Another newcomer brand in the innerwear (undershirt, underwear, socks) category, Mack Weldon distinguishes itself from the incumbents by fusing old-school quality with modern day technology. This is easily apparent when you look at the credentials of co-founders Brian Berger (Excite, WebMD) & Michael Isaacman (Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger).
Brand Overview
Mack Weldon is a brand new men’s collection that will feature t-shirts, undershirts, underwear and socks – essentially the fundamental pieces to create the base for any outfit. It just launched this week and is sold exclusively on the brand’s website, which has been specially designed to offer the most hassle-free and convenient shopping experience (there are cool features such as auto-replenishment, etc.).
This is an undergarment brand that is solely devoted to producing top-notch products that perfectly combines luxury and performance features to create a one-of-a-kind item…the founders will ensure you there’s nothing like it in your closet.
The t-shirts are cool on their own and great with denim. They are available in a crew neck and v-neck style in 6 different color ways and retail for $28.00. Made out of 95% Long Staple Cotton and 5% Lycra, the t-shirts are super soft with a bit of a stretch. The t-shirts are a standard fit, cut close but never tight and have rotated shoulder seams to ensure total comfort.
Innerwear Line Details
- Undershirts:
Fabric: 47.5% Long Staple Cotton / 47.5% Modal / 5% Lycra.
Styles: Crew Neck & V-Neck.
Colors: White, Nine Iron, True Black.
Key features: Longer length stays tucked, Rotated shoulder seams for comfort.
Price: $32 - Underwear:
Fabric: 47.5% Long Staple Cotton / 47.5% Modal / 5% Lycra.
Styles: Brief, Trunk, Boxer Brief.
Colors: white, true black, blue night, cloud burst, deep lichen green, weldon blue.
Price: $19.50 / $22 / $24. - Socks:
Fabric: 80% Combed Cotton / 15% Spandex / 5% Elastic.
Styles: Ribbed Sock, Striped Sock.
Price: $12.50
Other Neat Stuff
- Instant Discounts “Savings Meter”: Each time you shop, Spend $100 get 15% off, at $150 get 20% off, at $200 get 25% off
- Subscription/auto-replenishment: Allows users to sign up and have additional product automatically sent when you need it
Product Images
Love what these guys did on their website with regard to presenting their collection. Instead of leading with the standard static images, Mac Weldon went for a more dynamic presentation and embedded short videos of their fit model wearing the products.
Initial Thoughts
Here’s a note I sent to the MW PR person on the day that I was wearing their undershirt and underwear:
guess what i’m wearing today?? mack weldon, that’s what. i’ve got my crew undershirt and new boxer briefs on.
i’ve gotta tell you that my initial right-out-of-the-package impressions are really good. i normally have a problem with underwear not fitting comfortably, and although the legs are a hair tight on me, i’m pretty darn happy with the rest of the fit.
the undershirt – a really nice feeling and fitting product. like the shoulder and sleeve design, like the longer cut, and fabric blend. it fits a little loose in the upper body area, but that might tighten up a little after the first washing. all-in-all, a very nice $32 undershirt. based on my initial impressions, i think i like this one more than some of the higher priced MicroModal undershirts. i’ll do more wear tests and see how it all unfolds.
not 100% on board with some of the outer branding, like on the boxer briefs, but since i can’t really see it, it doesn’t bother me too much (:
Update after washing:
Underwear: No noticeable difference in fit, in that the legs are a little tight on my ham-hock-like thighs, but other than that, the fit is pretty good. The one thing I really like is that the waist is not too tight, so it doesn’t make my “love-handles” look any worse than they already are. When underwear actually goes in my underwear drawer for daily wear, which doesn’t happen that often, it says a lot about how much I like the product.
Undershirt: No noticeable difference in fit. Again, minimal/no notable shrinkage. Still feels nice on the skin, and overall fit is pretty good. Undershirt is slightly loose in the chest area. Also, noticed the overall sleeve length to be a little longer than I like. The Sleeve design is like a combination of raglan & traditional, so there is no side shoulder. Overall length from collar to edge of sleeve is around 14.5″, and comparing to other undershirts with the sleeve length I prefer, MW might be 1″ – 1.5″ longer than I prefer. My thinking is that if you want a tighter fit, it might be good to size down one.
$24 for a pair of 47% cotton boxer brief underwear is absurd.
heya ebshite! good to hear from you and thanks for stopping by my site and posting your comment.
yeah, $24 may seem a little expensive, but most of the more progressive underwear brands are charging a bit more for a pair of underwear.
on the mack weldon boxer brief side, they are a blend of cotton, modal, and spandex.
saxx, 2undr, and mypackage underwear also range in the $25 – $30 per pair range. meundies does offer some around $20 too, which is a little cheaper and ufm underwear is normally priced in the mid $20s, but they have a special going on right now for $19.95 on many of their items.
all the above underwear brands offer either cotton/spandex, modal/spandex, or cotton/modal/spandex blends.
I’ve purchased quite a few products from the Mack Weldon website as it seems advantageous to spend more as the savings is that much greater.
But after about six months of using their shirts and underwear fairly gingerly I can say I’m not impressed, not the slightest bit. The biggest disappointment is with the briefs: they simply like others have mentioned in reviews I have seen, do not hold up well.
The material around the band starts to get warn after the first wash. The rest of the material soon follows suit and the sleek appearance is gone after just a couple of hand washes in cold water. You can’t clean underwear properly in cold water, that in itself is nonsense.
The fabric pills like crazy, never seen that before at this price point.
I have underwear and t shirts that are from years ago that have been warn dozens and dozens of times that are in better condition than my MW gear.
heya mark!
thanks for stopping by my site and posting your thoughts about the mack weldon underwear. i’m sure it’ll be helpful to others in their underwear buying decision-making process.
i just took a look at my two pair of mack weldon underwear (47.5 / 47.5 / 5 – long staple cotton / modal / spandex) which is basically a 95/5 cotton-modal/spandex blend . while they do have some pilling/wear on the waistband & crotch area, i wouldn’t characterize it as excessive wear or pilling, compared to other underwear i have.
admittedly, i don’t wear them as much as some as my other underwear, so maybe they are wearing a little faster than some of my others, but not excessively so. and i have cared for them the same i do with all my underwear which is washing on warm, and normally drying on hot.
i’ve mostly seen pilling with modal-based or loose knit polyester fabrics. though, i have a couple pairs of mypackage underwear, which are 95/5 modal/spandex, and they seem to be holding up a bit better from a wear point of view, and i wear them a lot more frequently.
currently my favorite boxer briefs are saxx, which are 95/5 viscose/spandex (rayon/spandex) — they are super comfortable in all areas, and feel pretty amazing. i just recently got them, so i can’t tell you how well they will wear over time quite yet.
for reference purpose:
viscose (soy, bamboo, and sugar cane), modal (beech trees), and lyocell (tencel) are all different types of rayon, with their own manufacturing process. i suspect the durability factor is a direct result of the type of rayon being used in these semi-synthetic fabrics.
as for your older underwear that is holding up better, i’m guessing they are made with different fabric blends (:
thanks again for sharing your thoughts! let me know if you try out any other underwear and what you think of it.
Hi there! A quick question for an expert – what underwear fabric would you say is just awesome. That fits snug, soft, washes well, minimum pilling, doesn’t ride up, all the best qualities ?
heya shazza! good to hear form you buddy and thanks for your question!
before i spew my recommendations, can i ask what you’ve tried so far and what you’ve liked or not liked about it?
since you’re posting your question to this mack weldon article, have you tried their underwear?
I saw these on facebook. I would buy them but they are quite expensive. Does the collar stand up well???
can’t tell you how the collars hold up glenn.
most undershirts i have seen take a while for the collars to wear out, so it’s a little hard for me say for certain because it’s only been a couple of months since i’ve written about my mack weldon undershirts and i haven’t worn or washed them enough to know.
Ok I’ve heard guys rave about them. Can you tell me if the collars are made of cotton, spandex, or cotton. I own a few t-shirt from Macy’s I bought like 4 years ago and they used spandex in the collar. But they don’t sell them anymore.