Bape Classic Monkey Print T-Shirt Review: Cotton Weight, Colorways and Fit

The A Bathing Ape monkey graphic is one of the most copied prints in streetwear, and this listing does not sell a single shirt — it sells a run. Across the D167, D168, D115, D169, D170, D081, D097 and D109 groups, plus black1, black2, black3 and white1, the seller lists dozens of colorways paired with white or black bases in S through XXL. Our testing team ordered two versions, one white-base and one black-base, so we could compare print registration and fabric hand across different color builds rather than judging a single photograph.

Specifications at a glance

Point	Listed specification
SKU	7715767163
Price	$7.31 USD, reduced from $8.41, listed as in stock
Brand	Bape (A Bathing Ape)
Fabric	100% cotton, plain-weave pure cotton main body
Weight	250 g to under 300 g per square metre
Cut	Relaxed, straight hem, crew neck, short regular sleeve, no hood, normal thickness
Sizes	S, M, L, XL, XXL
Colorways	D167, D168, D115, D169, D170, D081, D097 and D109 groups, plus black1–3 and white1
Season	2024 summer
Stated tolerance	2–3 cm

How we tested the shirt

Every shirt we feature is ordered by us and inspected in the lab before it is written about. Because this is apparel rather than footwear, we applied our ten-point check to the points that actually matter on a cotton tee: the outer bag and inner wrap, odor on unbagging, stitch density around the neck rib, shoulder and side seams, hem straightness, collar recovery after stretching, sleeve hems, print registration and edge sharpness, fabric weight against the stated 250–300 g range, and the silhouette after 20 hours of wear that included walking and a light jog, followed by one cold wash and an air dry.

Fabric and print

The body reads as a genuine midweight cotton rather than the thin, faintly translucent build common at the low end of graphic tees. Both colorways we handled had a dry, matte hand with modest drape, and the stated weight range is plausible from feel alone — closer to the 250 g end than the 300 g ceiling. The breathability claim in the listing holds up; the fabric moves air and does not cling after light activity.

Print quality is the stronger half of the story. Registration on both shirts was clean, with no visible haloing at the logo edges and no ink bridging between fine lines in the monkey motif. On the black-base colorway the print carried slightly more contrast than the white-base version, which is normal for screen printing over dark fabric. Wash care matters more than the print itself here: long-time Bape owners report that screen prints survive for years on a cold wash and hang dry, and that they attribute cracking to machine drying.

Why heat, not wear, is the print's real enemy

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.

Our single cold wash left registration intact, but a single cycle is not a long-term durability study. Treat tumble drying as the risk factor rather than the print process.

Fit and sizing: unresolved, and we will not pretend otherwise

This is where the evidence splits, so we are recording the split rather than resolving it. Buyers on r/bapeheads describe Bape tees as fitting like Asian sizing, with someone who usually wears an XL in Gap or 5.11 often needing an XXL. Other Bape owners in the same community say the tees run true to size and advise sizing up only if you are between sizes, noting that cold washing and air drying prevents shrinkage. A separate video reviewer around 180 cm and 88 kg found the XL too snug for his taste, which cuts against the idea that the relaxed cut is generous on larger frames.

We can only report what our own pair did: on a mid-sized frame the relaxed body and straight hem matched the listing description, with room through the chest and no shoulder pull. That does not settle the letter-size question, which is the whole problem. The listing itself concedes a 2–3 cm tolerance, so the size chart, not the letter, is the only reliable input.

Odor, finish and the fabric-change complaint

Our shirts came out of the bag without a notable smell. That is worth stating plainly because one retail buyer reported a faint formaldehyde-like chemical odor on unbagging and said a smell was the one thing they could not accept in a Bape piece. The same buyer said current Bape cotton is smoother and cooler than the older, slightly coarser fabric, comparing it to a Uniqlo Airism tee, and noted production had moved to China. Both comments concern retail product, not this listing, so they are a caution rather than a finding about our pair — but they are the kind of buyer feedback we would rather report than suppress.

What we would verify before choosing a colorway

• Measure an existing tee that fits you and compare it to the chart for the specific colorway you want, allowing for the stated 2–3 cm tolerance.
• Match the color code — D167, D168, D115, D169, D170, D081, D097 or D109 — to its own photographs rather than assuming a shared print and layout across groups.
• Confirm the size and color pair are actually stocked at order time, since the run spans more than 70 variants.
• Plan for cold wash and air dry from the first wear if print longevity matters to you.

At $7.31, this is a low-risk way to test a graphic that usually costs far more, and the build we received justified the price comfortably. The unresolved questions are fit and the occasional odor report, not material quality — which is why we score it well rather than perfectly.