We just don’t give a damn.
It’s the cold hard truth.
That shirt you are wearing right now, do you know anything about it?
Where it was sourced, who made it, or even the company’s overall mission?
99% of the men reading this, I suspect not…
…and that’s completely ok.
To be quite honest, the shirt I was wearing yesterday, I have no idea either…
…I can tell you it was soft, comfortable, and a private label brand from Urban Outfitters (BDG).
But that’s it.
The only reason why I know even that little shred of information is because I bought 5 of them at once…
Why?
Because I really liked both the feel and the fit of this particular line of tee’s.
Truth be told…I bought them when I was fresh out of college…
…and now they really need to get an update.
Today, I want to share with you a new brand I tried out – Everlane.
But instead of just telling you to simply go buy their shirts (which you should), we are going dive deep into the following:
- A review of their men’s Air Crew tee (and what makes them so great)
- The company itself
- Shipping/return policies
- Discount/promo codes
- Finally, if they are worth the price
Before we fully get started, a little disclosure notice (because it’s important):
Everlane did not contact me prior to writing this article.
I have no family or friends that work at Everlane.
I paid for this shirt myself – it wasn’t sent to me.
Here’s the proof:
Yes, $22
And yes, the shipping was free (a promo they have for first time customers):
Now I do have an affiliate relationship with Everlane (which just about every publisher, social media influencer, etc. has with companies nowadays). This means that I do receive a few pennies (really, it’s not much) if you click on a link like this one, and make a purchase.
Now if you return the shirt, because you thought it was bad, my pennies get sent back to Everlane and I make nothing – it’s a pretty fair deal.
Now that we got the administrative jargon out of the way, let’s get on to the good stuff – and start reviewing their men’s tee:
Everlane Unboxing
Now, I’ll keep this section short – after all, we are reviewing a t-shirt for god sake, not an iPhone.
Packaging on the Everlane tee is super simple – just a no-frills flat envelope:
Inside, you have your new shirt wrapped in plastic, along with a bi-fold with the billing, return, and gift exchange details:
That’s it – super simple stuff going on here – but nevertheless, an upgrade from your multi-pack Fruit of the Loom’s or whatever you may have been buying previously.
Everlane Men’s Tee Reviewed
For this review I am going over the Air Crew Tee – I found it to be similar to the BDG tee I was wearing previously and it was the exact color I was looking for.
When reviewing a tee thoroughly, you need to look at the 3 Fs – fabric, feel, and fit.
First the fabric:
This shirt is made from 100% cotton.
Making it highly breathable and a fabric that isn’t too demanding.
As you can see here, this shirt doesn’t require special care and can be thrown in the washer and dryer with the rest of your clothes:
I kinda botched this photo, but to translate for those who have a hard time reading from the picture above, it states the following:
- Machine Wash Cold With Like Colors
- Only Non-Chlorine Bleach When Needed
- Tumble Dry Low
- Cool Iron If Needed.
- Medium 100% Cotton
- Made in Vietnam (more on this in a minute)
Now onto the feel.
One of the things with cheap t-shirts that absolutely drives me nuts is that once you wash it, it just gets obliterated (coincidentally this is also voids the return policy too).
In most cases, the shirt goes in feeling great, but once it’s out of the dryer, it feels like sandpaper (even when fabric softener is used)!
After giving this shirt a test drive in the washer and dryer (and of course following the care instructions), it came out feeling as soft as it went in.
It was a complete win here and nearly seals the deal of being my go-to tee going forward…
…that is until we evaluate the fit.
Alright, so a few things for starters.
I am 5’8”, 154 lbs and carry quite a bit of weight around the midsection (although my New Year’s Resolution has been treating me well thus far).
So, shirts tend to always look a fair bit puffy around my stomach – hey, we all can’t be perfect.
But here’s how the shirt looked on me before washing (directly from the packaging):
And here it is from the sides and back:
Out of the box its not to too bad of a fit.
The back bunches up just slightly, however my slightly larger stomach tends to offset that from the front – so if I could just get rid of that little bit of extra weight, I am confident that the shirt would fit perfectly.
And to see how things look when you are not standing with just arms to the side, here is a stretch test with my arms above my head:
And with my arms out to my side:
Overall really good – my stomach isn’t hanging out, nor is the shirt bunching or stretching in any uncomfortable places.
But these pictures were taken before washing, how does this shirt hold up (fit wise) once it goes through the wash?
Couple of quick notes:
These pics were taken +1 day later (ran out of time the previous day).
And I didn’t iron the shirt (I suspect most men reading this don’t iron their tee’s prior to wearing either), so these were natural wrinkles from the dryer.
Along with the sides + back:
The biggest change I saw in this shirt was during the stretch test:
There was just a little bit of shrinkage that occurred with the fabric (as evident on stomach and arms).
So take this into account when purchasing.
Lastly, we want to note that the collar of the shirt didn’t bunch up and still laid flat after washing – no bacon neck here folks!
To help get an accurate measurement, Everlane does provide the following sizing chart to ensure that you find the right fit for you (you can find these on each one of their product detail pages):
So, take a minute with some tailor’s measuring tape and a friend/significant other and confirm your measurements.
This way you won’t have to worry about exchanges or refunds down the road.
Review Of Everlane As A Company
At the start of this article I posed a few questions to get you thinking about the clothes you wear.
Not just how they look, but rather the company behind them.
It’s corporate stewardship that sets Everlane apart from most.
Now sure, it might sound cheesy that you are buying a basic tee for a cause – but Everlane here begins to blur the line between being a charity and a business (although they are still a business at the end of the day).
Here’s what they do a bit differently:
First their mission is simple – radical transparency.
From ethical factories to completely transparent pricing, you can see how Everlane runs their business.
In fact, we were able to look up the shirt we received and see actual pictures of the factory where it was made – which is really cool and worth checking out if you have an extra minute.
When it comes to pricing, Everlane is fairly transparent (they don’t offer breakdowns for every single garment) but do provide a general idea of what it costs vs. what they charge for their clothing.
As an example on their About page, here is a look at how much it costs to make their Cashmere Crew:
As we eluded to earlier, they are still a business at the end of the day and net $58 per sweater (the above graph doesn’t account for other overhead expenses such as property, customer acquisition, etc.).
Beyond fair working conditions and prices, Everlane does push the envelope in a couple of other areas that we were happy to learn about.
First, their Black Friday Fund.
Every Black Friday Everlane closes their US based Factories and donates their profits (very similar to what REI does) to a specific cause – this previous year (2018) it was to the Surfrider Foundation (which works to remove plastic off the beaches).
We saw in previous years they raised money to provide helmets to every one of their factory workers when going to and from work, free meals to all their workers, profit sharing with those who work at the factory, and even launching wellness programs.
Overall, it’s great to see a company that cares about the people who are putting in the hours and sweat to make their clothes, instead of making them work in dismal and hazardous conditions.
While the holidays may be behind us (or ahead of us – depends on when you are reading this), if you hold off to buy a few things on Black Friday, know that you are also doing good by helping out.
But beyond just a single day of the year, Everlane also recently launched their ReNew line of clothes.
These are clothes that are made from recycled plastic (yes, you read that right).
In addition, they are committed from removing virgin plastic from their entire supply chain by 2021 – an ambitious feat that we wish them luck in!
Everlane Shipping & Return Policy
If there was any sticking point with Everlane it would be their shipping and return policy.
As we write this, Everlane does provide free shipping for new customers – however, after that, you will have to pay $4.95 for Economy shipping – which is pretty pricey if you plan on picking up just a single tee.
To make things a bit worse, if you aren’t thrilled about either the fabric, feel, or fit – you have the option to exchange (for free) or pay $6 to get a refund to your credit card / PayPal (this is damn steep).
The best recommendation that we can make here is that you either put in a large order and only keep a few things you want or to double check your measurements to ensure that they are in line with the Everlane sizing chart.
Just be aware that it will cost you to get your money back.
Everlane Retail Locations
There is one way to get around the refund fee with Everlane, and that is to visit one of their two retail locations and make a return.
With stores in NYC (28 Prince St.) or San Francisco (461 Valencia St.) – you can browse their entire line and try a few things on before you buy.
Everlane Deals & Promo Codes
When taking a look at our own inbox, we can see that Everlane regularly sends out emails promoting various deals (free shipping, choose what you pay, etc.):
Now this screenshot was a look at their holiday promotions, so the frequency of emails you receive likely won’t be nearly as high when shopping in an off season.
In addition to regular deals, Everlane also has an invite a friend program where you will receive $25 after they make their first purchase.
This means that after your first purchase, you can basically get a free shirt for every friend you refer.
Final Thoughts On Everlane
Overall, if you are looking for a new shirt, we really think you can’t go wrong with Everlane.
Their tee feels great and fits pretty well (note: their cashmere crew sweater was also among one of the best men’s sweaters we reviewed).
While we wish their refund policy was a bit more lenient, we understand that they are already selling clothes at a far greater discount than what their peers charge – unfortunately that leads to the customers eating the cost when getting a refund.
But beyond the tee, we really dig all that Everlane does for their factory workers and the environment.
With more and more companies like Everlane taking corporate stewardship seriously, this is a trend that I think we can all get behind – especially when the quality of the product isn’t at all compromised.
So, when you buy a shirt from Everlane, know that you are purchasing from a company that isn’t horrible and wants to make the world a little bit better of a place.