Every Insignee tee is a Comfort Colors 1717. People ask about it more than anything else, so here is what the words on the label mean and why we chose it over the hundreds of blanks we could have used.
Garment-dyed, not piece-dyed
Most t-shirts are piece-dyed: the fabric is dyed as a long roll, then cut and sewn. Garment-dyed shirts are sewn first in natural cotton and dyed afterwards, as finished garments. Two things follow from that.
First, the shirt has already been through a hot, wet process before you buy it, so most of the shrinkage has happened. What you try on is close to what you will own after ten washes.
Second, the dye settles unevenly into seams and folds, which gives each shirt a slightly lived-in, vintage tone instead of a flat factory colour. No two are identical. Over time the colour softens a little further, which is why old garment-dyed tees look better than old piece-dyed ones rather than worse.
What heavyweight means
Fabric weight is measured in ounces per square yard or grams per square metre. A typical fashion tee is 4 to 5 oz (about 140 to 170 gsm). The 1717 is 6.1 oz, roughly 200 gsm. You feel the difference immediately: it drapes rather than clings, it does not go sheer in bright light, and it holds its shape at the collar and hem.
Heavyweight is also what makes embroidery work. Dense stitching on a thin tee puckers the fabric around it. On 6.1 oz cotton the icon sits flat and the shirt around it stays smooth.
Ring-spun cotton
Ring-spinning twists and thins the cotton fibres into a finer, stronger yarn than standard open-end spinning. The result is a smoother surface and a softer hand. Combined with garment dyeing, it is why the 1717 feels broken-in on the first wear instead of after the first month.
How the 1717 fits
Relaxed and slightly boxy, with dropped shoulders and a mid-length sleeve. It is a classic 90s silhouette, not a slim cut. If you normally wear a slim tee and want the same look here, size down one. If you like a bit of room, take your usual size. Sizes run S to 4XL and the shirt is unisex. Exact chest and length measurements in centimetres are on every product page.
What it is not
It is not a technical fabric. It is 100% cotton, so it will not wick sweat like a gym shirt and it will crease if you leave it in a bag. It is a shirt for wearing, not for performance.
Caring for it
Wash inside out at 30 °C, tumble dry low or hang. That protects both the dye and the embroidery. The full routine is in how to wash an embroidered t-shirt.
Colours
We stock the colours that work best with a single embroidered icon: Ivory, White, Black, True Navy and a rotating set of muted tones. See them all on any tee, for example the Sailboat in Black or the Peony in Ivory.
If you are still deciding between embroidery and print, read embroidered vs printed t-shirts first.