Discuss the wholesale blanks industry: Factory direct, custom labels. You can also use this forum to locate a wide variety of wholesale products including t-shirts, hoodies, mousepads, coffee mugs and other imprintable products.
I'm getting a line together to launch around thanksgiving, hopefully. Right now I'm looking at which tees to use for the line. Everybody wants to save money but I definitely don't want to leave my customers with a bad taste by giving them a crappy shirt. I've read a little bit about some of the anvil shirts being comparable quality to american and alternative apparel, and they definitely cost less per piece.
I want to look at it from a fashion standpoint too though. I read that Johnny Cupcakes uses American Apparel, is that the starting standard for american fashion tees? I know that there are much higher end as well, but I want these to stay as affordable as possible since I don't have a boat full of money to start with. What do you guys and gals prefer for your brands and what do you enjoy wearing yourselves as far as comfort, appearance, fit, shrinkage, etc.?
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Hard labor kills, make t-shirts instead.
Re: Save costs on fashion tees, or go for the gusto?
Quote:
Originally Posted by tim3560
I read that Johnny Cupcakes uses American Apparel, is that the starting standard for american fashion tees?
Yes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tim3560
What do you guys and gals prefer for your brands and what do you enjoy wearing yourselves as far as comfort, appearance, fit, shrinkage, etc.?
For fashion tees I like Alternative Apparel. A lot of the other companies mentioned here (Continental, Kavio, article1, etc.) have some nice looking stuff too, but I haven't tried samples myself.
Re: Save costs on fashion tees, or go for the gusto?
Softest is definitely bamboo. Alternative Apparel also do some really soft shirts too. If you can, I'd grab at least one sample from every one of the major fashion orientated brands: they each do a lot of different styles, and sometimes one company will have that perfect product that you just can't get from any of the others. If you have the option, it's good to already be familiar with the company so that you can add that specific item to your range.
Re: Save costs on fashion tees, or go for the gusto?
What is the wholesale price of a bamboo vs. organic cotton vs 100% cotton or whatever cotton is called that is not organic? I know that the base wholesale pricinig for the cotton shirts starts around $4-5 what price range is the bamboo?
__________________
Hard labor kills, make t-shirts instead.
Re: Save costs on fashion tees, or go for the gusto?
I haven't tried Alternative Apparel or Article.1, but American Apparel is a great way to "market" your tees. Everybody who knows anything about tees (that's not in the industry) has probably heard of American Apparel, so that's a good choice to start.
Are you planning on purchasing over 2 or 3 dozen shirts as your first purchase? I've gotten a small quantity of American Apparel from a website that didn't require a tax id, and it was good as a startup purchase.
Save costs on fashion tees, or go for the gusto? 
