Uniqlo airism shirts

tomato123

Professional
I went to the local Uniqlo store and was very impressed with their products, arguably comparable to lululemon at a much better price point. Bought a few items for the winter season, but unfortunately the store did not carry any of the airism shirts - can anyone who is familiar with Uniqlo shirts tell me if the airism t-shirts are designed to be undershirt type of apparel or can they be worn as a stand-alone performance shirt for tennis? The airism performance shirts I see online look super thin fitting like compression shirt style which I would not want to wear if that is the case, and I’m also looking at the airism crew t-shirt which seems like it could fit the bill but I’m not sure if that is another undershirt type of shirt rather than a workout/tennis shirt.
 

snr

Semi-Pro
IMO, they are more of an undershirt though someone can correct me.

These are NOT the "performance" ones though (I was not aware?) - perhaps they use the same name?

The really thin airism shirts I have, I substitute them to my regular undershirts underneath my dress shirts at work in the hotter months.
 

kimguroo

Legend
That’s what I thought. Airism shirts are undershirt.
Uniqlo states that “the smart, breathable base layer.”

BTW I got several uniqlo tennis apparels and huge disappointments so far.
Fit is strange for Fed shirts and shorts. Materials are very questionable. I was shock when I put my hands on pockets.
Inside pocket material is just wrong. Shirt Materials are almost see-through material especially white color. Someone said that the material is UV protected and uniqlo tag said UV protective fabric but when I checked the fabric and I can’t find the statement. Very doubtful that these material is UV protection. Actually fit is slightly better on Nishikori’s items.
Have not received Pink fed shirts yet but hope they changed material for the pink one.
my only positive item is Jacket which is not tennis specific item. It’s not like nike’s Tech fleece jacket but very close and price is 1/3 of tech fleece jacket. I am supposed to receive hat and wristbands but not sure those qualities are good.

Beside tennis, there are decent clothes from uniqlo but for tennis apparels, they need to completely change everything (fit, material, designs etc). I thought when joeldali criticized uniqlo too badly, I thought he was too harsh but when I started to receive their items, now I somewhat agree with him.

Uniqlo will spend $300 mils for next 10 years to Fed but current products are bad enough to blame everything to Fed. joke-like comment “Uniqlo tennis apparels are bad because they don’t want to spend anymore money to develop products because Fed takes huge money”. When uniqlo decided to invest to Fed, they should match quality of Fed brand (which was heavily developed by Nike).

I prefer to see 88% polyester, 12% spandex or 90% poly and 10% spandex material. Probably true to size fit instead of baggy or slimfit. Since they have all sources so it won’t be too difficult to do but Uniqlo needs some commitments.
Hope we will see better products when they start to produce Fed item fully next year.
 
D

Deleted member 742196

Guest
I went to the local Uniqlo store and was very impressed with their products, arguably comparable to lululemon at a much better price point. Bought a few items for the winter season, but unfortunately the store did not carry any of the airism shirts - can anyone who is familiar with Uniqlo shirts tell me if the airism t-shirts are designed to be undershirt type of apparel or can they be worn as a stand-alone performance shirt for tennis? The airism performance shirts I see online look super thin fitting like compression shirt style which I would not want to wear if that is the case, and I’m also looking at the airism crew t-shirt which seems like it could fit the bill but I’m not sure if that is another undershirt type of shirt rather than a workout/tennis shirt.

There are a couple of designs. I wear them ALL the time as undershirts for tennis, office, casual etc.

Don’t usually wear them stand-alone except on rare occasions by the beach. I do use them to sleep in though.

UniQlo has the best range of clothing accessories in my opinion - undershirts, wear, Airism, Heattech etc. Great smart casual brand.

They have both compression as well as loose fit type Airism undershirts, V’s, Crews, sleeveless, T’s etc.
 
That’s what I thought. Airism shirts are undershirt.
Uniqlo states that “the smart, breathable base layer.”

BTW I got several uniqlo tennis apparels and huge disappointments so far.
Fit is strange for Fed shirts and shorts. Materials are very questionable. I was shock when I put my hands on pockets.
Inside pocket material is just wrong. Shirt Materials are almost see-through material especially white color. Someone said that the material is UV protected and uniqlo tag said UV protective fabric but when I checked the fabric and I can’t find the statement. Very doubtful that these material is UV protection. Actually fit is slightly better on Nishikori’s items.
Have not received Pink fed shirts yet but hope they changed material for the pink one.
my only positive item is Jacket which is not tennis specific item. It’s not like nike’s Tech fleece jacket but very close and price is 1/3 of tech fleece jacket. I am supposed to receive hat and wristbands but not sure those qualities are good.

Beside tennis, there are decent clothes from uniqlo but for tennis apparels, they need to completely change everything (fit, material, designs etc). I thought when joeldali criticized uniqlo too badly, I thought he was too harsh but when I started to receive their items, now I somewhat agree with him.

Uniqlo will spend $300 mils for next 10 years to Fed but current products are bad enough to blame everything to Fed. joke-like comment “Uniqlo tennis apparels are bad because they don’t want to spend anymore money to develop products because Fed takes huge money”. When uniqlo decided to invest to Fed, they should match quality of Fed brand (which was heavily developed by Nike).

I prefer to see 88% polyester, 12% spandex or 90% poly and 10% spandex material. Probably true to size fit instead of baggy or slimfit. Since they have all sources so it won’t be too difficult to do but Uniqlo needs some commitments.
Hope we will see better products when they start to produce Fed item fully next year.

Have you worn your items on court yet?

How is the performance?

:cool:
 

kimguroo

Legend
Have you worn your items on court yet?

How is the performance?

:cool:
I have not. I always wear apparel as entire set so need a few items to arrive such as hat.
Also it’s winter time so even though I will play some tennis indoor courts, I don’t think I will sweat much so hard to tell until next spring. Hope these will not stick to body especially shirts.

I don’t expect to have poor performance since it’s poly. Poly is poly hahaha.
I don’t remember any poly shirts had poor performance for tennis apparels.
Sometimes thicker fabrics might cause less breathable or fabrics are too much sticking to body but otherwise poly materials are decent for tennis activity.
 
I have not. I always wear apparel as entire set so need a few items to arrive such as hat.
Also it’s winter time so even though I will play some tennis indoor courts, I don’t think I will sweat much so hard to tell until next spring. Hope these will not stick to body especially shirts.

I don’t expect to have poor performance since it’s poly. Poly is poly hahaha.
I don’t remember any poly shirts had poor performance for tennis apparels.
Sometimes thicker fabrics might cause less breathable or fabrics are too much sticking to body but otherwise poly materials are decent for tennis activity.

I asked, because it is the second time you are criticizing the material without even taking it to the court.

It is strange, considering that you buy athletic apparel to perform certain tasks to criticize its performance before you even tried it.

A lot of your other criticism is pretty odd too.

You say that on the pocket material is "just wrong", but it is just a pocket.

I haven't noticed anything special with the pocket material of any of my shorts, for example, so how can a material be "wrong"?


Also, despite that the tag of your pieces states that it is UV protective, you still are looking for some other confirmation that it is such.

Where are you hoping to find it, if not on the tag of the item?

Playing indoors doesn't give you enough chance to sweat enough?

I don't buy it.

Currently I play twice a week indoors, and there is no shortage of sweating going on.

If you play normally you will sweat a lot, even if the temperature is relatively low.

Then you proceed to criticize the quality of items you have not received, and further make generalisations about why Uniqlo is bad quality and how they pay Federer, so they cannot afford to put money into development.

To me that sounds like a shilling.

:cool:
 

Kenny022593

Professional
I wear the super thin ones for tennis and working out. They are great in terms of breath-ability and comfort. They do run small like a compression shirt, though. So buy a size larger than you normally would if you do not like that.

I have had one for almost a year and another for about 3 months. They are both the same quality and fit as when I bought them.
 
D

Deleted member 742196

Guest
I asked, because it is the second time you are criticizing the material without even taking it to the court.

It is strange, considering that you buy athletic apparel to perform certain tasks to criticize its performance before you even tried it.

A lot of your other criticism is pretty odd too.

You say that on the pocket material is "just wrong", but it is just a pocket.

I haven't noticed anything special with the pocket material of any of my shorts, for example, so how can a material be "wrong"?


Also, despite that the tag of your pieces states that it is UV protective, you still are looking for some other confirmation that it is such.

Where are you hoping to find it, if not on the tag of the item?

Playing indoors doesn't give you enough chance to sweat enough?

I don't buy it.

Currently I play twice a week indoors, and there is no shortage of sweating going on.

If you play normally you will sweat a lot, even if the temperature is relatively low.

Then you proceed to criticize the quality of items you have not received, and further make generalisations about why Uniqlo is bad quality and how they pay Federer, so they cannot afford to put money into development.

To me that sounds like a shilling.

:cool:

Didn't know you played the sport too. Good on you.

Re above; confirm off my own experience.

Indoor tennis often makes me sweat more actually in winter. It might be the lack of free flowing air or the relative dryness on my skin from heating vents.
 

kimguroo

Legend
I asked, because it is the second time you are criticizing the material without even taking it to the court. It is strange, considering that you buy athletic apparel to perform certain tasks to criticize its performance before you even tried it. A lot of your other criticism is pretty odd too.
Why I was criticizing uniqlo items before I even try?
I feel like that These uniqlo fabrics have similar characters to old materials (pre-2009 products) which was used by adidas and Nike’s cheapest line.

Also is there any rule here that I can not have initial impression on products? did I complain about performance of Uniqlo products before I tried? If I was criticizing any performance issues before I try the products then I agree that I was wrong but Mainly I wrote about how I feel about material, fit etc...
after I try products, I might add more impressions especially performance aspects.

Nishkori‘s shirt fit is better since it’s close to true fit or slightly slim fit. When I see Nishkori’s shirts line from armpit to bottom opening, it has slight curve line which makes slight slim fit but close enough to true fit so it’s consistent.
If those sizes are slightly tight, I can go one size up but Federer shirts “Fit” is somewhat strange. Shoulder to shoulder is almost baggy fit, armpit to armpit is true fit then bottom opening is almost slim fit.
L size looks a little large and M size fits better but bottom opening is a little tight. There is a good possibility that uniqlo might use actual Federer’s measurement for his line but retail version size should be more generalized in my opinion.

I started to play tennis in 2008 since then I bought and sold at least $100000 worth of tennis apparels and accessories.
Also involved with manufacturing several tennis apparels and accessories. Probably tested at least 200 different materials during that period.

Textile industry was noticeably better after 2009 in my opinion especially poly and nylon materials.
Poly and nylon materials used be rough and some irritating feeling from fabric but starting from a few years ago, materials are as good as cotton like feeling for certain polyester.

You keep talking about performance of apparels but poly is poly. Most of Poly materials have a good sweat management. Some poly materials are less effective for a sweat management but that does not mean fabrics are bad quality. The reason might be derived from weight of fabrics and those are more suitable to fall and winter tennis apparel season products. I don’t believe there is fabrics which will give perfect sweat management. Often people complain about Nadal’s apparel material but he sweats more than regular people and no fabric can give him a solution. Even Yonex made a fabric which will not stick to body but it still sticks to body when players have heavy sweat.

You say that on the pocket material is "just wrong", but it is just a pocket.
I haven't noticed anything special with the pocket material of any of my shorts, for example, so how can a material be "wrong"?
When any manufacturers make inside of pockets, either they use same material of shorts or thin stretchable mesh materials instead of using terry cloth material which absorb more sweat like sponge. That’s the reason terry cloth fabric should not be used for inside pockets in my opinion.
Also, despite that the tag of your pieces states that it is UV protective, you still are looking for some other confirmation that it is such.

As for UV thing. Since material was almost see-through (actually it bothers me more than UV protection), I was a little concerning about UV protection. Someone said uniqlo shirts are UV protected material but I can not find any information on UV protection at all. Checked all tags but find nothing so I assume these shirts are not UV protective fabric.
Honestly I less care about UV protection.
Playing indoors doesn't give you enough chance to sweat enough?
I don't buy it.
Currently I play twice a week indoors, and there is no shortage of sweating going on.
If you play normally you will sweat a lot, even if the temperature is relatively low.

During fall and winter time, I only use indoor courts for 1 hrs 30min drills which involve some doubles. If there are many intensive players during that session, I might sweat lightly but It won’t be enough to evaluate products fairly. The facility is big and very well temperature controlled place.
Everyone is different someone sweats more like Nadal and monfils and someone sweats less.
Winter time some people show up more often for drills so I see 6 more players with one coach then hitting chance is much less instead of 2-4 player with one coach ratio.
Also in late fall and winter, I often use 85% poly and 15 cotton mixed fabric apparels. It absorbs sweat slightly more than poly shirts but I prefer those fabrics. Other than that GA weather is fine to play outdoor with some layers during winter. I totally agree that If I play indoor single game, I will sweat decently but I don’t play indoor single game unless one of my friend invites me to his club ( I remember the place was warmer feeling since they ran more heaters than so I sweated more there).
Then you proceed to criticize the quality of items you have not received, and further make generalisations about why Uniqlo is bad quality and how they pay Federer, so they cannot afford to put money into development.
I did not criticize quality of items which I have not received at all.
Also Last comment was joke-like comment.
I don’t blame anything to Fed. I just want to see good tennis products from uniqlo and they can easily do it since they have all the tools. That was my point.
 
Why I was criticizing uniqlo items before I even try?
I feel like that These uniqlo fabrics have similar characters to old materials (pre-2009 products) which was used by adidas and Nike’s cheapest line.

Also is there any rule here that I can not have initial impression on products? did I complain about performance of Uniqlo products before I tried? If I was criticizing any performance issues before I try the products then I agree that I was wrong but Mainly I wrote about how I feel about material, fit etc...
after I try products, I might add more impressions especially performance aspects.

Nishkori‘s shirt fit is better since it’s close to true fit or slightly slim fit. When I see Nishkori’s shirts line from armpit to bottom opening, it has slight curve line which makes slight slim fit but close enough to true fit so it’s consistent.
If those sizes are slightly tight, I can go one size up but Federer shirts “Fit” is somewhat strange. Shoulder to shoulder is almost baggy fit, armpit to armpit is true fit then bottom opening is almost slim fit.
L size looks a little large and M size fits better but bottom opening is a little tight. There is a good possibility that uniqlo might use actual Federer’s measurement for his line but retail version size should be more generalized in my opinion.

I started to play tennis in 2008 since then I bought and sold at least $100000 worth of tennis apparels and accessories.
Also involved with manufacturing several tennis apparels and accessories. Probably tested at least 200 different materials during that period.

Textile industry was noticeably better after 2009 in my opinion especially poly and nylon materials.
Poly and nylon materials used be rough and some irritating feeling from fabric but starting from a few years ago, materials are as good as cotton like feeling for certain polyester.

You keep talking about performance of apparels but poly is poly. Most of Poly materials have a good sweat management. Some poly materials are less effective for a sweat management but that does not mean fabrics are bad quality. The reason might be derived from weight of fabrics and those are more suitable to fall and winter tennis apparel season products. I don’t believe there is fabrics which will give perfect sweat management. Often people complain about Nadal’s apparel material but he sweats more than regular people and no fabric can give him a solution. Even Yonex made a fabric which will not stick to body but it still sticks to body when players have heavy sweat.


When any manufacturers make inside of pockets, either they use same material of shorts or thin stretchable mesh materials instead of using terry cloth material which absorb more sweat like sponge. That’s the reason terry cloth fabric should not be used for inside pockets in my opinion.


As for UV thing. Since material was almost see-through (actually it bothers me more than UV protection), I was a little concerning about UV protection. Someone said uniqlo shirts are UV protected material but I can not find any information on UV protection at all. Checked all tags but find nothing so I assume these shirts are not UV protective fabric.
Honestly I less care about UV protection.


During fall and winter time, I only use indoor courts for 1 hrs 30min drills which involve some doubles. If there are many intensive players during that session, I might sweat lightly but It won’t be enough to evaluate products fairly. The facility is big and very well temperature controlled place.
Everyone is different someone sweats more like Nadal and monfils and someone sweats less.
Winter time some people show up more often for drills so I see 6 more players with one coach then hitting chance is much less instead of 2-4 player with one coach ratio.
Also in late fall and winter, I often use 85% poly and 15 cotton mixed fabric apparels. It absorbs sweat slightly more than poly shirts but I prefer those fabrics. Other than that GA weather is fine to play outdoor with some layers during winter. I totally agree that If I play indoor single game, I will sweat decently but I don’t play indoor single game unless one of my friend invites me to his club ( I remember the place was warmer feeling since they ran more heaters than so I sweated more there).

I did not criticize quality of items which I have not received at all.
Also Last comment was joke-like comment.
I don’t blame anything to Fed. I just want to see good tennis products from uniqlo and they can easily do it since they have all the tools. That was my point.

You say that you didn't criticize the quality of the fabrics, yet you continue to talk negatively about "the qualities of the fabrics" when you haven't even tried them.

What is more, you compare them with other fabrics, using the word "cheap", after which, interestingly, you say that you expect them to work well, because they have the right material, so which one is it?

If they work well, then at worst the feel of the fabrics to the touch will feel rough, and not as smooth.

Then again, Lacoste also produces fabrics that are really dry (it is even in the name), which is not a negative, as they don't feel unpleasant next to the skin, and work very well.

I expect a person that has had over "100000 dollars" of items in his hands in the past ten years to know that and not rush to make statements that at best give a misleading impression to someone, who might not have as great experience.

I am not aware of any rules regarding posting impressions, but I wasn’t criticizing your choice of posting impressions, but rather the poor choice of criteria and descriptions.

From your initial impressions the one thing that was worth reading was the information about the fit.

While that is also a personal choice and preference, I at least can understand when you compare it with other fits for the benefit of the general reader.

I don't find the fit you are describing particularly strange, and think that you might be correct when you say that they probably modeled it after Federer's physique.

It is suitable for people that are relatively fit and have broad shoulders.

Customers that lack that physique might be advised to look elsewhere.

The "UV" misunderstanding might be caused by poor wording.

You initially said "and Uniqlo tag said UV protected fabric", so I assumed that you read it on the tag of the garments, or at least on their website in the garments' descriptions.

Then you changed your statements to "someone said Uniqlo shirts are UV protected material", which is a completely different thing.

I don't know about whether terry cloth is suitable for pockets, but only because you or I haven't encountered that until now doesn't mean that Uniqlo doesn't know what they are doing.

I have other high performance pieces of apparel that have terry cloth (most notably winter garments for cycling and virtually all my summer cycling gloves) that is actually used for sweat management, so I advise that judgment is withheld until the things are tested.

I talk about performance, because that is what a customer expects from the garment.

If every poly does its job to transport the sweat effectively, then we have a reason to be happy.

Still, some materials are better than others, so how a certain item performs is not irrelevant to the impression we get from the garment.

If a garment is doing well, then it is a reason to consider it good.

If it is exceptional, then that is its main point.

I don't consider your statements about the "pre 2009 poly garments" correct.

I have poly or some other synthetic fibers garments going back to the 80ies, and while the level of finishing might have improved, there is no such a cutoff, nor the materials from the past are as unpleasant as you seem to be implying, or the modern ones are necessarily better.

Recently I had the chance to examine the RF polo from the AO 2018, and, boy was that a disappointment: paper-thin material, perforations in different places and in different patterns, slick as a nylon bag.

If the discussion is about feel or "hand" of the fabric, that must rate as one of the worst out there, so while the finishing might have improved that is no guarantee for a better feeling fabric.

Ditto some of the Lacoste products, not to speak of the general lines of Diadora, Lotto, Babs, Head etc.

As to whether a fabric will "stick" to the body - that is not the main concern.

The main concern is that when it is drenched in sweat it doesn't feel like you are wearing a garbage bag.

I am a bit perplexed by your insistence on certain formulaic definition for the best fiber content proportion.

Many of my best garments (tennis and non-tennis) doesn't follow that formula.

:cool:
 
@Tennis_Hands

There seem to be people who, for some reason, are taking Fed's transfer to Uniqlo personally either because they're Fed fans or Nike fans. I'm not saying kimguroo is one of them, although it does seem odd to criticize clothing you haven't even played in yet. But it seems those who paid $100 for a Fed Nike shirt think it must be of better quality than Uniqlo. This only shows Nke's marketing is very good. I have bought both and there definitely is no significant difference in quality. I actually prefer Uniqlo, and with their lower prices, it's a double win.
 
@Tennis_Hands

There seem to be people who, for some reason, are taking Fed's transfer to Uniqlo personally either because they're Fed fans or Nike fans. I'm not saying kimguroo is one of them, although it does seem odd to criticize clothing you haven't even played in yet. But it seems those who paid $100 for a Fed Nike shirt think it must be of better quality than Uniqlo. This only shows Nke's marketing is very good. I have bought both and there definitely is no significant difference in quality. I actually prefer Uniqlo, and with their lower prices, it's a double win.

Yes, I am familiar with the situation.

Some people that haven't posted for months came out of hiatus to create threads expressing their disappointment with Federer going from Nike to Uniqlo.

Others made thread after thread implying that Uniqlo couldn't have possibly paid that much, that Nike let Federer go, that Uniqlo is garbage, that Federer is stupid and greedy etc.etc.

All this created an almost surreal scene as far as a reaction towards a simple business decision goes.

However, it is in the best interest of the tennis fan and customer to have as much and correct information as possible, and to try to find out what is the real situation with anything concerning the tennis business.

I view such conversations as an opportunity to get more information and look at the situation from as many perspectives as possible.

:cool:
 

kimguroo

Legend
You say that you didn't criticize the quality of the fabrics, yet you continue to talk negatively about "the qualities of the fabrics" when you haven't even tried them.
Read my posts again. I did not criticize performance of fabric/ apparels. You are the one who brought performance aspects of apparels which I can not answer yet. So far, I only criticized about fitting, almost see through fabric for shirts, use of terry cloth fabric in pockets. I can criticize see-through fabric and terry cloth fabric in packets without trying the apparels. These are nothing to do with performances. These are my opinions and I am free to express myself. Someone might disagree with me but that’s fine since everyone has their own preferences.
What is more, you compare them with other fabrics, using the word "cheap", after which, interestingly, you say that you expect them to work well, because they have the right material, so which one is it?
Cheapest line does not always mean bad quality and bad performance. For example, Nike produced inexpensive line called “team” shirts and shorts which is $45 and there are $100 Federer and Nadal shirts and $85 shorts. Does fed and Nadal lines perform significantly better than team line? For the performance aspects, I don’t find $45 team line has sweat management problem or other performance issues. Also I don’t have significant durability issues except logos but I know heat transfer logos can be perfect and it’s very common problem. Probably team line fabric might be slightly thinner but still acceptable to play tennis.
I expect a person that has had over "100000 dollars" of items in his hands in the past ten years to know that and not rush to make statements that at best give a misleading impression to someone, who might not have as great experience.
“Misleading impression”
Same thing....I was talking fitting issues. almost see-through fabric for shirts and terry cloth material in pockets.
How can you say these are misleading information? Except for terry cloth material which can be a personal preference but I have not seen any company which used terry cloth materials in pockets for authentic apparels. That was a big surprise for me. Nobody knows about uniqlo’s intention and I have not tried yet but it’s clear that I prefer same material of shorts or stretchy mesh like fabrics.
I have poly or some other synthetic fibers garments going back to the 80ies, and while the level of finishing might have improved, there is no such a cutoff, nor the materials from the past are as unpleasant as you seem to be implying, or the modern ones are necessarily better.
“while the level of finishing might have improved”
You are implying that modern fabrics are improved.
Sounds like “Improved finish” imply “better” instead of it stays“same” to me.

Recently I had the chance to examine the RF polo from the AO 2018, and, boy was that a disappointment: paper-thin material, perforations in different places and in different patterns, slick as a nylon bag.
So how was performances of the polo?
Paper thin/ slick as a nylon bag material gave you disappointing performance results?
 
Read my posts again. I did not criticize performance of fabric/ apparels. You are the one who brought performance aspects of apparels which I can not answer yet. So far, I only criticized about fitting, almost see through fabric for shirts, use of terry cloth fabric in pockets. I can criticize see-through fabric and terry cloth fabric in packets without trying the apparels. These are nothing to do with performances. These are my opinions and I am free to express myself. Someone might disagree with me but that’s fine since everyone has their own preferences.

Cheapest line does not always mean bad quality and bad performance. For example, Nike produced inexpensive line called “team” shirts and shorts which is $45 and there are $100 Federer and Nadal shirts and $85 shorts. Does fed and Nadal lines perform significantly better than team line? For the performance aspects, I don’t find $45 team line has sweat management problem or other performance issues. Also I don’t have significant durability issues except logos but I know heat transfer logos can be perfect and it’s very common problem. Probably team line fabric might be slightly thinner but still acceptable to play tennis.

“Misleading impression”
Same thing....I was talking fitting issues. almost see-through fabric for shirts and terry cloth material in pockets.
How can you say these are misleading information? Except for terry cloth material which can be a personal preference but I have not seen any company which used terry cloth materials in pockets for authentic apparels. That was a big surprise for me. Nobody knows about uniqlo’s intention and I have not tried yet but it’s clear that I prefer same material of shorts or stretchy mesh like fabrics.

“while the level of finishing might have improved”
You are implying that modern fabrics are improved.
Sounds like “Improved finish” imply “better” instead of it stays“same” to me.

So how was performances of the polo?
Paper thin/ slick as a nylon bag material gave you disappointing performance results?

I already said it in my previous post, but I will repeat it just in case: everyone is entitled to his opinion, and noone criticized you for voicing it.

With that said, once you choose to voice it, it it is open to interpretation and discussion.

I brought up the performance of the garments, as that is their primary function.

Since you already discussed the other aspects before, I found it odd that you repeat them, without even waiting to see, if they at least perform.

Also, nice effort to try to spin the "cheap" comment as something positive, but unfortunately you put it in a context with the "old" fabrics from before 2009, and you also said that before 2009 the fabrics were somewhat substandard, and that after that the fabrics were "noticeably better", so, who are you kidding that you meant something else with the "cheap" comment?

Funnily enough, you criticized the terry cloth, before having any experience with it in the way it is used.

It is funny, because I know for a fact that it can have a very useful function as evidenced by my experience with such applications in multiple high-end garments from Assos, Rapha, Giordana, Mammut etc.

I can even venture a guess, that it is supposed to absorb some of the sweat from both the legs and from your palms, similar to what happens with your armbands, only happening automatically when you reach for the ball in your pocket.

Also funny is that you consider my comment about your fit comment to be an interpretation that you were criticizing the fit, when I specifically said that I find it useful.

Yeah, it is a "misleading impression". Hopefully not generated intentionally.

It is not clear to me how you can prefer something over something else, when by your own admission, you haven't tried it, and you have no idea what it is supposed to do, but I will chalk that up to some people being naturally conservative/suspicious, although the statement about the "$100000" should indicate the opposite.

"Improved finish" is exactly that. There are many more characteristics of a fabric than the finish, but that was not the main part of my argument.

The main part was that what you are saying about the finish before 2009 being suddenly worse or of distingishably problematic quality is simply not true.

I said what I said, because there are some polyesters that are a state of the art nowadays, as far as finishing, composition, properties and durability are concerned.

Sadly, none of them are used in tennis garments thanks also to the big players in the tennis industry that skin their customers alive with exorbitant prices for mediocre (in comparison with other consumer goods with such materials) quality.

I didn't buy it, as I thought that it was ridiculously overpriced for what it is. I commented on its "finishing and improved "quality"", as you were talking about them like they are always presented.

Maybe not.

Other than that, I am looking forward to seeing your review when you have the chance to properly test the items in question.

:cool:
 

darklore009

Hall of Fame
Uniqlo airism shirts are something I would wear under my actual shirt @ work. I do like the fabric as its soft in the skin, however the white color is somewhat transparent to the point they can see parts of your chest. The black color however is something you can wear as a normal shirt as its all blacken out. I do wear the black one from time to time whenever I hit to the courts. It feels like youre not wearing any shirts at all, but the sweat absorption will make the shirt wet feeling on the back.
 

kimguroo

Legend
Funnily enough, you criticized the terry cloth, before having any experience with it in the way it is used.

It is funny, because I know for a fact that it can have a very useful function as evidenced by my experience with such applications in multiple high-end garments from Assos, Rapha, Giordana, Mammut etc.

I can even venture a guess, that it is supposed to absorb some of the sweat from both the legs and from your palms, similar to what happens with your armbands, only happening automatically when you reach for the ball in your pocket.
I was not saying terry cloth fabrics are bad for entire fashion apparel productions.
unfortunately all of my high end apparels do not have terry cloth fabrics. Usually with higher quality cotton or cashmeres but when I make one of tennis apparel accessories, I intentionally used because of better sweat absorption.
Have you seen any tennis apparels with terry cloth material? We were talking about tennis apparels not other apparels.
Past 10 years, I’ve never seen any items with terry cloth materials except tennis apparel accessories.

I agree that You have a point. Terry cloth will absorb sweats from legs and palms. That might be a positive aspect but terry cloth fabric’s known characteristic is better water absorption so it’s popular material for towels,
Negative aspect is If someone sweats heavily, all those sweat will stay in pockets. Thinner material will hold less sweat.
We put tennis balls on pockets. I am positive that those balls will absorb more sweat from terry cloth material pockets since tennis ball surface absorb water well too.

I didn't buy it, as I thought that it was ridiculously overpriced for what it is.
It’s odd that you criticized me that I did not test performance of the shirts then you criticized a product which you did not even buy.

I did not have any expectations for uniqlo since I like to buy tennis apparels and see what each companies are doing and often go to various stores to check apparels.

as soon as I received and tried on white Federer uniqlo shirts, I could see parts of my chest too because it’s almost see-through material similar to darklore009’s description for Airism shirts.
That’s why I simply wrote about fed’s Uniqlo items. There was no intention of taking down uniqlo or fed and personally I want to see any tennis apparel company produces slightly thicker fabric than see through like thin fabric. Preferably 88% poly and 12% spandex fabric which is good enough thickness for embroidery logos for shirts.
 

DJ-

Hall of Fame
I've been wearing uniqlo for some time now both tennis and non tennis and i must say they are high quality standards! I have not tried the fed stuff, but Kei and novak collections on the court are great fitting and super comfortable, wash after wash and still look A1. Let's just hope they sign more players up so it will still be available to the public.
 
I was not saying terry cloth fabrics are bad for entire fashion apparel productions.
unfortunately all of my high end apparels do not have terry cloth fabrics. Usually with higher quality cotton or cashmeres but when I make one of tennis apparel accessories, I intentionally used because of better sweat absorption.
Have you seen any tennis apparels with terry cloth material? We were talking about tennis apparels not other apparels.
Past 10 years, I’ve never seen any items with terry cloth materials except tennis apparel accessories.

I agree that You have a point. Terry cloth will absorb sweats from legs and palms. That might be a positive aspect but terry cloth fabric’s known characteristic is better water absorption so it’s popular material for towels,
Negative aspect is If someone sweats heavily, all those sweat will stay in pockets. Thinner material will hold less sweat.
We put tennis balls on pockets. I am positive that those balls will absorb more sweat from terry cloth material pockets since tennis ball surface absorb water well too.


It’s odd that you criticized me that I did not test performance of the shirts then you criticized a product which you did not even buy.

I did not have any expectations for uniqlo since I like to buy tennis apparels and see what each companies are doing and often go to various stores to check apparels.

as soon as I received and tried on white Federer uniqlo shirts, I could see parts of my chest too because it’s almost see-through material similar to darklore009’s description for Airism shirts.
That’s why I simply wrote about fed’s Uniqlo items. There was no intention of taking down uniqlo or fed and personally I want to see any tennis apparel company produces slightly thicker fabric than see through like thin fabric. Preferably 88% poly and 12% spandex fabric which is good enough thickness for embroidery logos for shirts.

I was not talking about "fashion".

None of the companies I mentioned is a "fashion" brand, but a high-performance technical sports manufacturer.

I didn't quite understand the sentence where high-quality cottons or cashmeres were mentioned.

As for your effort to liken what I am saying to what you are saying, you don't understand (although I already told you in my previous post as much) that I commented on that polo solely in the light of your claims about past-2009 materials being better finished than pre - 2009 materials, so I was commenting on that giving a very recent example being quite disappointing in that regard.

You, on the other hand, claimed that it is finished badly, likening it to supposedly sub-standard materials from "cheap" lines, made a comment about its supposed functionality (terry cloth is the obvious comment, but there are others, like composition of the cloth etc). All that means that your comment and my comment start from different premises.

Mine was based on the qualities of the garment in one area, addressing a faulty claim, and my comments were based on the estimated qualities in that one area based on what I personally examined, so, whether I bought it or not is irrelevant here.

Yours was based on untrue statements about multiple things.

Also, while I didn't comment on the performance of the AO 2018 polo, you made general comments in the direction of the other product, for which we already have some information from the Nishikori/Djokovic lines, for which the people that use them speak more or less positively.

I can speak of what you write, not of what your intention is supposed to be.

Also, while I understand that you for some reason are convinced that that percentage combination is some sort of superior one, I don’t see it as being special at all.

I have polos with different combinations of fibers, including 100% polyester, which feel just is good/bad as that combination.

Most of the polos from Lacoste are polyester, and, well, I can't speak highly enough as far as quality of the garment, be it finish or function, is concerned, so talking about one particular combination as if it is some sort of holy grail, is quite the oddity.

As for your last statement, I know virtually noone, who is buying the garments with the idea that they need to react positively on "embroidery".

That is of no concern to a normal user.

:cool:
 

dr325i

G.O.A.T.
Too much to read above...
In short, I have been using UNIQLO since 2013 (tennis, airism, heattech, dress shirts, socks, boxers, jackets, sweatpants and shirts, t-shirts...) . I still have some 2013 shirts/shorts and they look pretty much the same as the day I bought them. Excellent quality. Excellent price. The fit is great once you figure out the sizing. The colors are limited (DRY-EX, dress shirts...)
The airism undershirts are exactly that -- used as undershirt, mainly for summer. Collects the sweat, not necessarily preventing the sweating. Very light and feels like nothing on you. easy to maintain, however, it does not like the drier!
I have occasionally used them as undershirt during tennis, for temps under 75. Works well.
 

CosmosMpower

Hall of Fame
I bought 5-6 airism shirts and wear them as undershirts but in the summer I'll also wear them to play tennis in the evenings. They are very thin and light but don't absorb a lot of sweat since they are so thin so you have to use a towel instead of your shirt to wipe your face.
 

kimguroo

Legend
Uniqlo are a quality brand, simple as that. I don't know why everyone is arguing with one sour grape that is having issues with chest hair.
It was not chest hairs. White fabric is thin enough to see nipple and areola. It’s not about quality of uniqlo brand.
It’s about thin fabric. Nike has more problems with thinner fabrics since they use thinner than uniqlo’s fabric for certain shirts.
 

lacoster

Professional
Airism shirts are only available during the spring and summer as it's very thin and lightweight. I actually like the Heattech shirts much better because they are a little heavier.
 
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