I'm not sure how useful the Everlane cashmere vs. JCrew cashmere review was, but I really enjoyed learning a little bit more about the source and production of the materials of the clothes I buy. And Everlane makes it even more interesting because of their radical transparency and thus their willingness to give consumers a lot of details. So today I'm doing a silk comparison post as well.
{I read an older review post the other day on my phone and realized that these posts look really really long. So long, I'm not sure I would even read it. So for those who are in a time crunch here is the tl;dr version of this post: Everlane silk shirts are better than Equipment silk shirts. But Cuyana silk shirts can't really be compared with either of the Everlane or Equipment shirts because it's a totally different kind of silk. Whether you like Cuyana over Everlane or vice versa is a personal choice--and mine is Cuyana). The details on how I got to this verdict below:
Cuyana silk shirt, Everlane silk shirt, Equipment silk shirt
First a little background on silk:
-Momme is a special weight measurement used for high quality fabrics and is used to indicate the heft and weight of the fabric. Higher momme weight means that more silk was used in the production of the fabric.
-The standard momme weight for silk ranges from 12-19. Silk with a momme weight from 16-19 is usually considered high quality. And anything 19-22 in momme weight is about the best of the best (momme=mm).
-Silk cloths also have a thread count and should be greater than 400.
-There is silk made from wild worms (usually Shantung or Tussah silk) and it's courser and more beige than cultivated silk which is smoother and whiter. When you think silk, you're most likely thinking of silk from cultivated worms (like these 3 shirts).
-There are several types of silk: chiffon (the billowy one), china silk (also called habotai, about 5-12mm), and crepe de chine (12-15mm).
Bottom left is Everlane, bottom right is Equipment and top is Cuyana.
Now to compare the silk from Everlane and the silk from Equipment. The silk of both shirts felt fairly similar--the type of silk that feels a little more velvety but thin. Equipment doesn't give us any information about their silk, except we know it's made in China (from the tag). Everlane's silk shirts also come from China (Hangzhou to be precise) and their silk is 16mm crepe de chine.
The only difference between Equipment and Everlane silk is the color. Though both shirts are black, the Equipment one is not a true black, it's more of a gray. But of course the biggest difference is the price. I purchased the Equipment blouse for $208 while the same shirt from Everlane is $78. With the same quality silk but at a much better price it's kind of a no brainer to go with Everlane over Equipment (on top of that Everlane does awesome things like give back to this silk factory in Hangzhou. They funded the construction of solar panels so that the 240 workers who live and work at the factory can have hot showers. Everlane was able to do this through their Black Friday Fund}.
Cuyana, Everlane, Equipment
From the pictures, you can clearly see that the Cuyana silk is quite different from both the Everlane and Equipment silk shirts. It's a much darker color, but it's also of a much heavier weight. Their silk shirts are made in the USA from 22mm crepe de chine. That means a lot more silk went into the production of this shirt and you can tell. It feels a lot more durable. I love this silk shirt so much I'm considering getting this one in white (I feel like most white silk shirts are really sheer, but since this one is so much thicker it will probably be quite a bit more opaque). But for more than twice the price (at $175) of an Everlane silk shirt, the Cuyana silk shirts are definitely more of an investment piece (best for those who truly believe in Cuyana's motto: Fewer, better things). Still it's cheaper than Equipment shirts. {Moral of the story here, no one should be buying Equipment shirts when there's so many better options around.}
So my final verdict: Everlane > Equipment; but Cuyana stands apart. If I could only choose one? It would be Cuyana.
Here's another blogger's review of Everlane and Equipment silk shirts and another blogger's review of Cuyana's silk shirts. I purchased all items in this review for myself and this post is not sponsored, but if you'd like to help me purchase more Everlane items here's a referral link. Thanks for reading!
{edit: I add Grana's silk into the mix in a Grana vs. Everlane vs. Cuyana silk review}