IT 46 Reads as S, M and XL on Margiela's Own Charts: Bench-Testing the $7.01 Print Tee

One tee arrives. One label reads S, or L, or something in between. Behind it sit several Maison Margiela conversion tables that answer "what does IT 46 mean" differently depending on which product page you open. That is the practical finding from our parcel of the Collection of T-Shirts with Various Prints (SKU 7718798570), listed at $7.01 against an original $7.98 and marked in stock.

The listing is not one shirt. It is a colour-code run — black, white, beige, washed black and haze-blue numerals — spread across S, M, L and XL, with abstract graphics and lettering prints on a 100% cotton, 250 g/m² plain knit with an anti-wrinkle finish, crew neck, short sleeves and a loose fit. Forty-one listing images cover that run, and the variant you tap is the garment you receive.

How we ordered and what went on the bench

We ordered through our agent and photographed the poly mailer before and after opening. On the bench we measured flat pit-to-pit, body length from the high point of the shoulder, sleeve length from the shoulder seam, hem depth and neckline rib with digital calipers; counted wales and courses at the chest under the 10x loupe; inspected hem and neckline stitching; and compared the fabric colour against the listing's own images in the daylight-balanced light box. Then it went into a 14-day wear rotation with two cold washes and logged checks on days 1, 7 and 14.

Our delivered sample was labelled L. Pit-to-pit measured 56 cm flat, body length 71 cm, sleeve 21 cm and hem depth 3.5 cm, and the shirt weighed 271 g on the 6 kg bench scale.

Where the sizing evidence actually breaks

This is the part that decides whether the parcel is a bargain or a return. The listing's S–XL labels are not tied to a numeric Maison Margiela size, and the brand's own published tables do not agree with each other:

So the same numeric label resolves as S on one official page, XL on another, and roughly a medium in buyer experience. Add the 2 cm tolerance the listing itself declares and a labelled size can sit close to its neighbour on a loose cut. Our conclusion after measuring is blunt: choose by flat pit-to-pit centimetres, not by letter. Send the exact variant to your agent and ask for one tape measurement across the chest before you approve dispatch — that single request closes most of this gap.

Fabric, print and stitch notes

The knit reads clearly midweight — denser and less see-through than a promo-grade tee, with a dry hand that softened by day 7. We cannot verify 250 g/m² from one garment, but 271 g for a size L is consistent with the figure rather than contradicting it. The anti-wrinkle finish is real but modest: after line drying, fold creases sat in the fabric and relaxed on the hanger within about twenty minutes, which is fine for casual wear and not a substitute for an iron before anything formal.

Print edges stayed crisp under the loupe, with no cracking or lifting after two washes and no colour transfer onto a white sheet when the dark colourway was washed separately. Neckline and hem stitching was clean and even, and we counted a uniform wale-and-course rhythm at the chest.

One caution worth keeping separate: an independent review of a different Maison Margiela cotton piece documents 100% cotton, single-needle sewing, side gussets, Italian production and a retail price near €650. Our sample shows no side gussets, and that review describes another garment — it is useful context about the label, not evidence about this listing.

Fourteen days, two washes

Day 1: no creasing at the shoulders, neckline held its shape on and off. Day 7: fabric had relaxed slightly at the elbows and hem, with no visible neckline stretch. Day 14, after two cold washes and line drying: body length down 1.1 cm and flat chest down 1.5 cm, both inside the declared tolerance band, with about 3 mm of hem twist. Nothing structural failed. Treat the shrinkage as cumulative, though — wash cold, line dry, and skip the tumble dryer if you are close to the top of a size.

What $7.01 does and does not cover

The item price is the smallest line on the receipt. Agent service fees, domestic freight, QC photos, consolidation and international line haul dominate the delivered cost, and the listing's own weight field reads 0.00 — meaning your agent's first shipping estimate is a guess. Ours weighed 271 g in the hand, and two shirts with packaging stayed under 600 g, which keeps the parcel in a low line-haul band. Ask for the weigh-in after QC.

A note on the brand's own channel: the official Maison Margiela webstore carried a 2.6 / 5 Trustpilot score at the time of our evidence pass, roughly 76% of it one-star and concentrated on fulfilment and customer service; a later check reads 2.8 / 5. That rating concerns the official store, not this listing — but it means the label's own shop is not a dependable fallback if a third-party order goes sideways.

What stays unverified

Country of origin for this listing, the 250 g/m² figure itself, and the fit of every colour code in the run. The sizing evidence available is brand-level, and no independent buyer claims cover this exact listing. Buyers who need the fit settled before the parcel leaves the warehouse should request measurements in writing, or not order at all.

What we can say from fourteen days of wear: as a midweight, loose cotton crew-neck bought through an agent at this price, the tee did what the listing promised. The risk sits in the label, not the cloth.