You may have noticed a few comments on the site about the style & sizing of the shirts we use. After buying, printing and wash-testing dozens of different brands and styles of blank tee shirts, I made the decision to use American Apparel. They cost more than most of the blank shirts out there, but here’s why I chose American Apparel:

> Semi-fitted” shape. Many of the cheapo shirts that are used by some online sites are basically just cotton bags with holes cut out for your arms & neck. If that’s the fit you’re looking for then these American Apparel shirts are not for you. I say semi-fitted because the American Apparel shirts are not skin-tight, but do have a medium-slim cut. I’ve heard this called an “athletic” cut, but I don’t exercise much and they fit me just fine.

> Finer cotton weave. This is probably the most important thing for the quality of the print you get on the shirt — other than the type and quality of the printing technique being used (see my earlier post on that issue).  The American Apparel shirt fabric weave is small & tight, so the print doesn’t appear coarse.  Of course, the other upside is that the shirt feels softer against your skin.

> Great colors.  As you see throughout the site, there are many great colors available from American Apparel. I personally still love basic whites and grays, but when I feel crazy my favorite color is the Grass green, which I use in several places including my favorite shirt, the Normal tee.

On the other hand, there are a couple of things about the American Apparel tees that I’d change if I could:

> Increase every size label by 1. As you’ve probably noticed, I mention in several places that you may want to consider ordering a size larger than you usually wear.  This is not only due to the semi-fitted nature of the shirts, but also to account for the fact that most people I know use a clothes dryer.  And if some of you are like me, you don’t really get all those buttons on the front of the dryer.  In fact, just a casual scan of my options (Mixed… Delicates… Air Fluff…) leaves me confused and disoriented.  As a result my shirts are dried using whatever wizardry takes place after I push “start.”  And sometimes that means my 100% cotton shirts shrink a little bit.

> Get rid of the tags. American Apparel shirts have tags.  I could cut them all out and print the Dufur logo on every shirt where the tag used to be, but then I’d have to raise prices to pay for the extra time and materials that would take.  I suspect you’d rather deal with the tag.  And I’m not very good with scissors.

If you have any other tips, shirt recommendations, or questions about the products we use here please let me know.  I am always trying out different brands to make sure we have the best quality for a reasonable price. Right now that’s American Apparel.