Life Is Good.

For most shoppers the appeal is the message as much as the cotton. Longtime fans praise the soft, durable feel and the optimistic Jake graphics, and call them comfortable enough to reach for on repeat. If you mainly want a feel-good wardrobe staple rather than technical performance wear, a Life Is Good tee tends to deliver what you came for.

Jake is the smiling, beret-wearing stick figure at the heart of the brand. Brothers Bert and John Jacobs drew him on their living-room wall, paired him with the phrase "Life is good," and printed the character on their first 48 shirts. He has been the brand's signature motif ever since.

Brothers Bert and John Jacobs, who grew up in Needham, Massachusetts, designed their first T-shirts in 1989 and sold them on the streets of Boston and out of an old van at colleges and fairs along the East Coast. After a disappointing road trip in 1994, a doodle of a smiling stick figure with the words "Life is good" won over their friends, and the brand was born from those 48 shirts.

The company was founded in 1994 and is an American apparel, accessories and lifestyle brand. Its roots are in Boston, Massachusetts, where the Jacobs brothers first sold their shirts; a batch of the early Jake tees famously sold out in under an hour at a street fair in Cambridge.

It began with T-shirts and caps, but the line has grown into a full range of apparel for men, women and children, plus a widening set of accessories. Today the brand offers over 900 different items, so the smiling-Jake spirit shows up well beyond the original tee.

The surest route is the company's own website, but the brand also reaches shoppers through roughly 4,500 retail stores across the United States and is sold in around 30 countries. Buying from the official site or an authorized retailer is the simplest way to know you are getting the real thing.

Yes. The company donates 10% of its profits to its Life is Good Kids Foundation. For many buyers that giving-back element is part of why they feel good about the purchase, not just the slogan on the chest.

The draw is a simple, optimistic message that resonates broadly. Built around Jake and the trademark phrase "Life is good," the brand spread largely word of mouth rather than through flashy advertising, and sales climbed quickly enough to pass the $100 million mark by 2007.

Quality reputation is generally strong, but it is worth shopping with eyes open. Some longtime customers feel recent tees use thinner material than the shirts they bought years ago, while others still find them durable wash after wash. Checking the fabric weight and current reviews before buying is sensible if consistency matters to you.

As with most graphic cotton tees, gentle treatment protects both the fabric and the Jake artwork. Washing inside out in cool water and avoiding high-heat drying helps keep the print crisp and limits shrinkage, so your favorite optimism stays readable for years.