Wool & Prince came around a few months ago looking for beta testers for a new wool T-shirt they were about to launch, and I'm happy to say I'm back with my testing results. I wore this shirt as a baselayer for several trips, and as a travel shirt for a 10-day trip to NYC and Las Vegas, and as an everyday shirt around town and to work.
So, I had it on nearly every day for about a month. I'm actually wearing it in my profile pic right over there.
Moisture Management:
I wore this shirt during some especially grueling activities, like biking up Mt. Greylock and walking 10+ miles across sunny and warm Las Vegas. The material performed admirably for moisture management. It stacks up pretty well with my other wool gear from Icebreaker, Ibex, and Smartwool; the garment would wet out from perspiration during high-intensity stuff, but it dried quickly and never felt clammy. It did, however, feel slightly damper than other wool garments I've used, like the weight-comparable Icebreaker Bodyfit 150.
I attribute the damper feeling to the fibers themselves. Unlike some of my other wool, this wool is extremely soft, and the individual micro-fibers give the shirt more surface area for holding moisture. Some of my other wool stuff is such a tight weave (like my Ibex) that moisture almost beads off. This is a bit less moisture-resistant.
Fabric:
The weave is especially tight. Some of my wool clothing feels itchy, but I got used to it and don't mind. This T-shirt is baby soft, softer than cotton. I would say that if you're not allergic to wool, there is a 100% chance you will find this comfortable. As for durability, since it's 100% merino and not a nylon blend, it's going to be more fragile than cotton or synthetic. The fabric feels especially stretchable and delicate. I didn't have any durability issues with it at all, but that being said, it does not feel like a shirt I can beat up. I certainly wouldn't take it rock climbing, and I wouldn't use it directly under packstraps for a week's backpacking. I wish I had torn it so I could tell you how resilient it was.
The color is also especially vivid; it's not a deep navy like the pictures reflect. It has an almost indigo quality to it, and is very rich.
Fit:
I initially tried a Large, and it was swimmingly big. I switched to a Medium and found it much better. It's a bit larger than most of my medium clothes in both the shoulders and the chest, and it comes down far enough at the waist to be tucked, or to keep my rump hidden when cycling. I would say, size down if you're between sizes.
Odor:
I never had any odor problems with this shirt. I wore it nearly every day for 30 days; on a few occasions, I opted for a warmer merino baselayer for a bike ride, but otherwise, it was always next to my skin. I went 4 days without showering at one point as a test (thank my girlfiend, she put up with me) and the shirt still smelled great, and didn't need washing.
The only time I washed it was after I had been on a plane for a day. It was wrinkled from being packed a few times in Vegas, and I had been sweating in it all week, so I tossed it in the washing machine on cold and then dried it on low heat in the dryer. It didn't shrink at all, and the wrinkles all came out. As you see it in the pictures, it's been worn about 15 days.
Final Thoughts:
I think this shirt is an ideal everyday or lifestyle shirt, especially for travelers. I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone, and I speak highly of it often. It's hard to overstate the odor resistance of this shirt; it truly is antibacterial, and I felt cleaner wearing it than I did wearing anything else. I am not an especially smelly person, but I think I was less smelly in this. My girlfriend is the real judge, jury, and executioner; she still shares a room with me, so it must work.
I also appreciated working with Wool & Prince. They were very accommodating when I needed to exchange sizes and they also let me test-run their Better Button-Down, which I found to be equally high-quality and odor-free.
Enjoy!
