favorite cotton t shirt?

[HelenaBouquet]

Ok, i realized this was probably discussed to death before but I'm going to open it up again.

The most requested tee ...
as i recall was some kind of heavyweight thing.

I never really understood that, except for maybe wear and tear.  
I have several heavyweight tee shirts that i've accumulated from concerts, etc and i just never wear them, they feel like cardboard boxes and like the last thing i want to put on when it's hot
 but i wanted to open this topic up because i want to know what are people's favorite for wearing is.

Me, i like soft and light.  

I've been happy with Target's basic in house brand, Merona.

[steve]

When it comes to women's shirts, I'd have to say LAT. I love American Apparel too, but they don't have a women's line--it's definitely a Junior's line. I wish they made their men's shirts with the same materials.

For guys--American Apparel. My son loves them too. He asked for 5 ls and 5 ss AA t-shirts for Christmas! The first time he put one on, he said he felt like he was dressed in clouds!

Of course, my store sells LAT, but I established that store because I feel they are the best! It's really hard to find the entire line of LAT.

Steve

[HelenaBouquet]

Hi Steve,
Thanks,
Ive gone to your store a few times and haven't been able to find any white cotton tees for men.  I click on men tees and i get pics of shooter, ringer, muscle tank, camo, football youth as options...I thought i looked pretty thoroughly...
can you help me find them?

[steve]

Hi Steve,
Thanks,
Ive gone to your store a few times and haven't been able to find any white cotton tees for men.  I click on men tees and i get pics of shooter, ringer, muscle tank, camo, football youth as options...I thought i looked pretty thoroughly...
can you help me find them?

To be perfectly honest--I am not fond of their men's t-shirts and for dyeing, I can't recommend them. Personally I usually use gildan ultracotton for my basic men's/kids T. Generally, in my experience, men don't care as much about a soft light comfortable T (I have grown fond of them). American Apparel makes real nice shirts.

I wish LAT would use their nicer fabic for a lines of men's shirts!

Steve

[tiedyejudy]

My favorite the past couple of years has been Anvil V-neck.  I prefer the v-neck to crew necks... more flattering.  Plus, the anvils don't have the double stitching on the shoulders.  I really liked LA T's women's tanks the way they were a few years ago.  Jersey, broad straps for 'mature women'   and not clingy.  Guess they went the way of most other makers and decided everyone must wear clingy garb, 'cause they are made differently now.

Judy

[steve]

Anvil makes a good women's tee at a good price. They are only marginally lighter than the standard 6.1 oz t-shirt though.

Given a choice, and my customers have been given a choice--as I didn't have a good source of LAT shirts, they have universally chosen LAT (To my chagrin at the time) because of the cut and fabric. They generally go up a size though! I haven't worked with their tanks though--they're not as important up here in the Northern Mountains!

Steve

[dancingbearmama]

Hi!  I like Anvil women's scoopneck, and I agree LAT's are very soft and nice.  Alstyle Apparel makes a soft men's T, i think it is called a men's fitted T, and I am trying some of those for the members of a band I like called The Bills.  I used to use Alstyle's AAA line of basic T's for all my men's & youth T's, and I used their Gaziani women's scoopneck, but now I am trying out Americana Sportswear because they give you case pricing if you order online.  I keep thinking about trying some American Apparel stuff since everyone raves about them, and it would be nice to support sweatshop-free, but then it comes time to place an order and I just don't have the money in the bank to go that way.

Last summer I tried some LAT women's tanks from the Big D, and all of the size M ones twisted when I washed them.  Do you know what I mean?  I asked D to send more, but the new ones did the same thing.  I guess it was just a bad batch, but made me wary of buying more.

peace,
nicole

[Fluffy]

I sell mostly Fruit of the Loom supersoft lightweight tagless tees.  Where I live, it is a low-income area, and I can get those for about $2 which is necessary, in order to sell the shirts affordably here.  They don't hold as much color, though, due to skimpy cotton.  But I can buy them in 5-packs for about $10 at Walmart, saving a bundle on shipping.

My alltime favorite has been unavailabel for about 10 years-  Dharma Swan-neck ladies tees from China.  They're very light weight too, but shirts I did ten years ago are still in the wardrobe.  (The need to be re-dyed though.)

I like Ladies' Anvil tees because of the fit.

[John]

Hanes HW 5.5 oz. is decent, can find on sale for around $1.06 each.

Hanes made a 5.3 oz. Steadman that was nice but that was discontinued.

[Fluffy]

I'll try to post a pic of a swirl made recently.  I'm working on a hundred organic cotton tees from SOS in Texas.  This is scruffy cotton with a stiff hand, and I like how it is different from the usual imported cotton.  It is sort of impervious to water.  You can see it gives a chunky look, and would be ideal for shirts where the front and back designs are different.

(Its the polar opposite from the silky feel of 50/50 hemp cotton tee I recently dyed with ragweed recently.  <g>)

[Sarah]

I am doing some shirts as christmas gifts and I am concerned about shrinkage.  I am trying to decide which shirts to order out of the dharma catalogue and they say Hanes Beefy-T is "the gold standard."  I am wondering what results others have had with those.

[pburch]

You can get Gildan tees that are sewn with cotton thread, unlike Beefy tees which are sewn with polyester thread. Cotton thread makes for a better looking result. You have to be careful in ordering from some retailers, because Gildan also makes white cotton tees with polyester stitching, instead.

Both Gildan and Hanes Beefy t-shirts seem about standard in their sizing. They will shrink the first time you wash them, but so will any other cotton shirts.

Paula

[mishoga]

I really like Merona's Tees (Target's brand). They dye excellent and wash and wear is great!

Have to share this with you guys. 
I recently placed a order with American Apparel. I'm not too impressed with their quality. Lots of shrinkage and the material is very thin (cheap) or stiff. I don't think I'll be a return customer.
I searched on the internet for a "Soffe" wholesaler (because I really like the quality of their yoga pants).
The rep called me back. He is a northeast rep. Not only does he wholesale Soffe, but he also carries other brands and is a distributer of fine cotton tees for a company named "TQM"
Their showroom is about 20 minutes from my house so I am going there on Monday to view their line.
Here's their website link.
http://www.tqmapparelgroup.com/

I received their catalogs yesterday with price lists and you can purchase single items. Their garments are less expnsive then Dharma's. Nice discounts for larger quantities. They also have private label, which I am very interested in. They will also make garments to your specifications if that is what you desire. I'm really excited.
I will let you know about the quality. you can call and ask for a catalog and pricelist if you have a Tax ID#.
I hope this works out. If anyone here has purchased from this company, how do you like their products and customer relations?

[tiedyejudy]

Thanks for the info, Mishoga.  I'm always looking for suppliers who have different styles at reasonable prices.  I'll be interested to hear what you think when you have been to their showroom.

Judy

[Marg]

Gildan 2000 Ultra Cotton T-shirt. Peace- Marg