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Garment-Dyed Sweatshirt · Seven Colors · Designed in Colorado
Six real snowflake forms, painted the way a naturalist would lay them out on a plate — stellar dendrites, sectored plates and a hexagonal plate, every one six-sided. A printed watercolor: no text, no glitter, no rhinestones.
Garment-dyed 9.5 oz heavyweight brushed fleece, soft from the first wear.
The six crystals, up close and on the sweatshirt.
The snowflakes are painted, not glued on. “Snow crystal” is what scientists call a snowflake — the ice itself. There are no rhinestones, no gemstones, no sequins and no glitter on this sweatshirt: every snowflake is part of the printed watercolor illustration, flat in the fleece, with nothing to catch or fall off in the wash.
Six snow crystals arranged like specimens on a collector's plate, each one a different form: a big fernlike stellar dendrite as the centerpiece, two smaller branching stars, a sectored plate with its ridged hexagonal sectors, and two flat hexagonal plates for contrast. They are painted in pale ice blue and white with a fine ink edge, the internal ridges and hollows drawn in, and a soft grey shadow under each one so they sit just above the fleece. No snowman, no falling snow, no sparkle, no painted background — the shirt color is the sky they fell out of. Watercolor on soft paper grain. No text, no slogan.
The Design
Large front-centered chest print — not a back print
Subject: six snow crystals of different real forms — stellar dendrites, a sectored plate and hexagonal plates — in a naturalist's study
Style: fine-line watercolor in the manner of a vintage science plate — every crystal is six-fold, the way ice actually grows
No text. There is no lettering, slogan, "let it snow" or wordmark anywhere in this design
Technique: a printed graphic — the ink sits in the fleece, straight onto the garment color with no background panel. No rhinestones, no glitter, no sequins, nothing stitched or glued on
Shown in White. The print runs large and centered on the chest, straight onto the garment color — no panel, no frame, not a back print.
Every snowflake — a snow crystal, to a scientist — has six sides because the water molecules in ice lock into a hexagonal lattice, and the crystal grows outward from that. What shape it takes next depends on the air it falls through: thin plates and the big branching stars form around 5°F, needles and columns a little warmer, and the feathery fernlike dendrites only when the air is both cold and very humid. A single crystal passes through several of those conditions on the way down and records each one in its arms — which is why, past a certain complexity, no two have ever been found alike. Everything on this shirt is a shape that has been photographed falling.
The Story Behind It
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In January of 1885 a nineteen-year-old farm boy in Jericho, Vermont, bolted a microscope to a bellows camera in an unheated shed and, after two winters of failures, made the first photograph anyone had ever taken of a single snow crystal. His name was Wilson Bentley. His neighbors thought he was wasting film.
He kept at it for forty-six winters. He caught the crystals on a black tray, moved them to a slide with a feather, and worked fast before his own breath ruined them. By the end he had more than five thousand photographs, and he had looked at every one closely enough to say, with some authority, that he had never found two the same. The book that collected them came out in November 1931. He died a few weeks later, of pneumonia, after walking home through a blizzard.
The forms on this sweatshirt are the ones he photographed most. The farm is still there.
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Wear it for the ones who stop to look at what landed on their sleeve.
A gift for the science teacher, the skier, the one who checks the snow report before the weather, or anyone who loves winter for the winter and not for the holiday. It has no Santa, no lettering and no sparkle on it, so it goes on in November and is still right in March, and it is the one snowflake sweatshirt that will not read as a Christmas sweater in January. Pair it with the Skis by the Fence Sweatshirt for the one who is waiting for exactly this to fall.
Details
Large front print, centered on the chest — not a back print
Relaxed unisex fit, side-seamed body, roomy through the chest
A pullover crewneck — no hood, no zip and no front pocket
1x1 ribbed collar, cuffs and waistband; rolled forward shoulder
Twill-taped back neck with woven label and back neck patch
Seven colors — Denim, Blue Jean, Blue Spruce, Pepper, Grey, Light Green and White — every one in every size, S to 3XL
Ready-made design — choose a color and size, nothing to upload or customize
Made to order in the USA, printed and shipped in 2–5 business days
Fabric
Printed on a Comfort Colors 1566 garment-dyed crewneck sweatshirt blank
80% ring-spun US cotton, 20% polyester, 9.5 oz heavyweight — substantial, and warm enough to be the layer rather than something under one
Three-end fleece with a 100% cotton face and a brushed fleece interior, warmer than a lighter French terry
Dyed after the garment is sewn, using salt-free pigment dyes; OEKO-TEX certified
Holds its shape through the wash, with almost no shrinkage at home
The graphic will not crack or peel. It is printed flat into the face of the fleece — no heavy vinyl patch, no rubbery texture, nothing to pull loose
Choosing a Color
The design is white and pale ice blue with a fine ink edge and a soft grey shadow — and no painted background, so the shirt color is the sky.
Denim. Deep washed blue — snow against a night sky. The crystals glow on it; the one on the hero photo and the one to start with.
Blue Jean. A lighter washed denim. A daytime sky in a snowstorm, and the softest of the blues.
Blue Spruce. Deep evergreen. Snow on a spruce — the most December of the seven without a single Christmas motif on it.
Pepper. A soft washed black, closer to charcoal. The crystals read like Bentley's photographs, white on black.
Grey. A soft heathered grey. A snow sky; quiet, and it wears with everything.
Light Green. A soft washed sage. Unexpected and calm — the ice blue sits well in it.
White. Snow on snow — the ink edges and grey shadows carry the whole design, and it is the cleanest of the seven.
Garment-dyed colors look softer and more muted in person than on a screen, and each piece varies slightly. That lived-in tone is part of the charm.
Sizing
Fit at a glance: relaxed fit, roomy through the chest · length hits at the hip · full-length sleeve with ribbed cuff · 9.5 oz heavyweight fleece · runs true to size
A relaxed unisex cut that most people wear true to size. Size down one for a closer fit; size up for an oversized, layer-under-a-coat fit.
Adult sizes only, S to 3XL. Between sizes? We will make it right, free.
Care
Machine wash cold, inside out. Tumble dry low. Avoid bleach, high heat, and ironing directly over the artwork.
Pairs Well With
The rest of the snow, and everything else for the cold months.
Skis by the Fence SweatshirtChickadee Heart Wreath SweatshirtWinter CollectionChristmas & HolidayFive thousand photographs. Not one repeat.
The Known Pack Promise
Beautiful things from the natural world, on a sweatshirt you'll reach for all season long.
Butterflies, birds, wildflowers, and the quiet stories behind them. Detailed designs in the spirit of vintage botanical plates, each with a true fact from nature on its page.
Printed on garment-dyed Comfort Colors fleece, 80% ring-spun cotton, broken in from the first wear and softer with every wash. Relaxed, roomy, and made to be your cold-morning favorite.
Why we choose it →Money is set aside from every order to help protect the trails and wild places our designs are drawn from, so the meadows keep blooming for the next generation.
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