Profile for azrielen - American Apparel vs Fruit of the Loom (Question for Shimala)

azrielen aka Jamie Parris is a 29.56 year old girl, has been a member since March 28, 2002, has scored 7,197 submissions, giving an average score of 1.65, helping 55 designs get printed.

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Oct 02 '05 by azrielen
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American Apparel vs Fruit of the Loom (Question for Shimala)

OK so I've never blatantly made a post asking any of the Threadless folks a direct question, but I figured, why not? *waves at Shimala* Hey there, Craig! Answer it or don't, I was just wondering.

So WAY back in the day, Threadless printed on American Apparel tees. They were wonderfully soft and fit beautifully. I still have a few of them and I love them, like my first-reprint Ctrl-Z shirt. <3 it.

So anywhy, why did you guys switch to Fruit of the Loom? Was it a money thing? Can you get FotL cheaper in bulk? Did most other customers not like the AA tees as much?

I've always wondered, cause I miss the AA tees. And I just saw a post about them and a lot of people seem to enjoy their softness and fit as well. Hehe. So yeah, if you feel like answering, Shimala (or anyone else who knows, have at!)

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plastic taxi cab on Oct 02 '05 at 9:38am

I thought the girls shirts were still prnted on AA?

xiv on Oct 02 '05 at 9:41am

fruit of the loom are cheaper and they have a much larger variety of colors.... i believe thats why.

id rather pay more, and have less variety of colors of shirts, but have every shirt purchased fit the same.

azrielen on Oct 02 '05 at 9:42am

Maybe they are, but the guys shirts are not and that's what I wear. (Am not skinny enough for girl shirts. I could wear the XL girly, but it fits me all weird. Hehe.)

azrielen on Oct 02 '05 at 9:43am

I would rather pay a buck or two more to have them printed on AA shirts. And the color variety isn't that big of an issue, I think. I mean, AA has all the major colors. And if a designer wants a weird color for their shirt, maybe a few could be printed on FotL every now and then.

xiv on Oct 02 '05 at 9:47am

theres not really a need for 4 different shades of like every color shirt.

azrielen on Oct 02 '05 at 9:48am

Seriously. I mean, look at the ones they choose in the end? That plae-pink was the only rare-ish color that've printed on recently.

azrielen on Oct 02 '05 at 9:48am

pale-pink*

esiotrot on Oct 02 '05 at 9:48am

i thought it was because AA shirts were smaller sizes that most other brands and because of this they were having too many people wanting to exchange for different sizes.

PatShat on Oct 02 '05 at 9:49am

The mens shirts are printed on FTL, womens on AA. FTL is about $2 cheaper. AA are a lot softer, but also a lot more fragile. AA offers a more variety of colors. The womens AA is a great cut for women.

I print on AA for a few reasons. The softness, the slew of colors that you can't get anywhere else, like mint , aqua, and darkest black. The ultrafine cotton takes ink better, which helps you avoid getting a bulky think print. I also enjoy that they are made in the USA.

azrielen on Oct 02 '05 at 9:51am

The reason I ordered a shirt from your Owl Movement site, PatShat was cause it was printed on AA shirts. (And had a killer design of course.)

azrielen on Oct 02 '05 at 9:52am

@esiotrot hmmmm maybe. A simple size chart would fix that. That is, if people were smart enough to use one. Hehe. I LOVE size charts.

abeadles on Oct 02 '05 at 9:55am

I know what you maen, the fruit of the loom ones are hard shirts, they don't feel good. I have been getting the girls AA shirts and they are soo soft and nice!

Luis Daniel on Oct 02 '05 at 9:55am

I agree...I would totally be willing to pay a little more and sacrifice some shirt colors for Amrican Apparel t-sirts...They're just much nicer...Could we somehow put this to a collective vote? (This ,of course, implies democratic decision-making and I hereby don't intend to question the omnicient and benevolently despotic threadless gods in any way)

R to the Sizzle on Oct 02 '05 at 10:01am

How do the sizes compare between FOTL and AA? I don't own any AA shirt,s so I'm just wonderin'.

theninjasquad on Oct 02 '05 at 11:03am

What about quality though? AA shirts seem well, kind of fragile and dont seem like theyd last as long with many washings as the FOTL ones would.

TFMdesign on Oct 02 '05 at 11:10am

aa shirts run a little bit smaller but the same as your average shirt size.

lets say your a medium, get a medium

but if your a medium pushing a large but can still fit into a medium, go with the large.

i dont know if that helps but thats my take.

now @ azrielen, yes they should print on AA tees, i love them and they are really soft. sure they maybe a little thinner, but thats what i like about aa tees, because they are so thin you can move around easier and also i hate fotl cus they are always stiff.

(matthijs) on Oct 02 '05 at 11:31am

I've designed some shirts for another website. They print on Continental Clothing shirts. Those are great. And you can choose between different types of shirts, which is cool. My girlfriend loves that, cause she's not a big fan of the basic t-shirt, but likes sleeveless shirts better.

azrielen on Oct 02 '05 at 12:02pm

Hehe I should start an online petition. Bring back AA shirts! *glee* Like they actually would, but it might be fun.

nickOFmacedonia on Oct 02 '05 at 12:03pm

Wasn't there an issue about shirts fitting like different sizes? Like a large fit like an XL.

azrielen on Oct 02 '05 at 12:05pm

What TFM says about sizing is true. I am a bit too large for a medium FoTL shirt, and large FotL shorts are a bit too big for me, until they shrink a bit in the wash. AA shirts in large fit me just right, and they don't shrink as much. So yeah AA shirts are a bit smaller, but not so much that it makes a big difference unless you are between sizes like myself. Hehe.

Vaporiss on Oct 02 '05 at 12:20pm

bring back the AA!!

Leslee on Oct 02 '05 at 1:03pm

I thought the issue with guys AA shirts was the print. Apparently after a few washes it would shrink or wrinkle or warp somehow and just didn't keep up very nice. I think one of the Jakes said that in an older blog somewhere.

As for AA shirts being thin/fragile, I've never noticed that. When I got my first shirt I thought it was going to fall apart because it was so thin, but they really bulk up in the wash and still manage to keep that great softness.

So hooray for AA?

azrielen on Oct 02 '05 at 1:18pm

My AA shirts still look great. The only one that is showing some cracking is my Conform shirt, but the diesng is very large on that one ad I don't really wash my stuff carefully. hehe.

MoniqueH on Oct 02 '05 at 1:27pm

I love the fit of the fotl shirts, but I'm weird.

xiv on Oct 02 '05 at 1:28pm

If you dont put your shirt in the dryer, then the print stays perfect. if the design is printed properly, so there isnt such a thick layer of ink, the design wont crack.

I think anvil and delta proweight are cheaper then aa, and they may be even cheaper then the current shirts used here, but they are 100% cotton, and fit perfect after several washes and runs thru the dryer. 100% cotton is the beast because it "breathes" much better. you dont get all sweaty and sticky, as you may do with the current shirts.

Leslee on Oct 02 '05 at 2:20pm

Found itttttttttt...okay, so the official answer:

skaw, at 3:38pm on Jul 16, 2005

another big issue with AA shirts is that they were so thin that after a few washes they would become paper thin and the print would wear off real fast as well. i still have a few from when we printed on AA and i'll only use them as an undershirt - they take too much effort to take care of.

we are, however, working on getting our own custom cut/fabric tees ... it's looking good and we may have samples ready in a few weeks to send out to those who'd like them. we'll post details soon in the news.

azrielen on Oct 02 '05 at 2:40pm

Hmmm. I wonder what happened to the custom tees? Or is that what they are printing on now? I wouldn't think so, given the tags are cut off on the current ones, but who knows. The current shirts are a bit stiff for my liking.

KatieTheMofo on Oct 02 '05 at 3:00pm

They said people were complaining that AA shirts didn't wash as well, either. And that they would shrink more.

I don't want AA shirts, I'm happy with FTL.

KatieTheMofo on Oct 02 '05 at 3:00pm

oops, leslee already found the exact quote before my post.

That's what I get for not reading every reply. =x

Skipper6745 on Oct 02 '05 at 3:07pm

Yea, I'm wondering about those custom shirts as well...

azrielen on Oct 03 '05 at 3:23pm

Pah my AA shirts are fine after years, and the one I got just yesterday didn't shrink at all. Maybe they are different now. I still say AA shirts are better. hehe.

The sleeves in particular are too baggy on FotL shirts for me, I hate them. Too bad I love my Threadless shirts so much, I still can't resist them. hehe.

RjThreadless on Oct 03 '05 at 3:28pm

I'll just say I'm happy with the FotL shirts that I've gotten from Threadless. I don't dry my shirts in the dryer. eh.

shimala on Oct 03 '05 at 4:05pm

i don't have time to read all of this right now so here's my quick response...

we stopped using AA because we received so many complaints about them.

We've been looking into other shirt options so stay tuned

snacktivity on Oct 03 '05 at 4:07pm

The whole sexual harrassment extravaganza, eh? Well, it's pretty ironic that you kept it for women.

shimala on Oct 03 '05 at 4:08pm

the complaints were all from dudes

MrDomino on Oct 03 '05 at 5:12pm

The fitted cut doesn't jive with some guys.

eskimokiss on Oct 03 '05 at 5:20pm

That excuse doesn't jive with me.

RjThreadless on Oct 03 '05 at 5:41pm

The fitted cut rules !

littlem on Oct 03 '05 at 5:50pm

My yo-fu feels and fits a tiny bit different than most of my others....hmmmm. I like it though...

Luke... on Oct 03 '05 at 5:58pm

am i the only one that wears an undershirt under my t-shirt....

littlem on Oct 03 '05 at 6:03pm

*snort*

MrDomino on Oct 03 '05 at 6:32pm

"The fitted cut rules !"

Indeed it does, but some of our more homely Threadless hermanos don't think that way.

littlem on Oct 03 '05 at 6:39pm

I'm homely and I like the fitted cut.

Skipper6745 on Oct 03 '05 at 6:43pm

I'm homely, at least that's what mom tells me. *sniff*

But I like mediums. I just don't want my growing muscles to rip out of them in about 20 years when I build up to what I want.

jublin on Oct 03 '05 at 7:09pm

ya i like aa shirts just as much as the next guy. my main problem is that when i bought a medium it was too big, then a small and it was "almost" too tight.

i totally need something like a petite medium.

azrielen on Oct 03 '05 at 7:23pm

Thanks for answering, Shimala!

When you do find another shirt style, maybe something softer, if you can find it in a shirt that isn't as "fragile" ? Sometimes these FotL shirts are downright scratchy for me. Dunno, maybe I have fleas. Hehe.

And something with slightly more fitted sleeves? My sleeves are baggy and look odd, and I've seen others say the same.

Or! You could make a 2XL girly cut, since the girly shirts of all brands are cut so small. *shrug*

Anywho, just suggestions, thanks again!

Dr_Manhattan on Oct 03 '05 at 11:55pm

Yeah, a bit softer would be good, but the FOTL fit for me is pretty much perfect.

howlynart on Oct 04 '05 at 12:01am

Dude. I'm glad you said that about 2xl girly shirts. I bought a large, it was really too small, so I upgraded to XL, and they fit just like the large! What's up with that?

Ash Sammy on Oct 04 '05 at 12:13am

AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA

Ash Sammy on Oct 04 '05 at 12:13am

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