SNAIL MAIL #2

Greetings Snailens, it’s Michael. 

First things first, I need your help. If you don’t mind filling out the survey about t-shirts below, I’d appreciate it SO much. Also, Mammoth news is at the end of this email.

The T-Shirt Survey.

My first, attempt to make a t-shirt was three years ago. I noticed that most of my favorite fancy brands were making things in Portugal, so I thought, “I’ll make a t-shirt in Portugal!” After searching for months, I found a manufacturer and sent them extremely detailed write-ups of what I was looking for. I sent pictures, collar types, seams; I even mailed them a few t-shirts I liked the construction of.

They ended up scamming and swindling me out of around $400 and some of my favorite t-shirts. The above picture is a dramatized recreation of the day I realized I was being taken for a ride.

Since then, I decided that I was going to do as much production in the USA as I possibly could. If my shirts got stolen, I’d just drive to North Carolina and get them back. I also thought the concept of making things completely in the USA was really cool. More on that in a later email.

Anyway, the US is the world leader in cotton exports by value. We have the good stuff. Our cotton is famed throughout the world; why would I even LOOK anywhere else? It felt quite silly, actually, like driving to the hardware store for sand when you live at the beach.

I began searching for manufacturers in the US. It took me a VERY long time to find one, but I eventually did. Now it’s been over a year since I first started talking to them and I’ve received a ton of samples, all very close to what I was looking for but not perfect. 

Eventually, I decided to ask, “May I develop my own knit?”

They said, “Sure, picky boy.” 

So we began. 

The samples came in yesterday and are fantastic! Hurray! We did it! However, the company's dyeing partner announced that they were permanently closing right after they delivered my sample. I can only assume it's because of me. Needless to say, the US is the king of cotton, but we lack a lot of infrastructure to make clothes out of it. So it goes. 

The new hurdle is easily solvable. The fabric will have to fly off to the West Coast and our friends in Cali will work their magic on it. Besides the final Cali stage, the cotton is grown, spun, and knit within 260-miles as the crow flies. I'm planning on visiting a few of the farms soon. 

The knit is heavy. Not INSANELY heavy…but heavy. It’s also quite smooth. I’m really loving it. Now is the time I sink into a rabbit hole where I rub everyone’s T-shirts I come across (comparing theirs to mine). 

I’m hoping to have one shirt by the end of May. I’ll be wearing it every single day and washing it in the bathtub most days. Maybe I’ll shower with it. I already shower with jeans on so what’s the big deal?

Also, I’m going to enlist Taylor’s little sister, Cassidy, who is a dyeing expert, to make a few special editions for you email list folks. Indigo dyed? Avocado dyed? Chestnut dyed? We’ll probably find a natural dye in the Massachusetts woods.

Talk to you soon and show you a T-shirt soon! 

Michael

NEWS

- Special Edition Mammoth: working on it! I’ll have it ready by June. I’ve never received so many emails in my life.

- Next Mammoth Batch: there are currently 4 (maybe 5) different Mammoths in the works that’ll come later this year. People on the email list will get first dibs.

- The Snail goes to Scotland! New video on the vlog channel.