The Yak Shack Forum

Does anyone buy from there?  I wear a size adult Large in t-shirts. My husband bought two HP shirts, and he bought me one adult large that fits perfectly and is pre-shrunk, but he saw another one he liked, which only came in teen sizes.  He bought me a XXL, and it is big.  Thing is, it is NOT pre-shrunk. I am debating on getting an XL, if they have it even, or trying to wash and dry it in warm to see how much it will shrink.  I was wondering if anyone has experience with how much their shirts shrink?

I wear an XL, and when I buy from there, I usually try to go with XXL because they definetly shrink a size or so....I learned the hard way....I bought like $150 worth of shirts from there (all XL) and now only two or three of them still fit.

I always buy my size and just never dry them :) All mine still fit fine

It is the drying them that will shrink them ;)

Okay, well, the shirt I got is a girl tee, but I think I might take it back for a size smaller, if they have it.  If not, I will be washing it and drying it in warm water and air ;)

Thanks Bryan.  That is what i though, but wasn't too sure since I only bought one shirt from them in the past, and the other I got is pre-shrunk cotton!

I only have one pre-shruck but I have so many I just air dry them all :rofl:

I started doing that with some of Ryans shirts, but for the purpose of shrinking, you need that dryer.

He also got me a Potter jacket.  I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!  But again, it is a bit long in the arms.  But, if I can not find a size smaller, I will proudly wear the one I have.

I've had my Hogwarts one for a year and never put it in the dryer and I'll be able to wear it another year because I have to fold up the arms a little

I have bought a few 'novelty' tshirts from Hot Topic over the past few years.  I have found that the few that I have purchased have always shrunk quite a bit.  Most of them were already made to be tight-fitting and so all of them have become extremely tight.  It has been at least a year since I have purchased anything from Hot Topic, but from my experiance, the shirts have shrunk much more than usual. 

Mike!! You are amazing me!!!
Want to come to my house to do laundry? (JK) :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

LOL, I'm terrible at laundry. I take twice as long to do it then normal :P


My "Muggle" was shrunk but I still dont dry it and we did the same with my "Hufflepuff" shirt but I'm still they might shrink a little more if I dry them.

Okay, so this is good news.  I am normally a Med-Large, so I was thinking an XL should do it, but he got me a 2XX (it is a girls fitted shirt so it is not huge looking, in fact, I thought it would be tight at first, but it is definitely big on).  If I can not find an XL somewhere, if I wash it in Hot Water (the instructions say cold) and dry it, do you think I cam get it down to a size L?

Mike, my "muggle" shirt is not pre-shrunk cotton, and I know it did shrink a bit in the laundry, but it is the only other hot topic piece of clothing that is cotton, that I own, so i wasn;t sure.

Okay, so i returned the shirt for an XL, which is fitted.  I get home and email hot topic and find out that the shirt can shrink up to 2 inches!!!  So now I am concerned it will get way to tight on me, and I should have stuck with the 2X, even though it was way to large in the neck and arms (my husband thought it looked fine on me, but he does not like things too tight on me). Now I don't know what to do.  Do I want a lose shirt, or a tight shirt?  Do I bother to go all the way back to the mall where I found it?

The "shrinkage" should be 2 inches from top to bottom.  Side to side will shrink too, but not as much.  But if it's tight on you now, it will get a bit tighter.  The thinner the shirt the more it will shrink I believe.

They told me the thinner the shirt, the less it shrinks :-\  Well, I tried the XL on when I got home, and it is not tight, it just seems short to me because I am used to a t-shirt being longer... I think if I do like Mike said, and not dry it, I should be fine. The larger size had enough room in the sleeve for someone to put the hand up in it, where this one barely has any room.  They told me the plus size shirts are a different cut altogether. I think that is why I felt it looked more "sloppy" (for lack of a better word) on me and this one seems more neat, if that makes any sense :P

On a plus note, the size smaller was $1 cheaper ;)  Just must keep reminding myself, do not put in dryer ::)  :P


I spoke to someone else who apologized, and said it should not shrink that much.  He also said if it shrinks way too much, I can return it, but only if it is a massive difference.

Oh, And my husband bought me the Harry Potter track jacket there too.  It was limited, and none of the stores by us have them anymore.  They are not even on the website, but on eBay, and for a hefty price.  It was my favorite gift this year.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6590863041&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Maybe it is thicker shrinks more.  I'm confused.  :rofl:  I'm also guilty of buying t-shirts bigger than I need.  I hate things to fit tight.  I saw the track jacket at our Hot Topic before Christmas, but I was busy getting gifts for other people.  Now I wish I had bought it!  >:()

I bought two HP shirts at Hot Topic for my kids and just pulled them out of the dryer (GASP!! I know Mike!! Bad, bad, bad me!  :rofl:)
It seems that it shrunk more from shoulder to shoulder rather than neck to bottom hem!  ???  ::)
I bought them larger knowing that I wouldn't have the patience or even remember to not put them in the dryer!!  ::)

Yeah, this is a girly tee, so 2 inches from top to bottom would be horrible, since they are made short to begin with.

Jackie, when you say it shrunk more from shoulder to shoulder, was it really a lot?  I notice my shirt is not as tight as I orignally thought, but I don't want it to be either. I sure hope just washing them in cold water and not drying them will do the trick.  Oh, I do hope I remember  :o=

Oh, and Kelly, you should have bought one!  I wish my husband would have bought two.  One to keep and one to sell :rofl:

I'll be at the mall tomorrow to let the kids spend some Christmas money at Build-a-bear, so I'll take a look to see if there're any left.  I doubt it.  I think they only had about 4 to begin with.  :P

I called 6 malls by me (2 are in the next state over) and no one had them.  They all said they had them about one week and they were gone. I asked their website if they would be getting more in.  One person said yes (the same one who said the shirts shrink up to 3 inches) and the other one said no, and that they were limited.  So who knows for sure :-\

I don't think it was too much. It was noticeable though. Maybe an inch? (1/2 inch each side).  ???  :-\

I think an inch is the norm.  2 just seemed like an awful lot. An inch will definitely make the shirt more fitted on me, but not too bad (probably still loser than a lot of younger girls wear ;)) I just don't want the length to go. 

Do not wash, Do not wash.....

If it was only an inch, then the larger one would definitely still have been baggy looking. And with that shirt, I would have wanted the sleeves to shrink quite a bit.  Sounds like that might not of happened.  Can you notice if the sleeve holes got any smaller?  Probably not, that is asking a lot :P

Oh, and were they youth size shirts you got?  The thicker or light weight material?

I bought a youth large and an adult small. They are both the thinner material (my new brown Mischief Managed is a lot thicker, but of course not from Hot Topic. Just trying to give you a visual!). I doesn't seem that the arm holes are any smaller. Hope this helps!!

Yes, that helps.  I just found on their site the following:


Q: How much do tees shrink?
A: They'll shrink about 5% in length and width, if care instructions are followed correctly. This is about 1 1/2" for both measurements. Not following care instructions can result in more shrinkage. Bottom line: wash 'em in cold water and hang dry 'em. That's how they stay purty.

So basically, if I like how this fits, don't dry it.  The larger size would have been okay in length and wisth washed, but not sure about the arm holes.  You could see right up them on me.

Just don't let your husband do the laundry.  Mine was being nice one day and did a few loads.  Only problem was that he shrunk 2 of my shirts and 2 of my girls pants.  I didn't have the heart to tell him.  He was trying so hard to help.  :-*

He cleans and cooks, and I pay bills, make the coffee and do laundry.  He would never do the laundry :P

Hey, mine cooks too!  He's a good Italian boy.  BTW, my Hot topic sold out of those jackets long ago.  :'(

I was just at the mall and saw that Hot Topic is having a sale on Harry Potter jackets and t-shirts.  $10 off each piece.  They didn't have any track jackets, but they did have a nice sheatshirt hoodie with the Gryffindor crest on the front.