Calvin Klein Men's Cotton Classics Short Sleeve V-Neck T-Shirt

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This review is long overdue. It’s coming from someone who has worn these as undershirts or lounging around shirts nearly every day for at least the last 15 years. These used to be awesome shirts, primarily because they were made in Egypt and of Egyptian cotton. They felt great from the get go and became even more comfortable over time with repeated washings. The quality and longevity was excellent. I often lament not stocking up on those old CK shirts when they were available. It was pretty much the best undershirt money could buy, and fairly reasonably priced, retailing at about $36-$40 for a 3-pack. Flash forward from then to a few years ago, much has changed, all of it for the worse. First and foremost, the shirts are no longer made of Egyptian cotton but are instead made in Bangladesh or Haiti out of far inferior cotton. Secondly, the silk-screened text below the collar chips off after a few washes. Thirdly, the collar itself is narrow and flimsy, and it gets mangled up after the first few washes. Due to that, these are now only useable as undershirts, unless you don’t mind walking around with mangled collars. The sewing of the collar to the garment has also been drastically cheapened. The Egyptian shirt collars were wide, attractive, of excellent quality, double-stitched to the shirt and never got mangled, even after many years of wear and washings. The cost has remained roughly the same as the Egyptian shirts. For whatever it’s worth, the consensus seems to be that the Bangladesh shirts are of better quality than the Haitian ones. I’ve bought these from Amazon a few times over the last year or so and have always gotten the Bangladesh ones. Why do I still buy these shirts at all? Because, unfortunately, they’re still more comfortable than Hanes, Jockey and seemingly most other of the usual suspects. Better undershirts are surely available if one is willing to spend at least $30/shirt and possibly a lot more, which I am not. Why did CK ruin this iconic garment that let them figuratively print money? I can say almost for sure it’s because some complete (insert your favorite insult) senior executive realized that they could compromise the garment quality drastically while still remaining better than the competition. Unfortunately, I cannot deny that that is a correct realization. Consequently, they were able to keep the price the same while drastically cutting their manufacturing cost. Most consumers will be ignorant to all of the above, and the few who aren’t, will quickly realize that this shirt is still a competitive and reasonable option, despite the drastic downgrade for the same price. CK, I’m calling you out. If I’ve misstated anything above and you are not, in fact, a shamefully greedy bunch of frauds who screwed over your loyal patrons and ruined the best mass-market undershirt ever created for a cause no more honorable than further enriching your already embarrasingly flush pockets, I enthusiastically invite you to respond to this review and set the record straight.

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I purchased two sets of these shirts, one set in Nov 2014 and one in Apr 2015. The first set was made in Haiti and, after nearly 11 months, has experienced only slight shrinkage and the shirts are showing their wear with one beginning to separate at the collar. The second set which was made in Bangladesh, after nearly 6 months, still fits and looks like new and has not shrunk at all. Both are very comfortable. Note: I wash my t-shirts with an HE detergent at a setting of Warm/Cold. Over the last few years I have bought a lot of shirts that have been made in many countries. In my experience the best material, fit, and overall quality has been with those made in Thailand, Vietnam, and Bangladesh. The worst have come from Haiti and India. I have also had good luck with those made in Mexico and Central America. Looking at the reviews for these shirts I tend to believe the different experiences are related to the origin of the shirts. I will order more and, if they are from a country that I have had poor success with, I will return them. I would do the same buying at a physical store. Bottom line: CK makes good shirts but the level of quality is dependent on where they are actually made for CK. I hope this is helpful to others.

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Dont buy this product. It is not Authentic. If It was not made in Haiti, dont buy it. I have worn these for many years, and normally love them. I usually buy them from the Calvin Klein Outlet, department stores, Nordstrom Racks, etc. The material is very thin, not like the original ones. It didnt fit right, and was snug. Im returning it. I read a review before that said if it was from Indonesia, it is not the authentic one. Even the tag on it was different, and it had a Calvin Klein label on the front bottom that the authentic ones dont have. I guess I will have to go to the department store and buy them.

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Not certain how to rate this, but I wanted to warn others. Be cautious, Amazon seems to be shipping the Classic Fit instead of the pictured Slim Fit version of this T shirt. Based upon the reviews others have posted, I am not the only one this has happened to. If you zoom in on the product photo, you will see CK labels the shirt with Slim Fit. That matches the slim fit shirts I already own, purchased at a CK outlet. That is not what Amazon shipped. Not certain if it is a packaging issue with CK, or a shipping issue with Amazon. (I foolishly discarded the packaging without double checking the fit) The shirts I received measure larger then the other CK slim fits I already own, and again they are not labeled slim fit on the shirt. An additional data point that may or may not be relevant: the true slim ones I own are made in Haiti, the ones Amazon shipped are from Bangladesh. If you receive the actual slim fit version, I would rate it 4 stars. I find a medium to be a good fit under a slim fitting dress shirt. I am 5 8", 16" neck, 40" chest, 32" waist for comparison. The material is thin, which I like under a dress shirt. I would personally not wear it on its own as a casual V-neck (too thin). I hope this helps.

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UPDATE: These are not the same t-shirts sold. They all shrunk on the first wash and I can barely put them on anymore. Id like to return them but I missed the return window. AGAIN.. STEER CLEAR. these are very tight shirts after the first wash, more like a medium. I bought these a few years back from the same seller and the new ones are different. I like them more. a more silky feel to them. same great fit, and with a calvin klein graphic on the lower left of the shirt. No tags to scratch your back. Nice low cut so the shirt doesnt show when youre wearing a button down shirt (I find it tacky to have an undershirt showing with a button down shirt). I primarily use an undershirt to capture sweat so it doesnt dirty my work shirts and I get more uses out of work shirts between washes. In my opinion white shirts have a shorter lifespan due to looking off white while black seems to only fade a bit with time. The new fabric is more polyester blend over their older more cotton blend. Time will tell on how these will age. They went up a couple bucks in price per shirt as well. I almost got fruit of the loom tshirts this time around. so glad I cancelled that order. These fit great and I think theyll last longer so its worth a couple bucks more per shirt. Im the kind of guy that finds a fit and style I like.. then I load up. I get a ton of these as well as carhart black socks.. they are the best socks in my opinion to buy in bulk hahah tip from me to you.. these two items go really good together for a muted undershirt wardrope.. now If I could just find black underwear that fits well..

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