Back in September of last year, I got word that Gildan had introduced a line of undershirts and underwear at Walmart. The new Gildan Platinum undershirt series differs from the Gildan Premium undershirts I wrote about prior, so let’s dig in.
More recently Gildan’s PR team reached out to me to share news of their new retail brand of undershirts & underwear and also shared some underwear & undershirt videos which reenact some of their blind fabric tests:
You may not be familiar with the Gildan name, but take a look at your t-shirts, and there’s bound to be a Gildan label among them for the shirt you received for running a race or walking along a pub crawl.
As the world’s largest manufacturer of t-shirts (half-billion annually), Gildan has branched out to create a retail brand of underwear, and it did so knowing that it had to pull down the pants of the two big names in briefs: Hanes and Fruit of the Loom.
Gildan conducted a blind fabric preference test to see which underwear cotton consumers liked best.
Obviously, Gildan underwear came out on top, otherwise we wouldn’t have created the two commercials below:
Gildan Platinum Undershirt vs. Premium Product Lines
One thing I wanted to point first, is that the Gildan Platinum line undershirts have several differences from the Gildan Premium series they offer at Walmart.
Here’s a quick comparison between the two:
| Gildan Platinum | Gildan Premium |
| 5 or 6 pack | 4 or 5 pack |
| $28.00 | $9.97 |
| 100% Premium Ringspun Cotton | 100% Cotton |
| Tagless | Tagless |
| Gildan Undershirt Model: G1100PLMDWHTP6 | Model: GIL11002XWHTP4W, and GIL1100SMWHTP5W |
| UPC: 883096195276 | UPC: ? |
| Cotton USA Branded | Unknown |
Not exactly sure why the brand is offering different pack sizes of undershirts for the same price, but clearly there is a difference between the Gildan Platinum undershirts (what I received) and Premium Line based on the big price difference.
My guess is that the Premium pieces are made with carded cotton and the Platinum products are made with combed cotton, which is softer and smoother than carded cotton.
Also, the Platinum Undershirts are branded with Cotton USA which means the undershirts are made with at least 50% USA-grown cotton.
Not sure that alone would justify the $2 per undershirt versus $4.66 per undershirt price difference, but maybe.
The other thing I found unusual was that the Gildan Platinum Undershirts and Underwear could only be purchased at three online retailers, (a) Kohls, (b) Amazon and (b) Boscov’s.
Besides, all these websites are selling them at a 30% – 40% off discount.
When I see discounts that deep, I automatically think the undershirt line is in the process of being discontinued.
Dunno what to make of it, but I guess time will tell.
Gildan Platinum T-Shirt Photos
Tank Top Undershirts (Platinum Line) 
Crew Neck Gildan Platinum Undershirt
V Neck T-Shirts (Platinum Line)
The Good
- Overall good fit. Cut slimmer so it’s not too boxy fitting and not too loose or too tight either.
- Good first wearing impression. Fabric feels good right out of the package because it has very little scratchiness.
- Cotton stretches nicely so the undershirt doesn’t feel to tight even though it’s closer fitting.
- Gildan platinum undershirts have proper longer length for tucking.
- Sleeve length is about as good as you can get, which is not too short and not too long. Will not give you sleeve sprouts.
- Crew neck fits close, but not tight fitting.
- Seamless / tubular body with no side seams.
- Construction looks good and shoulder taping further adds a nice finishing touch.
The Not So Good
- On close inspection, the surface of the fabric has a bunch of tiny balls on it (pills / pilling), though, these may wash off after a few laundering.
- Sleeve opening / width is a hair wide.
- Doesn’t actually stay tucked. While I noted above the undershirt is longer for tucking, when I wore it for the the day, it really didn’t stay tucked. To be honest, it wasn’t really a big deal that it came untucked a bit, but I thought I’d mention it.
- It is unknown how deep the v-neck Gildan undershirt is. I only tested crew neck, but in the photos above, the v-neck does not look too deep. Which means, that the collar line would be visible with a couple buttons of your outside shirt undone (assuming it had buttons of course).
Final Thoughts
Honestly, even at $4.66 per undershirt, you really can’t go wrong with this well fitting and good feeling undershirt.
The fact that you can get them, at least for now, for $3.33 each or lower, makes this an amazing value that you really shouldn’t pass up.
Therefore, I’d recommend heading on over to one of those online stores I mentioned above and stock up on this very respectable value-price Gildan Platinum undershirt.
where can yiu purchase platium white t shirt for men
After randomly buying the Platinum shirts for the first time, I loved them so much that I ordered as many as I could possibly afford, just in case they stopped selling them. It’s my perfect white undershirt that I wear virtually 24/7 :)
(I did like Banana Republic’s shirt more, but for…$30?…a pop, no thanks)
I bought both lines of Gildan t-shirts and hate them both. The sleeve and bottom hem are too thin and never lay flat. The sleeves are too short. I think this shirt is design around a more portly person. The worst of all is the fabric.
heya t, thanks for stopping by and commenting about your gildan undershirt experience.
can i ask — are you trying to wear them as t-shirts (alone) or undershirts (underneath a shirt)?
because, an undershirt should have shorter sleeves, be cut longer, and be thinner than an t-shirt.
Thanks for the info.
One of my t-shirt printers will soon be replacing their Gildan with Fruit of the Loom. What are your thoughts on this?
I advertise and use American Apparel and Gildan. I feel that most customers view Fruit of the Loom as an undershirt or underwear rather than as a true tee.
This particular printer company informed me that Fruit of the Loom was much higher in quality than Gildan.
Your feedback will be appreciated.
Thanks, Lou
heya lou, thanks for stopping by and posting your question about fruit of the loom tees.
so, fotl has a “blanks” (or decorated apparel) division/team just like gildan, hanes, etc. the garments / tees that they sell though that group are thicker than the items (tees) they sell as undershirts in major chains around the world.
generally speaking there is a difference between t-shirts and undershirts. the main differences are that undershirts are lighter and longer than t-shirts.
anything over 150gsm and cut shorter would likely be considered a guys t-shirt. though, that’s not a hard fast rule, it’s just a general observation.
oh, also — i checked out your website. pretty funny man — seems like you’re pretty good with photoshop (: