Skylar white BJJ gi

The Skylar white BJJ gi is the one you can buy without thinking. No academy refuses it, no federation argues about it, no instructor mentions that they would have preferred something else. That is why it is still most people’s first gi.

White is never a question

Plenty of academies ask beginners for white, some require it of everybody, a few keep it for the kids’ classes. Those rules change from gym to gym and you do not always know them before you sign up. White settles the matter before it comes up.

It is also the gi that gets lent and resold. A white one in good condition finds a taker in any academy; a coloured one depends on the buyer’s taste.

The fabric

A 380 GSM pearl weave jacket with ripstop trousers. Pearl weave became the reference because it holds a difficult balance: heavier cloth lasts longer but dries slowly and weighs down the bag, lighter cloth dries fast but wears at the seams. At 380 GSM you are in the range where most people settle for good.

Ripstop has a particular advantage on a white gi: its smooth face holds less mat dust than thicker weaves, so it cleans up more easily exactly where marks show most, at the knees and the seat.

The cut

The Skylar is pre-shrunk, most of the shrinkage having happened before it reached you. Take the size that matches your measurements now, rather than allowing for a shrink that will not come.

The A1L and A2L long cuts answer one specific case, the person whose height and weight do not land in the same box. The size chart below crosses the two, which is the only reliable way to choose.

Competing in it

White is the first of the three colours the IBJJF rules allow. It is also the one that needs no checking: where a competitor in royal blue or black has to be sure the shade is right, white never raises the question.

The other inspection points are covered in our IBJJF rules guide. They apply to the collar, the sleeves, the trousers and the patches, whatever the colour.

Keeping a white gi white

This is the trade-off, and it is a real one. White yellows at the collar and under the arms if it is left to dry in a ball at the bottom of the bag, and it greys if it is washed with coloured laundry. Two habits prevent both: take the gi out of the bag when you get home, and wash it on its own or with whites.

Avoid bleach, which attacks cotton fibres and ends up yellowing more than it whitens. A regular cold wash does more than an occasional stripping.