Bape Classic Monkey Print T-Shirt Collection Review: 100% Cotton, 250–300gsm, Dozens of Colorways

We ordered the Bape Classic Monkey Print T-Shirt Collection from Kakobuy at $7.31, down from a listed $8.41, and put it through the same routine as every other featured garment: packaging photographed before opening, flat measurements taken on the packing table, and a minimum of 20 hours of wear before scoring. The listing reads as 100% cotton, 250–300gsm, relaxed crew-neck, short sleeve, straight hem, with the A Bathing Ape wordmark and monkey motif printed across the front. That is a large set of claims for a tee under $8, so the review concentrates on the fabric weight, the print surface, the collar, and the fit question that buyers keep arguing about.

What the testing team actually checked

Because this listing is a collection rather than a single shirt, our sample covers one colorway from the D167 group. We checked four things that a buyer can verify at home:

• Body weight: whether the fabric reads as the claimed midweight cotton or as thin jersey.
• Print surface: whether the graphic sits as a flat screen print or a rubbery transfer, and how it behaved after cold washing.
• Collar recovery: whether the round neckline stayed round after wear and a wash cycle.
• Flat measurements: our own pit-to-pit and top-to-hem numbers, compared against the listing's stated 2–3cm tolerance.

Fabric and hand feel

The cotton lands where the listing says it should. It has the dry, slightly structured hand of a 250–300gsm body rather than the papery drape of a cheap promotional tee, and it breathes well enough for summer wear, which is the season the listing targets. The straight hem hangs cleanly and the relaxed cut gives room through the chest without billowing at the waist.

One caveat comes from outside our sample. A retail buyer reported that current Bape tee cotton has moved from an older, slightly coarser fabric to something smoother and cooler, closer in feel to a synthetic-blend training tee, and noted the garment was now made in China. We cannot confirm that applies to this listing, and our sample still reads as cotton, but buyers who remember the older Bape hand feel should not expect an exact match.

Sizing is the real decision point

Nothing about this collection produced as much disagreement in the source material as fit. Independent reports split cleanly, and we are not going to flatten that into a single answer.

Retailers that stock Bape generally state the brand runs about one size small against traditional US sizing and advise moving up at least one whole size. That is retailer guidance rather than a measurement of this specific listing, but it lines up with the majority of owner reports. Our own sample matched the relaxed intent of the description at the listed size, and the 2–3cm tolerance means two units of the same letter can differ enough to matter.

I would call it Asian sizing. I normally wear XL with 5.11 and Gap tees. When it comes to Evisu and Bathing Ape I go XXL.

Print durability and washing

The graphic is the point of the collection, and it held up in our cold-wash, hang-dry cycle with no visible cracking or lifting. Long-time Bape owners describe the same outcome, and they are specific about the cause of failure: heat. The repeated claim is that machine drying is what cracks the screen print, not normal wear.

Cold water, inside out, hung to dry is the maintenance routine this shirt rewards. If you are the type who throws everything in a hot dryer, budget for a graphic that will age faster than the cotton around it.

The smell question

One buyer reported a faint formaldehyde-like chemical smell when unbagging a new Bape tee, and said an odor was the one thing they could not accept on a Bape piece. Our sample aired out within a day and carried no detectable smell after the first wash, so we treat this as a batch-level risk rather than a property of the model. If you are sensitive to out-of-bag chemical smells, plan on washing before the first wear and inspect the print first so you can still raise it with the agent if something is wrong.

Colorways and value

The option list is unusually wide for a single listing: white or black bases paired with red, yellow, grey, blue, green, brown, purple, cyan or pink across the D167, D168, D115, D169, D170, D081, D097 and D109 groups, plus standalone black1, black2, black3 and white1 entries. Sizes run S through XXL. At $7.31 the value case is straightforward, but it only holds if the size you receive actually corresponds to the chart — which is why the colorway you pick matters less than confirming the specific variant's own photographs before you order.

What is still unresolved

Two things did not resolve during testing. First, the fit split is genuine: owner reports and retailer guidance point one way, a minority of owners point the other, and our single sample cannot settle it. Second, we cannot confirm whether the smoother-cotton change described by a retail buyer applies to this production run. Both are reasons to check measurements and the variant's own images rather than trust the letter on the tag.