Absorbency: The most important quality of a towel is its ability to absorb water from your body while staying plush, not getting soggy. Absorbency is measured by GSM, or grams of fabric per square meter. The higher the GSM, the thicker, softer, and more absorbent the towel is going to be.
Material and feel: Egyptian cotton has longer fibers, making it soft, plush, and particularly thirsty. Turkish-cotton fibers are shorter, which means they’re lighter and faster drying than Egyptian-cotton towels (if not quite as absorbent). Then there’s American-grown Supima cotton, which has extra-long fibers but doesn’t feel quite as plush.
Style: Over the past few years, brands like Marimekko and Dusen Dusen Home have made swirly, striped, dotted, and otherwise over-the-top printed towels popular. But, of course, it’s still easy to track down ultrasoft whites (and monogrammed towels with tempered trims) if your style skews more classic.