Everlane T-Shirt Falls Apart!
I only kept track of what clothes I wore on our recent trip for 5 of the 7-8 weeks we were away, but that’s still a good amount of data to look at. There are the obvious winners: my running shoes came in at 27 wears, and my fleece the same; my parka also came in at 27 wears as might be expected. But the biggest surprise for me was my pink cashmere sweater getting a total of 28 wears, many of them purely over my pajamas around the apartment (especially on days I didn’t get dressed to leave the apartment). The fluffy slipper socks that Matt gave me were also key to my convalescence, coming in at a solid 22 wears. Other strong leaders were my gym clothes, all proving essential over the 6-day workout week, and my scarf and hat which became utterly necessary as temperatures dropped. My boots and sneakers were both equally vital, and the same goes for all of my pants- excluding the black men’s dress pants. I only wore them twice, once to opening night, and I think that was mostly because I was saving them for that occasion (I didn’t want to have to wash them and possibly ruin them in doing so). My T-shirts were mostly all worn in rotation, though I found myself less keen on wearing the thicker, higher-necked ASOS ones.
And then there was the pink Everlane T-shirt failure. I was excited to have a new T-Shirt that wasn’t navy blue or black, and I wore it twice before it completely fell apart. And I mean that literally. The third time since buying it that I put the pink “Air Tee” on, the hem snagged, and, no joke, unravelled about four inches of hem completely. What really shocked me was that if I continued to pull at the thread, the entire hem would come completely undone. Now, I’m a sewing novice, but I do know that you never sew a hem with any kind of stitch that pulls out completely when snagged. That would be ridiculous, since the garment would have zero durability or longevity. But Everlane, with their “ethically sourced” labor, apparently never figured this out. I have cheap Old Navy T-shirts that have lasted me years at the gym, as pajamas, or otherwise. Never in my life have I had a hem unravel from one of them. Yet here is this $25 T-shirt from this much-hyped, sustainable, ethical company that lasted exactly two wears and is now actual garbage. How is that sustainable? And what well-paid garment worker would ever stitch a hem like that? Now, I was never impressed with the quality of the fabric. It didn’t feel like the 100% cotton the tag claimed, but more like a synthetic fiber. It wasn’t particularly soft, and just felt cheap. But with the reputation of the brand being one that sells “quality” items that last a long time, I was still sorely disappointed when the shirt disintegrated after only one washing. Phew.
Moving on, I definitely could have gotten away with three sweaters instead of four, and three pajama pants instead of four. And while my raincoat only made a handful of appearances, it was really nice to have it when it was pouring (my parka isn’t waterproof). I even layered it over my parka a couple of times when it was very cold.
I could have gone with two bras/bralettes instead of four for sure, and my green corduroy shirt only came in handy three times. But overall, I think my packing was shockingly successful. Oh, wait, the socks. I could have left those six pairs of skinny socks behind—as it got colder, I wore the thicker ones even with Adidas sneakers. But aside from that, yes, shockingly successful. With all that hauling around of my suitcase, I was quite sure that I had overpacked. But even the items that weren’t worn a lot still seemed necessary. There were even a few days when it was so cold in the apartment that I borrowed one of Matt’s hoodies to wear over my pink sweater. I guess I could have just layered on another sweater in a pinch, but the hoodie was oversized and comfortable and available.
So let’s see: if I hadn’t brought the ASOS T-shirts or the Everlane one, if I’d brought one fewer sweater, one fewer pair of pajama pants, two fewer bralettes, and no green corduroy shirt, would that have saved me some weight? A bit. But I wasn’t too far off. Nothing went unworn, except the Everlane T-shirt.