Friday outfit blogger is online,

today recommending John Smedley's Sea Island cotton T-shirt,

no logo, no print, Sea Island cotton as fine as silk.

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Sea Island cotton is the finest cotton fiber in the world. It was successfully cultivated on Saint Simon Island, Georgia in 1786, hence the name "Sea Island cotton."

The superior characteristics of Sea Island cotton are its extremely fine and long fibers, as well as exceptional strength, making it the top choice for textile fibers. Clothing made from Sea Island cotton offers an excellent tactile feel, superior breathability, and sweat absorption. Moreover, due to its natural luster and high affinity for dyes, garments made from it exhibit vibrant and vivid colors, unmatched by other cotton fabrics. Sea Island cotton has long been praised for its "cashmere-like texture and silk-like sheen." Although it is a natural plant fiber, it contains up to 0.65% oil content, the highest among all cotton varieties. "Its thermal expansion and contraction properties are quite pronounced—fibers loosen at higher temperatures and tighten at lower temperatures, providing warmth, similar to the properties of cashmere, an animal fiber."

Sea Island cotton fabric is durable, wear-resistant, and outperforms other cotton fabrics in terms of wrinkle and pilling resistance. It can be washed and ironed at high temperatures, and its quick moisture absorption and release ensure comfortable wear. Sea Island cotton garments require little to no ironing, and shrinkage during washing does not exceed 1%. It is cultivated in China's Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guangdong provinces, as well as in frost-free tropical and subtropical regions at altitudes below 800 meters, such as Honghe and Nujiang in Yunnan. Originally native to tropical South America and the West Indies, it was once widely distributed along the southeastern coast of the United States and nearby islands, hence the name "Sea Island cotton."

The earliest widespread cultivation of Sea Island cotton occurred in regions from Chile to Ecuador in South America, later spreading to North America, Egypt, Sudan, and some Asian countries. Today, it is widely cultivated in tropical regions worldwide.

In modern times, many countries have developed various Sea Island cotton varieties, including Egypt's "Giza 45" and "Giza 70," Sudan's "VS" and "Barakat," the Soviet Union's "6465F" and "9647I," as well as the "Pima" varieties from the United States, Peru, and Morocco.