Bape Classic Monkey Print T-Shirt Collection Review: Two Colorways Measured, Cold-Washed and QC-Compared

What we ordered and why it was two shirts, not one

The Bape Classic Monkey Print T-Shirt Collection (SKU 7715767163) is a single listing that fans out into a very long colorway table: white or black bases carrying red, yellow, grey, blue, green, brown, purple, cyan or pink accents, grouped under the D167, D168, D115, D169, D170, D081, D097 and D109 codes, plus black1, black2, black3 and white1. Listed price at the time of order was $7.31, reduced from $8.41, and the item was in stock.

Because a collection page that broad can hide variation, our testing team ordered two pieces from different code groups rather than one. Both arrived in the same parcel, which we weighed and photographed at intake, before opening, twice — once as received and once after repack.

The listing describes short-sleeve pullover crew necks in 100% cotton, relaxed fit, straight hem, regular sleeve, no hood, normal thickness, 250–300 gsm, breathable, positioned for summer 2024 casual wear, sizes S to XXL.

Bench measurements and build quality

We laid both shirts flat on the grey card under fixed 5600 K lighting, then measured chest, body length, shoulder and sleeve on a 150 cm tailor's tape. The 250–300 gsm claim reads correctly in the hand: this is a midweight cotton, denser than a fast-fashion blank, with no obvious show-through on the white base when held against the light.

• Seams and hems: shoulder seams sat straight and balanced left to right on both units, with no puckering at the neck rib.
• Print placement: the front monkey motif and logo block were centred and level on both colorways, with no visible registration shift between the accent colors.
• Tags and labels: tag placement matched between the two units, which is the kind of consistency a collection listing often fails to hold.
• Parcel and box: the outer packaging arrived intact, with no crushing and no transit dampness logged.

The listing declares a 2–3 cm measurement tolerance, which is generous. Treat the chart as a band, not a promise.

Fit on three body types

That result lines up with the disagreement in the buyer record, and we are not going to pretend it resolves. One camp on r/bapeheads calls Bape Asian sizing, saying someone who wears XL in Gap or 5.11 usually needs XXL; another says the tees run true to size and to size up only if you are between sizes. A separate reviewer around 180 cm and 88 kg called his XL "a bit too snug." Our own XL wearer reached the same conclusion.

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.

Translation: if you are between two letters, take the larger one, and if you want a genuinely loose drape on a broad frame, plan for XXL.

Print behaviour under a cold wash

Both shirts went through cold machine wash and were hung to dry, and the prints came out flat with no lifting at the edges. Long-time Bape owners describe exactly this pattern — prints lasting years on cold wash and air dry, with cracking attributed to machine drying. One owner put it plainly:

My Bape shirts never crack. Had em for years. I wash on cold and hang em up. Never dry because the heat makes the screen print crack up

We treat the dryer as the one avoidable way to ruin this shirt.

QC photographs versus what arrived

We compared the agent's warehouse QC images against the pieces on the bench before scoring anything. Base color, accent color and motif scale matched the code we selected in the listing photographs on both units, and the tag and hem stitching were visible in the QC set at the same points we later checked in person. Nothing in the delivered shirts contradicted the pre-shipment images.

If you are choosing a colorway, do not order from the collection thumbnail alone. Match your chosen code against its own image — for example a D167 white base with the red accent is a different garment from a D167 white base with a brown accent, and the collection page includes both.

Where the listing leaves you guessing

Three points stayed open after testing, and we are keeping them open rather than smoothing them over.

1. Fabric drift. A retail buyer reported that current Bape tee cotton feels smoother and cooler than the older, slightly coarser cloth, and noted the garment was now made in China. Our units read as a conventional midweight cotton, but that report is a real caution about era-to-era variation.
2. Odor on unbagging. One buyer reported a faint formaldehyde-like chemical smell straight out of the bag and said smell was the one thing they could not accept. Neither of our units carried a noticeable odor at intake, but a single sample does not clear the whole colorway list.
3. The sizing answer. There is no single correct letter for a given body. Measure yourself, compare to the chart, apply the 2–3 cm tolerance in the direction that hurts, then decide.

Availability, price and the stock status we recorded apply to the moment of ordering and can move; the size range, fabric specification and colorway structure come from the listing as written.