Happy Monday guys! And here's a review that some of you have requested: a review on Grana silk. So for those of you who are unfamiliar with Grana as I was, Grana is a bit like Hong Kong's version of Everlane. Their mission is to make quality clothing and sell it directly to consumers, thereby keeping prices reasonable. Their basic model below:
When I first hopped onto their site, I immediately thought if Everlane and Uniqlo had a baby, it would be Grana. It's the combination of Uniqlo's styling and Everlane's concept. But Grana has a wide selection of items to choose from, whether it's denim from Japan, linen from Ireland, and cotton from Peru. So I ordered a little bit of everything to try them all out, but today I'm starting with the silk since that was item that readers asked about most.
If you haven't read my first review of Everlane vs. Equipment vs. Cuyana silk then check it out becuase I go into the differences in types and quality of silk, and it'll probably help with some of the terminology coming up.
So here are three black silk items from Cuyana (top right), Everlane (top left), and Grana (bottom half). The first picture is in indirect light and the second is in full sunlight.
When laid in this way you can't really tell any differences. But here are the same three but with my hand under one layer so you can somewhat see through the silk starting with Grana, then Everlane, and last Cuyana.
Grana
Everlane
Cuyana
Can you see that the Grana one is ever so slightly more see-through and a different texture than the Everlane one? And the Cuyana one is a lot more opaque than both the Grana and Everlane silks. So here is my impression of Grana's silk:
~ Grana feels like the lowest quality silk of all the shirts I've tried so far. I think Everlane and Equipment are at about the same level of quality, but Grana is a step below. Grana's silk feels the least silky, the least smooth and the least soft. It also seemed the thinnest.
~ To find out about the momme weight of their silk, I emailed Grana and was told it was 16mm, which would put it exactly the same mm as Everlane's silk. However the difference in feel between Everlane and Grana must mean there is a difference in the thread count (or something but I'm not sure what).
~ And to try to rule out some bias (since I know how much each of these shirts costs), I had my husband do a blind feel test. And he knows nothing about silk but based on what he thought was the best feel, he rated Grana the lowest, Everlane next and then Cuyana as the best (he was completely on his own and I did not say anything to bias his opinions).
To incorporate findings from my last silk review which included Equipment, here's my current silk standings (not really to scale except to say that Everlane's and Equipment's silk were very similar):
As for the actual tank top I purchased from Grana, I ordered a size small. As you can see both the arm holes and neckline are super oversized (so you better be sure you wear a cute bra underneath since it will most likely be peeking through). If I were to order a silk top to keep I might even go with an XS on this. (For reference I'm 5'4" and wear a small/size 4 on most tops).
So even though the silk was a slight disappointment, I'm not giving up hope on Grana yet. I still have yet to try their other items. In the meantime if you want to try out some of Grana's item for yourself (though at this point I would recommend spending the extra $$ and going with Everlane silk if you can), here's a referral link to get you 10% off your first order (and full disclosure, I get $20 if you order from that link which of course I'll use to review more of their items).
P.S. By the way, their silk just happened to be the first product I reviewed and one out of two things I didn't love. I also ordered their pima cotton shirt, their Japanese denim and their Irish linen and loved them all. Those reviews coming soon. So don't write-off Grana just yet!
{August 2016 edit: I have since reviewed Grana's newest silk offering, their V-neck tank and slip dress, and those are waaaay better than the silk top reviewed here. Grana's georgette satin is as good as Everlane silk at about half the price. Read the full review on Grana's V-neck tank top here.}
{December 2016 edit: here is a comprehensive list of all my Grana Reviews. Grana is quickly becoming one of my go-to brands for well-made basics!}