Agreed - don't buy microfiber sheets! Egyptian cotton is kind of hard to reliably find. Lots of companies label things as Egyptian cotton without that being 100% the truth. I believe you can rely on California Design Den to label their stuff accurately - you could try their Egyptian cotton sateen sheets. You might want to look into Supima cotton. That's a trademarked name (in the US) that can only be used if it's true, and it refers to extra-long staple cotton, which I'd imagine is what you're looking to experience with Egyptian cotton. Lands End, LL Bean, Peacock Alley, The Company Store are all brands that I'd look at for Supima cotton. More on reddit.com

1000+ thread count isn’t real, and thread count is a marketing scheme, don’t buy into the hype. Also, pretty well known that Egyptian Cotton is a scam. There have been tons of lawsuits over it being mislabeled and in fact, a vast majority of it isn’t even from Egypt. It isn’t better than Pima, Supima, or upland Cotton. More on reddit.com

They are as long as you get actual Egyptian Cotton. The best way to tell if the cotton is really 'Egyptian Cotton' is the pricetag ;) Primo brands like Sferra, Frette, Pratesi, etc. will usually use true Egyptian Cotton in their products, but again, you have to pay for it. There are different grades of Egyptian Cotton as well, and what you really want is extra-long staple one-ply Egyptian Cotton since that is usually the best quality. Giza Cotton is the highest grade of Egyptian Cotton you can get and usually for a 'good' set you'll have to pay at least $1000 for it. Anything less than that is not true Giza Cotton (or it's a shittier version of it and not good quality). If you want really good Egyptian Cotton sheets you'll more than likely be spending at least $500 for a King set, to start. Anything less than that would be considered 'mid-tier' and is, as it is so-named, mid-tier and not anything spectacular. Don't get me wrong, mid-tier is not bad and can be pretty good sheets for the price, but there's something to be said for using high-quality Egyptian Cotton sheets that are crafted by master craftsmen (usually that is sheets made in Italy or Portugal). That's why the best sheet sets you can get are ones that are made in Italy (the best), or Portugal (a close second, but still not as good); US-woven brands sadly don't compare and the loss of the manufacturing base in the US has meant that the art of linens have been mostly lost to time thanks to outsourcing. Italy and Portugal, on the other hand, haven't had that issue and still retain their centuries-long mastery of the craft and it definitely shows. If you get an opportunity to feel some swatches from brands like Sferra or Frette then their Giza Cotton offerings are definitely not to be overlooked (it's absolutely wonderful, especially the sateen offerings). I had the pleasure of feeling Sferra's entire line at my local specialty linen shop via its swatches and I gotta say... their Giza Cotton swatch (and the Milos line, too) were buttery-soft and I can't unfeel them now :( But, from my experience, yes: they're worth it. But you'll be crying buckets of tears from buying really good quality ones since they're so damn expensive. I had to compromise and get Peacock Alley's Soprano sheets since they were the cheapest 'primo' brand/model I could get for the price with decent quality extra-long staple Egyptian Cotton (made in Portugal). I adore them and don't regret it, but if I could have, I'd have gotten Sferra's Giza 45 sateen weave sheets :( More on reddit.com

Real Egyptian Cotton is harder than you'd think to find these days, just by design that so many companies claim they're using 'Egyptian Cotton' when, in fact, that's untrue or using a very loose definition of it. A really good video about Giza cottons/Egyptian cottons is this video, which goes into what it is, how to spot it via pricing, how it's made, etc. that I feel is really educational about the topic and is a good guide for trying to find quality sheets in future: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1PEUGGTv4w&pp=ygULZ2l6YSBjb3R0b24%3D Honestly, though, I would likely stick with Supima cotton vs Egyptian if you have a budget of $300 as usually you can find more quality sheets with Supima cotton vs Egyptian cotton (and at least with Supima you can be assured it's extra-long staple cottons, which is the most important factor to look for). Hope this helps! :) More on reddit.com