Placing an order for custom apparel can feel daunting when you aren’t familiar with the products available. What if you don’t select the right size for your group? What if the garment doesn’t feel how you expect? What if the color doesn’t match what you see on the site?
It’s even more difficult when you’re faced with a dozen nearly identical products from different brands. For example, the most well-known brand of garment-dyed garments is Comfort Colors, which has been a major player since 1995. But today, there are countless alternatives from brands like Hanes, Port & Co., and Cotton Heritage.
So which one should you choose?
If you’re asking these questions, you’re not alone. We’ve heard them from customers placing custom screen-printed and embroidered orders for the last 30 years!
At BlueCotton, we’re on a mission to help you feel confident in your selection before you place your custom order. So today, we’re providing a full rundown of our top garment-dyed brands so you can make the best choice for your group.
What Is a Garment-Dyed Shirt?
You might be familiar with “piece-dyed” shirts, which is where rolls of fabric are colored before actually constructing the garment, which helps with cost and provides a more uniform color across all garments. So this is what you’ll want when you’re aiming for those true red, royal, or green colors. Think sports team colors!
Garment-dyed shirts, on the other hand, are assembled as a complete garment in their natural color (often white). Only then is the shirt actually dyed, which ends up creating some variation in the look of the stitching and seams. As a result, the full run doesn’t come out perfectly uniform—but that’s part of the appeal. These variations end up creating a sort of vintage, worn-in look and feel. It also means that the color isn’t as vibrant or true in color as piece-dyed garments.
Note that you’ll often hear the term “pigment-dyed” when talking about garment-dyed shirts. Pigment dyeing is one of the most common methods used in garment dyeing, which is why the terms are often used interchangeably.
At a Glance
| Feature | Comfort Colors 1717 | Port & Co Beach Wash PC099 | ComfortWash by Hanes GDH100 | Cotton Heritage OU1690 |
| Fabric Weight | Heavyweight | Lightweight | Midweight | Mid-lightweight |
| Overall Feel | Soft, broken-in | Soft, lightweight | Soft, smooth | Soft, premium |
| Look & Aesthetic | Cozy, classic, lived-in | Washed, beachy, relaxed | Clean, traditional | Modern, retail |
| Fit Style | Size up one size | Traditional / True-to-size | Traditional / true-to-size | Modern, slightly fitted |
| Unisex Appeal | Excellent | Very good | Excellent | Better for fashion-forward audiences |
| Vintage Wash Level | Strongest | Moderate | Moderate | Light-to-moderate |
| Durability | Very high | Moderate | High | High |
| Printing Results | Bold, long-lasting | Soft, tonal look | Clean, crisp | Retail-quality finish |
| Why Customers Choose It | Comfort + longevity | Instant softness | Polished consistency | Stylish silhouette |
We tested these shirts with two models as well as an internal review. Max is 5’5” and typically wears a small. Maddie is 5’9” and can wear a small but usually selects a medium. Check out the try-on video to see how each style looks on a real person.
A Note on Tubular vs. Side Seam Construction
Before we break down each shirt, it’s important to mention one of the key differences you’ll see among our selections.
T-shirts constructed with side seams are more of what you’ll find in a retail setting, and it’s where four pieces of fabric are brought together to create the garment. These styles carry a more tailored, finished look and can range from women’s styles to more slim retail fits.
Tubular T-shirts are made by slicing into a tube of fabric (which becomes the body of the garment), and then sleeves are sewn on. This reduces the amount of time needed to construct the garment, making this process less expensive for the manufacturer. However, it creates a one-size-fits-all type of garment, usually with a boxy fit.
If you’re not sure which style you prefer, look through your T-shirt drawer for some of your favorite styles to see whether they’re made with side seams.
Port & Co PC099
Color Options: The PC099 Beach Wash Tee is available in 43 unisex color options, including 20 youth colors. These colors are the most vibrant of the garment-dyed styles we compared, but not as true as piece-dyed styles.
Weight, Feel & Construction: This is a tubular, midweight shirt at 5.5 ounces per square yard, but it feels lightweight compared to the other styles. Both of our models commented on the soft hand-feel of the garment, which seems atypical of most vintage-style brands. To the eye, this style has the smoothest surface, which will enhance the quality of your screen-printed design.
Fit: Our models felt that this option was the most true-to-size fit. Max (5’5”, male) chose the small in this style with plenty of room in the shoulders and chest. Maddie (5’9”, female) stuck with the medium but noted it had more room. Note that the collar on this shirt is wider than the rest of the styles.
Hanes ComfortWash GDH100
Color Options: The Hanes ComfortWash GDH100 is the newest kid on the garment-dyed block! This style is offered in 46 color options for adults and 19 color options for kids.
Weight, Feel & Construction: At a midweight 5.5 ounces per square yard, this tubular shirt is soft to the touch, though more textured than the Port & Co and Cotton Heritage styles.
Fit: Max and Maddie both selected medium sizes here. They noted that the sleeves were longer, and the fabric felt more textured, which is generally what you’d want for this style. The body length is a little longer than other options, so if you’re going for a boxy look, you’d need to cut some of the length off.
Cotton Heritage OU1690
Color Options: This style is offered in 22 colors for adult sizes only. Of the four brands we tested, the color options for this style had the least vintage look, but they were still very nice. The purple here was the lightest shade of the ones we tested.
Weight, Feel & Construction: This style is a midweight, 5.5 ounces per square yard that’s a tighter weave with more substance to the touch — yet still very soft. This garment stands out as the most finished with a side seam construction.
Fit: Like the Port & Co and ComfortWash, this style fits true to size with good room in the sleeves, chest, and torso. The collar is comparable to Comfort Colors in shape and thickness. This shirt is more of a retail fit and tapers down, so if you like more room to make it boxy or want to wear it with leggings, we suggest sizing up to get a good flow through the bottom of the tee.
Comfort Colors 1717
Color Options: The OG of pigment-dyed apparel, the 1717 Unisex Heavy-Weight T-shirt comes in 67 colors, including 30 in youth styles.
Weight, Feel & Construction: At 6.1 ounces per square yard, this tubular style falls into the heavyweight category, making it slightly denser than its counterparts. This means that it will have a substantial feel to the touch as a more durable fabric that’s meant for long-term use. Of the four styles offered by BlueCotton, this has the most textured look, but the feel is still soft and similar to the others.
Fit: Of the four pigment-dyed styles, this was the shortest and smallest fit, so size up by one to make it more true to size. For example, with broad shoulders, Max found the small to be very fitted across the shoulders, so he chose the medium for more room. Maddie has a long torso, so while she could wear a small, the length of the medium worked out better here. Note that the sleeves here are significantly shorter than all other styles.
Picking the Best Garment-Dyed Shirts for Custom Apparel
So, which one is best for your order? Well, we held each of these garments while blindfolded, and to the touch, you wouldn’t be able to tell one from the other. Each one is made with quality fabric and has a soft hand.
The choice, then, comes down to preference on fit, style, and pricing.
- Comfort Colors is a short and boxy fit with the most color options available and has been a consistent brand for several decades. However, it’s also the most expensive.
- Port & Co fits very true to size and is the most affordable option, but the quality of their garment-dyed shirt is impressive nonetheless.
- ComfortWash by Hanes looks the most comparable to Comfort Colors with a lower price tag. However, note that the body and sleeve length are longer than other options.
- Cotton Heritage uses side seams for the sleekest look, both in color and fit. It’s on the higher end of pricing, but it’s a great option for a more elevated casual look.
Overall, you can’t go wrong with any of these options!