Welcome, to fifty: the blog! Hopefully, you are here because the idea of buying American interests you too. Together we will explore US-made alternatives for many of life’s necessities. (I will warn you now that I define necessities very loosely!)
Since it was a polo shirt that started it all (see About), it seems the only logical choice for my first blog topic:
Tucked in or worn out, the polo shirt is the perfect uniform for with the lazy days of summer. To be prepared, men and women alike stockpile this staple, but to be a real contender this shirt has to have three key ingredients:
- Comfort
- Color
- Cut
Rest assured the following US made products do. I can tell you from experience all three brands resist pilling, fading and shrinking, as Mr. fifty has put them through their paces. (We wash in cold and dry on low.)
Collared Greens – Designed and made in Sun Valley, Idaho
Why just eat your green when you can wear them too? With a green twill tape detail inside the color and no logo to draw attention from your great face, this shirt can go from work to play. Need more convincing? This shirt is made of organic cotton using only natural, low-energy, non-metal, low impact dyes. Need more still? Collared Greens donates 2% of its profits each year to One Percent for the Planet.
Collared Greens shirts look good, feel good and do good — even colors other than green.
Founded by R. Randolf Ashton of Ketchum, Idaho these clothes are manufactured for those “who would rather have their clothing produced and marketed in an environmentally-sensitive manner.”
Men’s and women’s styles available for $62.50 at www.collaredgreens.com.
Loggerhead Apparel - Designed and made in South Carolina
The classic polo. Adorned with the endangered loggerhead turtle, this shirt can go head-to-head with any alligator or pony it meets.
The result of one partner’s low country sensibilities and the other partner’s upstate textile heritage, Loggerhead Apparel is the brainchild of two South Carolina natives who wanted find a way to make a positive impact on the economy and the environment of their home state. These shirts do just that.
Loggerhead Apparel uses only 100% American-grown pima cotton and 10% of all revenue gained from sales is “donated directly to local causes supporting the conservation and protection of the Loggerhead.”
You’ll look so great in these shirts you will turn heads and save lives — turtle lives!
Men’s and women’s Bellwether Polo in a variety of colors for $64 at www.loggerheadapparel.com.
American Apparel - Designed and made in downtown Los Angeles
A little funkier. The tri-blend polo is one of American Apparel’s best-selling shirts. Maybe because of its slim and sleek lines or ever-so-slight nod to the 70′s, but probably not.
My guess is that the real reason that men buy them (and women steal them) is that they feel like your favorite t-shirt from day one. (They are sold as unisex so women can buy their own, too!)
American Apparel operates the largest garment factory in the US. “Knitting, dyeing, sewing, photography, marketing distribution and design all happen in (their) LA facilities.” At a time when most apparel work is being done overseas, American Apparel is opening stores selling American-made products in countries like Mexico, Korea and China.
The best part – the price. American Apparel offers 10 styles of polos all priced within the $32-$42 range. So go get one . . . or better yet two.
Unisex tri-blend available in 4 colors for $35 at www.americanapparel.net
