Stussy 8 Ball Pigment Dyed T Shirt Black

The Stussy 8 Ball Pigment Dyed T Shirt Black carries the graphic that did more for the brand than any other. The 8 ball on the chest, printed on a garment that has been pigment dyed rather than piece dyed.

What pigment dyeing actually does

The shirt is made first and dyed afterwards, with pigment that sits on the surface of the cotton rather than bonding into the fibre. That gives you a slightly uneven, washed tone from day one. It also means the colour keeps moving. Seams, creases and the collar lighten first, so the shirt you own in a year will not look like the one that arrives.

The 8 ball, and why it stuck

Shawn Stussy started scrawling his signature on surfboards in Laguna Beach around 1980 and turned it into an apparel brand in 1984. The 8 ball came out of that same pool-hall and skate visual language. It is the graphic people picture when they picture the brand, and it has outlasted almost everything else in the catalogue.

Fit and sizing

• Relaxed, boxy 90s cut rather than a modern slim tee
• Sits wide through the chest with a straight body
• True to size, though the cut runs generous
• Cotton can shrink slightly, so size up if you are between sizes
• Available in S, M, L and XL

Wearing it

Straight or wide denim underneath and the shirt does the rest. Because the black is a washed black rather than a hard one, it sits better with faded denim than a flat black tee would.

Care, and this matters on a dyed garment

• Cold wash at 30 degrees, inside out, always with darks
• Wash separately for the first two or three washes, as pigment dye releases early on
• Hang dry, never tumble, since heat both shrinks the cotton and strips pigment
• Skip bleach entirely and iron on the reverse only

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