“Ask Me About My Agenda” now on sale at Radial Rags. Scroll to the bottom for all the Feministe shirts.
And even more good news: Plus-sized shirts are coming very soon. We’re just in the process of figuring out a wholesaler that doesn’t rely on sweatshop labor and is relatively affordable. American Apparel is an option, but there are ongoing labor and feminist issues with that company. But a wider variety of sizes will appear very, very soon, and I will keep you all updated.
I will say, though, that this process has been pretty eye-opening — there simply aren’t a whole lot of sweatshop free, affordable wholesalers that make t-shirts to fit a whole range of women’s bodies. Larger shirts — which, really, only account for a few more inches of fabric — are significantly more expensive. And yet women’s shirts, which are generally smaller, usually cost more than men’s. And the solution offered to plus-sized women is “just buy a men’s shirt.”
It’s shitty, especially since the average American woman is hardly a size XS. If you have wholesaler suggestions, please leave them in the comments. And hold tight for just a little while longer — I promise that we’ll be selling shirts to fit every feminist body very soon.
We should brainstorm (I refuse to say “thoughtshower”) witty things to say when people do ask about our agendas!
can you make guy shirts that aren’t so feminine?
heh.
Are there any “Some of my best friends have vaginas” shirts yet? Once one is available I will TOTALLY buy one, in no small part because I came up with it. And come to think of it, I changed my mind and now like the retro dude-with-a-pipe saying it better than the one with the Feministe logo. HOWEVER, I still think you should make some shirt with the Feministe logo. It is priceless. I hope you trademarked it. It is just so retro and ironic at the same time, which totally makes it HIP, at least in my 40-yr. old mind.
And if none of the above are acceptable to you, have you considered any shirts with Pamela Anderson on them? Nothing sells feminism like T&A, n’est-ce pas?
Is there no little-girl-with-gun shirt? I’d really love to talk face to face with the guys who complain about their safety feeling threatened* by that (funny and adorable) image.
More importantly, how am I to choose between ask me about my agenda and Angry Fembot Army?
*Hey, safety has feelings too. Or I just had minor surgery and have been taking painkillers, take your pick.
Heh, cross-posted with John Lucid. The market speaks!
Oh yay – and same prices for men’s and women’s now! This will be my last post-in-a-row, I promise.
I second the “little girl with shotgun” shirt suggestion. Also, FYI, what American Apparel refers to as a plus-sized shirt is not what most actual plus-sized women would call one. their 2x roughly corresponds to a size 14-16. Anyone larger than that is, once again, referred to men’s sizes.
I agree >shirt with the Feministe logo.
Thanks for your sensitivity to size issues – it’s so lame that big women aren’t women enough for a women’s cut. And speaking of tshirt politics, have you ever noticed that mens tshirts are called “regular” and women’s (slimmer shirts) are called – “women’s” or “ladies”??
Shirts labeled “women’s” or “ladies’” and men’s labeled “regular” I can handle. Shirts labeled “babydoll” I cannot.
+ another vote for little girl with shotgun shirt.
Wait, there’s a difference between men’s and women’s t-shirts?
As a bona fide geek I have been wearing geek t-shirts since I was in college and fit a women’s size 2. You were incredibly lucky to find a *small* in those days. Nowadays at a women’s size 12, I just wear medium and large tees.
There is actually such a thing as tees cut for women? Does this work? I mean, is there any noticeable difference when you’re wearing them or is it just a scam to get more money out of women?
Please forgive my ignorance but aside from the “babydoll” tee style, which I would not have been caught dead in when I was 18, or ever, I have never seen t-shirts in “women’s” sizes. It’s always small, medium, large, and so forth, and if you’re a small woman you wear a small (XS exists, too? Really? I’ve never seen an XS t-shirt for adults in my life) if you can find one, or more likely, you buy a medium and wear it as a tunic.
I do remember that when I was a teen the fashion was for your t-shirt to actually fit your body, and back in those days, due to the aforementioned lack of XS or even small as options, I just didn’t wear tees. It wasn’t until it became acceptable to wear them as tunics that I was ever able to wear a t-shirt. Has the pendulum swung back? Do people wear t-shirts that fit now? If so, can you actually get small or XS in stores, or is this an Internet thing? I mean, I don’t fit them anymore, but I’ve got daughters and I’m still 5 foot 0, so someday if I lose weight I might fit small tees again.
Women’s t-shirts are cut a little wider in the bust and taper in the waist. Babydoll t-shirts do the same, and they tend to be a little snugger and shorter.
XS definitely exists, and is helpful at stores like Banana Republic which oversize the hell out of their clothes. Most national chains do “vanity sizing” now, so a size 2 today was a size 6 20 years ago. I’m short and somewhat petite, and I almost always end up buying XS shirts at Banana, the Gap, etc, if they shirts fit me at all.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I certainly wear t-shirts that fit.
Have you tried No Sweat Apparel?
They have fitted women’s Ts up to 2XL (which is a 40″ bust, which doesn’t strike me as a particularly generous cut, actually), and unisex Ts up to 4XL/60″ chest. (Also. Some of the numbers in their measurement charts look like typos — I’d double check if you are relying on their webpage for accuracy.)
Yaaay, plus size t-shirts! :) I may have to spring for one. Or more. (Depends on my upcoming budget.)
The big difference I notice in “women’s” t-shirts is twofold: they are more fitted than men’s or “regular” (milbydaniel — nice catch on that wording, BTW!) AND they tend to cut the neckline a little lower. Not by bunches, usually, just maybe an inch and don’t use the regular ribbing to finish it off. Hmmmm, another issue I notice is the use of lighter weight fabric. Yeah, it’s stretchier, but it feels cheap, IMNSHO. ;)
The lower neckline is nice, since apparently my neck is too big for “regular” t-shirts. *sigh* :P I am NOT fond of the more fitted cut, though. Besides not necessarily wanting to call attention to my breasts (if I want to call attention to them, I’ll use other means) and my torso fat, I just don’t really like the feel of close-fitting t-shirts. Never really have.
So — plus sized shirts. Yaaaaaay! :)
Finding t-shirts in women’s sizes (“normal” t-shirts just don’t fit me) that are sweatshop-free and union-made (I won’t go near American Apparel) is a long-time headache for me. The vast majority of leftist/labour groups don’t seem to believe that women might want to wear their shirts, or that there are people smaller than L out there. Cost also comes into play, especially up here in Canada, where we have to take exchange rates and cross-border mailing into account.
In other words, I’ll be watching this thread closely for supplier recommendations!