Every product in the Galore GSM range is named twice over: once for how heavy the fabric is, once for how it is cut. 220 GSM T-Shirt / Vintage. 480 GSM Hoodie / Boxy. 1000 GSM Hoodie / Reversible. Once you can read that system, buying heavyweight basics stops being guesswork.
This guide explains what the number actually measures, what each weight band feels like to wear, how the fit names change the same fabric, and how to assemble a year-round rotation using the Toronto label's weights as the organising principle.
What GSM actually measures
GSM is grams per square metre: the weight of a one-metre square of the fabric. It is not a quality score and it is not a warmth rating, but it is the closest single number you can get to how a knit garment will behave.
Higher GSM generally means more opacity, more structure, more resistance to stretching out at the neck and hem, and more thermal mass. Lower GSM means better drape, faster drying and more comfort in heat. Neither end is better in the abstract; they are answers to different questions.
What makes Galore's approach useful is that the number is right there in the product name rather than buried in a spec tab or omitted altogether. The brand describes its output as premium blanks defined by clean design, lasting comfort and heavyweight quality, each piece hand-cut and sewn โ but the GSM is what lets you verify the claim against your own experience.
One caveat worth stating up front: GSM tells you about the fabric, not the make. Two garments at the same weight can feel very different depending on knit structure, which is exactly why the range includes thermal and bubble knit pieces at weights that also exist as plain fabrics.
The light tier: 170 to 250 GSM
This is the summer and base-layer end of the catalogue.
The 170 GSM Shortsleeve / Flannel is the lightest thing Galore makes and the only piece in this band that is not a knit staple. At that weight flannel behaves like a proper warm-weather overshirt rather than an insulating layer.
The 220 GSM T-Shirt / Vintage sits in the range most people already own without knowing it โ the weight of a well-made standard tee. The vintage cut adds ease, so this is the one to buy if you want a shirt that moves rather than holds.
The 250 GSM T-Shirt / Slim and the 250 GSM Longsleeve / Raglan are where structure starts. At 250 GSM a tee stops being translucent and starts sitting away from the body slightly, and the raglan sleeve on the long-sleeve version gives more shoulder mobility than a set-in seam would.
The mid tier: 280 to 380 GSM
The most useful band for most wardrobes, and the widest in terms of what it covers.
The 280 GSM T-Shirt / Slim, a new release, is the heaviest short-sleeve here. At this weight a tee reads as a considered garment; worn alone it has enough body to look intentional, and the slim cut stops the density from turning into bulk.
The 320 GSM Jacket / Flannel is the shirt-jacket weight โ heavy enough to work as a light outer layer, light enough to keep on indoors.
At 360 GSM the Hoodie / Boxy arrives, and this is arguably the smartest hoodie weight for anyone who layers. You get the boxy structure without the bulk that makes a true heavyweight impossible to fit under a coat.
The 380 GSM pieces show how much knit structure matters. The Longsleeve / Thermal uses a waffle construction that traps air, the Jacket / Bubble Knit builds loft into the fabric, and the Sweatpants / Bubble Knit does the same on the bottom half. All three are the same nominal weight and none of them feel alike.
The heavy tier: 480 to 1000 GSM
This is the band the brand is built on, and where the GSM labelling earns its keep.
At 480 GSM you get the Hoodie / Boxy plus three zip-ups โ Boxy, Vintage and Cropped. This is the classic heavyweight fleece weight: dense enough that the garment holds its own shape off the hanger, structured through the shoulder, and slow to lose its form at the cuffs. If you have ever owned a hoodie that still looked new after two winters, it was probably in this range.
The 600 GSM Hoodie / Cropped and 600 GSM Sweatpants / Baggy push past that. At 600 GSM you are firmly in outerwear territory for the hoodie, and on the bottoms that density is what keeps a baggy leg hanging straight rather than collapsing.
The 1000 GSM Hoodie / Reversible is the outlier. A four-figure GSM is rare in production knitwear, and combining it with reversible construction โ both faces finished โ makes it the most technically demanding piece in the catalogue. Buy it expecting a jacket, not a sweatshirt.
If you are trying to decide where to land between mid and heavy, our heavyweight versus mid-weight hoodie comparison works through the trade-offs in detail.
How fit names change the same weight
The second half of each product name matters as much as the first, because identical fabric behaves differently depending on how much of it there is and where.
- Slim (250 and 280 GSM tees) โ the closest cut. Density shows as structure, not volume.
- Vintage (220 GSM tee, 480 GSM zip) โ relaxed and worn-in, more ease through the body.
- Boxy (360 and 480 GSM hoodies, 480 GSM zip) โ wide and short, the standard silhouette for heavy fleece.
- Cropped (600 GSM hoodie, 480 GSM zip) โ shortest body length, which stops very heavy fabric from overwhelming the frame.
- Baggy (600 GSM sweatpants) โ the widest leg offered, and it needs the weight to work.
- Pleated (350 GSM pants and shorts) โ the one tailored detail, using the fabric's body to hold the pleat.
The three 480 GSM zip-ups are the clearest demonstration. Same fabric, three silhouettes, so you can change how a piece sits without changing how it feels. That is a genuinely rare option and the main reason to buy deeper into one label rather than one piece from five.
Building a year-round Galore rotation by weight
Use the weight bands as seasons rather than as a hierarchy.
- Summer: 170 GSM flannel shortsleeve, 220 GSM vintage tee, 350 GSM pleated shorts.
- Shoulder seasons: 280 GSM slim tee, 360 GSM boxy hoodie, 320 GSM flannel jacket, 350 GSM pleated pants.
- Winter: 380 GSM thermal longsleeve as a base, 480 GSM boxy hoodie or zip-up over it, 600 GSM baggy sweatpants, with the 1000 GSM reversible hoodie as outerwear.
Note how the mid-tier pieces appear in two seasons. That overlap is the point of buying by GSM: a 360 GSM hoodie is a standalone piece in autumn and a mid-layer in January, whereas a 600 GSM one only ever does one job.
Because everything here is unbranded, it slots into an existing wardrobe without argument. Our guide to building a capsule wardrobe from cotton basics covers the surrounding structure, and if the heavier pieces are new territory, styling baggy heavyweight streetwear handles the proportions.
Ready to pick a weight? You can browse the Galore range by weight and compare the bands side by side.
GSM questions, answered
Is higher GSM always better?
No. Higher GSM gives structure, opacity and durability; lower GSM gives drape, breathability and faster drying. A 1000 GSM hoodie is not a better garment than a 220 GSM tee, it is a different one. Match the number to the season and the job.
What GSM counts as a heavyweight hoodie?
In practice, anything at or above roughly 400 GSM reads as heavyweight in a fleece garment. In this range that means the 480, 600 and 1000 GSM hoodies and zip-ups sit in heavyweight territory, while the 360 GSM boxy hoodie is the mid-weight option.
Do two garments at the same GSM feel the same?
Not necessarily. Knit structure changes the hand feel independently of weight, which is why the 380 GSM thermal long-sleeve, bubble knit jacket and bubble knit sweatpants all feel distinct despite sharing a number.
Once you know your band, shop Galore and buy the fit that suits the silhouette you want.