Women's Hemp Clothing: 100% Hemp Woven vs 55/45 Hemp-Cotton Knit
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Two very different fabrics get sold as "hemp clothing," and the difference decides whether you like what shows up.
Across the 126 pieces in our women's range there are essentially two constructions: 100% hemp woven and a 55% hemp / 45% organic cotton knit. They are not competing versions of the same thing. They are used for different garments because they behave differently, and knowing which is which tells you more about how something will fit and wear than any product photo will.
100% hemp woven — the structured half
This is what you will find in the dresses, shirts, wide-leg pants, jumpsuits and jackets. Hemp yarn woven into a flat cloth, closer to linen than to a t-shirt.
What that means in practice:
- It has body. Hemp woven holds a shape rather than clinging. A hemp shirt hangs off the shoulder; a hemp dress falls in a column instead of following every line underneath. If you like structure, this is why you would buy hemp over rayon.
- It starts crisp and does not stay that way. New hemp woven feels stiffer than you expect. Ten washes in, it is a different garment. This is the single most common first impression, and the single most common reversal.
- It creases, and that is the material. Like linen, hemp takes a soft wrinkle. Some of it drops out as you wear it. If a completely flat surface is the goal, this is the wrong fabric and no amount of ironing changes that permanently.
- It breathes. Hemp is highly absorbent and the woven structure moves air, which is why it reads as a hot-weather cloth even in a long sleeve.
In our range this is Reistor — dresses, kaftans, co-ord sets, wide-leg trousers, drawstring pants, cropped tops and shirts, almost all of it 100% hemp.
55/45 hemp and organic cotton — the soft half
The t-shirts, tanks and long sleeves are a knit, and the knit is a blend: roughly 55% hemp to 45% organic cotton, with some pieces at 45/40 and a few lighter-weight styles nearer 30% hemp.
The obvious question is why a hemp brand blends at all. The answer is mechanical, not economic.
Hemp fiber is strong and low-stretch. That is exactly what you want in a woven cloth and exactly what you do not want in a t-shirt, which has to stretch over your shoulders and then return. Cotton in the blend supplies that recovery. A jersey knit at 100% hemp will pull on and then stay pulled — the neckline goes, the hem goes, and it does not come back.
So the blend is doing a job:
- Hemp brings durability, breathability, and resistance to the thinning and pilling that kills cheap cotton tees.
- Cotton brings stretch, recovery, and immediate softness against skin.
A 55/45 hemp tee is meaningfully more durable than a 100% cotton one at the same weight, and it keeps its shape. That is the trade being made, and it is a good one.
In our range this is HEMPZOO, who list weight as well as blend — light, mid and heavier jerseys under the same composition.
Which one for what
| You want | Look for |
|---|---|
| A dress, kaftan, trousers, jacket, co-ord set | 100% hemp woven |
| A t-shirt, tank, long sleeve, anything layered under | 55/45 hemp and organic cotton knit |
| Maximum drape and structure | 100% hemp woven |
| Maximum softness on day one | The blend |
| Something that survives being worn weekly for years | Either — this is hemp's whole argument |
Sizing and fit
The range runs XS through 3XL across most styles. Two things worth knowing before you pick a size:
Hemp wovens are usually cut relaxed. The fabric does not stretch, so the pattern has to allow the movement instead. If you are between sizes on a woven hemp dress or shirt and you want it fitted, size down; if you want the intended silhouette, take your usual.
The knits behave like any good tee. Normal sizing, normal stretch, and they relax slightly across a day's wear the way cotton jersey does.
Will it shrink?
Finished garments have already been through the process that makes hemp shrink, so a hemp dress or tee is not going to surprise you the way raw fabric would.
This is worth separating clearly, because it confuses people: hemp fabric bought by the yard absolutely does shrink on its first wash, which is why every yardage guide tells you to pre-wash before cutting. That warning belongs to the fabric, not to the clothes. If you are buying a finished garment, wash it normally.
Care, briefly
- Machine wash cold, gentle cycle, like colors.
- Tumble dry low or line dry. Line drying is better for the wovens and keeps color longer.
- Warm iron if you want the creases out of a woven. The knits do not need it.
- Do not use fabric softener. It coats the fiber and works directly against the thing hemp does naturally, which is soften on its own.
What it costs and why
The range runs from about $22 to $362, with a median around $87. The spread is not arbitrary — a knit tee and a fully lined 100% hemp jumpsuit are different amounts of cloth and different amounts of labor.
Hemp also costs more than cotton at the fiber level. Less of it is grown, fewer mills process it, and the supply chain has none of cotton's scale. You are not paying a sustainability premium so much as paying what a smaller supply chain costs.
The offset is lifespan. A hemp garment that gets worn for six years is cheaper per wear than three cotton ones that thin out and go translucent.
Where to start
If you have never worn hemp, start with a 55/45 knit tee. It feels familiar immediately, it costs the least, and it will tell you within a month whether you like how hemp ages — because it visibly improves rather than degrades, which is the part people do not believe until they see it.
If you already know you like linen, skip the tee and go straight to a 100% hemp woven dress or wide-leg trouser. Hemp does what linen does, holds up considerably better, and wrinkles slightly less.
Browse the full range in Hemp Women's Clothing — 126 pieces across dresses, tops, tees, bottoms, jumpsuits, co-ord sets, skirts and outerwear. Everything ships direct from the brand that made it, and composition is listed on the product page.
Related: Hemp Fabric vs Cotton if you want the fiber comparison in depth, Hemp Men's Clothing, and Hemp Fabric By The Yard if you would rather make it yourself.