Ordering shirts for your team sounds easy until you are staring at a quote with terms like “ring-spun,” “poly blend,” “left-chest,” and “digitized,” wondering what you actually chose. This buyer’s guide to custom company apparel walks through the three decisions that determine whether your order looks sharp and fits everyone, or ends up in a donation bin: the blank, the decoration, and the sizing. It is written for the HR, ops, or marketing person placing the order, not for people who already speak apparel fluently.

Start with the blank, because everything else rides on it

The “blank” is the undecorated garment. It is the single biggest driver of how your apparel feels and holds up, and it is where the widest quality gap hides. Two shirts with your identical logo can feel completely different depending on the blank underneath.

A few terms worth knowing:

  • Fabric weight is measured in ounces per square yard for tees. Lighter shirts (around 4.2 oz) are soft and drapey; midweight (around 5.3 to 6 oz) is the durable classic; heavyweight (6.5 oz and up) feels premium and structured.
  • Ring-spun cotton is smoother and softer than basic open-end cotton. It costs a little more and is almost always worth it for anything people will actually want to wear.
  • Blends. A 50/50 cotton-poly or a tri-blend (cotton, poly, rayon) is softer, resists shrinking, and holds color well. 100% cotton is breathable and takes prints crisply but shrinks more.
  • Fit. “Retail fit” or “fashion fit” is more tailored; “classic” or “unisex” runs boxier. This matters more than people expect for whether staff wear the shirt twice.

You do not need to memorize catalogs. You do need to make sure your vendor names the exact blank so you can judge it and reorder it. Blanks are sourced through major distributors like S&S Activewear and SanMar, and a good vendor will happily tell you the specific brand and style number rather than saying “a comparable shirt.”

Choose the decoration method to match the item and the art

Decoration is how your logo gets onto the garment. The right method depends on the item, the artwork, and the quantity. The main options:

Screen printing

The workhorse for tees, hoodies, and larger runs. Ink is pushed through a screen, one screen per color. It is durable, looks great, and gets cheaper per piece as quantity rises. The catch is setup: each color in each location needs its own screen, typically $20 to $60 per screen. That makes screen printing ideal for higher quantities and simpler art, and expensive for a 12-piece run with a five-color logo.

Embroidery

The premium, professional look for polos, jackets, hats, and bags. Your logo is stitched in thread. It is extremely durable and reads as high-quality. Costs are driven by stitch count, and there is a one-time digitizing fee (usually $40 to $100) to convert your logo into a stitch file. Fine detail and small text do not embroider well, so a logo may need simplifying.

Direct-to-garment (DTG) and direct-to-film (DTF)

Digital methods that print full-color art with no per-color setup, which makes them great for low quantities, photographic designs, or many-color logos. DTG prints directly into the fabric and works best on cotton; DTF applies a transfer and works across more fabric types. Per-piece cost is higher than screen printing at volume, so these shine for small or complex orders.

Heat transfer and vinyl

Good for names and numbers, or short runs where individual personalization matters (think team jerseys). Durable when done well, and cost-effective for one-off customization.

A quick decoration decision guide

  • 50+ tees, 1 to 3 colors: screen printing, best cost.
  • Polos, hats, jackets, bags: embroidery, best perceived quality.
  • Under 24 pieces or full-color art: DTG or DTF, no screen charges.
  • Individual names and numbers: heat transfer or vinyl.

Sizing: where good orders go wrong

The most common apparel mistake is not the shirt or the print. It is the size run. Order the wrong distribution and half your order is unwearable. A few rules that save you:

  • Collect real sizes when you can. For a known group (a team, an event roster), a quick size survey beats guessing every time. Ten minutes of collecting sizes prevents a box of unworn 3XLs.
  • When you must estimate, use a realistic bell curve. A common starting distribution for a general adult group skews toward the middle: roughly S 10%, M 25%, L 30%, XL 20%, 2XL 10%, 3XL 5%. Adjust for your actual audience.
  • Know unisex vs. fitted. Unisex sizing runs large and boxy. If your team skews toward wanting a tailored fit, offer a women’s or fitted cut, or size down guidance. This single detail drives whether people wear it.
  • Extended sizes cost more. 2XL and up usually carry an upcharge (often $2 to $5 per size step). Budget for it rather than being surprised on the invoice.
  • Order a few extras in common sizes. New hires, spills, and the person who “runs large” happen. A small buffer in M, L, and XL is cheap insurance.

Placement and proof: the last checks

Before you approve, confirm two things. First, decoration placement and size. “Left chest” embroidery is typically about 3 to 4 inches wide; a full front screen print is usually 10 to 12 inches. Ask for the exact dimensions on the proof so the logo is not comically large or too small to read. Second, never skip the digital proof. Approving art in writing, with the blank, colors, decoration method, and placement spelled out, is your protection if the final product does not match.

A pre-order checklist

  • Exact blank brand and style number confirmed
  • Fabric weight and fit appropriate for how it will be worn
  • Decoration method matched to item, art, and quantity
  • Setup, digitizing, and extended-size upcharges in the quote
  • Real sizes collected, or a realistic size run planned with a small buffer
  • Placement dimensions and a digital proof approved in writing

Get the blank, the decoration, and the sizing right and custom company apparel becomes something people reach for instead of regift. If you want help choosing garments your team will actually wear and specifying the order so nothing gets lost in translation, S.MICHAEL Creative Branding handles apparel programs end to end. For the bigger operational picture, see our guide on running a company swag program without it becoming a part-time job.