.”
Marketing
Typically, when it comes to fashion, brand names will always cost more. This is the case even when it comes to the coveted white tee. If you go to a fast-fashion retailer, you can expect to pay no more than $10 for a white T-shirt. But if you buy luxury goods from brands, you can expect to pay upwards of $340 for pack of three T-shirts.
“Each brand or retailer has its own overhead, its own profit margin requirements, and its own brand values,” Bishop said. “Some brands prioritize delivering a good quality product to its consumers at an affordable price, others prioritize creating brand buzz and status, and sometimes use high prices as a part of doing so.”
This doesn’t mean it’s always worth paying the big bucks for a T-shirt. According to Bishop, “You could have a very expensive brand that actually makes and sells low-quality product, and you could have a more affordable brand that sells very high-quality product.” In other cases, the higher price tag is warranted. For example, a company may use eco-friendly and sustainable processes to make T-shirts in small batches in the U.S. with a small ecological footprint. If those factors are important to you, pay the price.
Currently, there are brands like Everlane and Kotn that are attempting to bridge the gap between quality and affordability, without allowing unfair and unethical treatment in the manufacturing process. Benjamin Sehl, co-founder of Kotn, a clothing company offering cotton basics designed in Canada and made in Egypt, stated in an interview that if a consumer wants to take care of their garments and have them for a long time, they should invest in better quality pieces that are going to last and not fall apart in the wash. “The more people that see the value in better-quality garments, especially ones that are ethically made, the more they will vote with their dollars. Then brands will be motivated to take steps toward quality goods and ethical practices, Sehl said. He admitted that it can be difficult for a consumer to determine whether an expensive T-shirt is better than a cheaper one, but he encouraged everyone to do a little research into their go-to brands.
Bishop provided some tips on what to look for when shopping for quality, too. If you hold the fabric up to the light, the yarn is generally much more uniform and smooth in a high-quality fabric. You can also train your fingertips to feel the fabric. A nice quality T-shirt should feel smoother, she said.
Searching for the perfect white t-shirt may come with challenges and determining how much to spend is likely one such challenge. But possessing a garment that’s a blank canvas for most everything in your closet makes the hunt worth the chase.
