The wait is over! Today I’m going to review the 100% Combed Cotton Undershirt from Campbellsville Apparel.
But before I do, I wanted to mention that I also ordered their 100% Moisture Wicking Polyester T-Shirt (Sand Color) at the same time and I’ll be reviewing that one as well in the coming days. Let me tell you in advance, that’s it’s going to be a review you definitely don’t want to miss! So stay tuned and be sure to tell all your friends too.
The thing that attracted me to this company (and their shirts) was the fact that they have been the largest supplier of undershirts and underwear briefs to the United States military services since 2002. They decided to offer the same field tested shirts to the general public. I figured if it’s good enough for the military, it’s plenty good for me. We’ll see about that, right?
I placed my online order with them on May 26th and shortly after, I received the following email:
Your order will be shipped out within 6-10 business days. You can always review the status of your order by e-mailing us at Returns&[email protected]. Please make sure you have your order confirmation number when you contact us.
I highlighted 6-10 business days because I was surprised that it would take that amount of time actually to “ship out” my order. I think what they meant was that I would “receive” my order within 6-10 business days, because based on the UPS tracking number I got off the box, they shipped my order on on May 27th (two days after my order) and I received it a few days later on June 2nd.
Before I start the undershirt review, I wanted to say that I was a little disappointed that their ordering system did not send me any updates about my order’s shipping status or the tracking number of the package. Not that I couldn’t have emailed them to find out, it’s just that I think it’s the responsibility of the online merchant to provide timely updates to their customers, not the other way around. In my opinion, a consumer should never wonder what the status of their order is. Ok, I’ll move on now :)
The shipment came in a sturdy cardboard box and the shirts themselves were folded neatly and packaged in a sealed, very “patriotic”, clear polybag as pictured here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not mocking the stars-and-stripes packaging — actually, I really like it. Go USA!
I tried on the medium sized crewneck undershirt and found it to fit well overall. The shirt fits especially good in the shoulders and arms for me because of its 5.25″ long shoulder strap and not to long 7.75″ sleeve length. The shoulder stitching aligns right on top of my collar bone (about 1″ forward of my shoulder line), which is a pleasant surprise. Personally, I like it when the shoulder seam is slightly more forward vs. sitting directly on the shoulder line. I think it looks and feels better. The shirt fits good around my arms, torso, waist and hips and is cut extra long so the bottom sits approximately 10″ below my waistline. Nice flat 1″ wide collar as well — I do like these wider collars. Manufacturing is spot-on, but I would expect nothing less from a company who manufactures in the good ol’ U. S. of A.
I ran the bunch of shirts through the wash, following the care instructions, and found the shirt to shrink a little more than I would have liked. The overall fit is a little snug and it lost 2″ in total length (now measuring the bottom at 8″ below my waistline). If this were a softer and more forgiving cotton, the snug fit wouldn’t bother me, but it’s a little bit too scratchy and too tight to be comfortable wearing it all day long. I’d likely have to go one size bigger to a large.
This 100% cotton undershirt is comparable to what you’d get in a Hanes or Fruit-of-the-Loom undershirt with one minor exception — this shirt is slightly less “white” than the Hanes I compared it to. But considering it’s an undershirt, no one would really care unless they intend to wear it solo.
If you include shipping costs, each one of these undershirts cost about $5. Overall, not too bad, but something would have to stand out as being better than the average undershirt for me to continue buying these. As much as I wanted to find that something special, I just couldn’t.
One other final nit. I’m not one who has to have tagless labels over regular stitched-on garment labels, but their paper-like label is a bit on the cheap-looking side and a little scratchy. Plus, on one of the undershirts, the label was stitched on pretty far left of center collar and looked pretty bad. I’d like to see them change to a nice soft satin or printed on label.
Overall, a decent undershirt alternative for those looking to buy “made in the USA”.
You’re right, I meant to post this on the page about their wicking shirt! And you’re also right about the price break down. Willingness to pay is weird thing psychologically. I was willing to buy a vdri just now and pay a whole lot more per shirt. I’m less willing to pay for something when the shipping is as much as the product.
BTW, thanks for all the work you are doing here. You’re doing great product research, and saving people who care about this tons of money by helping us figure what is best for our needs.
Sam
hey sam, i know what you’re saying. $11 for shipping can seem pretty expensive to buy one package of undershirts. but if you really break that down, it’s about $7.60 per shirt which isn’t too terribly bad for a moisture wicking undershirt ($12 per 3-pack is the price for their moisture wicking shirt, not their 100% cotton undershirts – those are $9 for a 3pk). When you buy additional packages, you’ll notice that your shipping charge won’t go up very much. I originally bought two different 3-packs and my shipping charges were $12.05 (for 6 shirts). Shipping fees normally depend on the service they use and distance from shipping origin to shipping destination. Hope that helps.
I just went to the website to order a pack of these. The price for the shirts is $12.00. The shipping charge is $10.91. Never mind. I don’t understand why they need to charge that much for shipping.