First things first, I want to give all of the credit in the world to what the Boys Get Sad Too team are doing. They’re shining a light on male mental health, a subject that for far too long, hasn’t received enough attention.
They also give 10% of their profits to mental health charities, and again, I can only commend this.
As you have probably guessed from the title of this blog, I am a guy, and mental health struggles have been a huge part of my adult life. I have definitely noticed that mental health is being talked about more, and seeing my friends be more open with their feelings is no longer as much of a rarity as it once was.
I can’t recall where I first saw the Boys Get Sad Too (hereby referred to as BGST) brand, but I liked the designs, I love the message, and the fact that it actively supports mental health charities was all I needed to convince me to purchase. So, purchase I did, ordering a t-shirt and sweater in 2023.
I love me some pink, so ordered a Pink jumper, and this Black Flower T-Shirt. I can’t see the Pink jumper on site at the moment, so don’t know if they’re out of stock, or if it has been discontinued.
Interestingly, I did have some issues with the Pink jumper, which I will elaborate on here as I review the fit, the quality, and the look of the BGST products I purchased.
Black Boys Get Sad Too Flower t-shirt:
Let’s start with the positives! The black BGST t-shirt has been a staple of my wardrobe (I can’t believe I’ve actually used the words, ‘staple of my wardrobe’) since I bought it, and besides looking great, it’s genuinely a conversation starter.
I’ve had a lot of people compliment me on the message the t-shirt highlights, and have had some really powerful conversations off the back of that. This is a good thing. I’m a huge mental health advocate, and if I can help other people talk about that, then great.
The photo below is a good example of this. A friend of mine added this to her Instagram story, as she was a fan of the message.
The t-shirt runs long, and is not too tight. This is great news for someone like myself, who despite being sober for over a year, still sports a mean beer belly. The transfer still looks strong, and is showing very limited signs of wear and tear.
Here’s a couple of photos on how the transfer is holding up a year after purchase. The top image is of the large transfer on the back, and the bottom one is of the smaller one on the front. Please excuse any creases. In this case, Boys Don't Iron Too.
There are a couple of small holes in the transfers, but again, this is after a year of wearing and numerous washes, and also, this is also a very close image of said transfers. From further away, you'd barely notice any issue.
There are a lot of different designs in this style, and I am looking to get another one very soon. Absolutely no complaints with this tee.
Pink Boys Get Sad Too Jumper:
As mentioned previously, I had a couple of issues with the jumper, so let me expand on these here.
Unlike the t-shirt, the jumper doesn’t run long, and does show the belly, so I probably didn’t look as desirable as usual in this, at least compared to the aforementioned tee. I like to order a size up, as I prefer baggier clothes for comfort etc, so keep this in mind when ordering, as the size I usually order, felt a bit tight.
The design is great, hence me ordering, and I have no complaints there. Besides being a genuine conversation starter as I touched upon, the BGST clothes do objectively, look super smart, so shout out their design team.
I know a lot of ‘message’ based clothes follow a similar pattern, where the design is secondary, and the words are just placed in the middle of the piece of attire, and that’s that. What I like with BGST is that the clothes are genuinely aesthetically pleasing, and that some thought has gone into them.
My issue with the pink jumper was that I noticed random spots start to appear after only a few washes. It looks like the colour had run, or there was an issue with the dye, which after only two or three washes, was hugely disappointing. Below is a small collage of the spots and faded areas that appeared on the front and the back of my jumper.
I wash my clothes in cold temperatures, so it wasn’t a heat issue, and none of my other clothes were affected, leading me to believe it was an issue with this jumper. If these spots were over all of my clothes, then fair enough, I’ve messed up somewhere. The fact it was contained to just this jumper, again, reaffirmed that it was an isolated issue.
At this point, I reached out to BGST support (who were quick to reply I should point out), and they said they checked for any defects, and it wasn’t an issue on their end. Here’s their response below:
This may well be the case, but seeing as though it was isolated to just this jumper, my guess is, something went wrong here.
As mentioned at the top, this type of jumper is not listed on the website at the moment, so maybe there was a wider issue they identified, or maybe it was simply discontinued as BGST are often dropping new designs. If anyone at BGST wants to clarify, feel free to drop me a message!
Below is a photo of the jumper in action. As you can see it's a little bit tighter, and doesn't run as long. And yes, I nailed the basketball game.
Final Thoughts:
It’s hard for me to be anything but effusive with my praise for Boys Get Sad Too, and despite my not great experience with the jumper, I’d still have no issues buying from the brand again.
Anything that shines a light on male mental health gets my vote, and as mentioned, it has been a real conversation starter when I’ve worn it, and it’s felt like a small win to play a little part in raising awareness.
Yes, the jumper situation wasn’t ideal, and I wouldn’t buy that particular product again, but the t-shirts are great, well designed, and fit really well, so no complaints there.
The fact that every BGST sale generates money for a mental health charity is ultimately the most important thing to consider, so I’d absolutely recommend the brand.
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