The Hunt for the Perfect T-shirt

As I sit here, I am wearing a size Large T-shirt and feeling very much like a sausage, or Pamela Anderson, not sure which. This Large is tiny on me and I’m generally a small. So, this one just won’t work, despite the delicious color.

The T-shirt is a sample as we hunt down the perfecta/o tee for the adult line. Some are too short. Some are too long. Some are too thick. Some have huge arms. Some have thick neck binding. Feos! The ones we used for the Cuba Nostalgia show this year are absolutely wonderful, but run very small. Not ideal for Latina curves — or anybody other than las flacas Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.

Some of you responded to our recent poll (or sent e-mail) and asked for Made in the U.S.A. Amores, I am so trying. The options are limited. Very limited. I recently spoke to a T-shirt distributor who had some tees made locally. It is an expensive nightmare, he said. I told him I had a bit of a nightmare talking to a local manufacturer too. Maybe even the same one. There aren’t that many, though Tennessee used to have a lot of fabric mills. We laughed about it and agreed that perhaps there is a reason practically everything apparel-related is done overseas.

Of course, the right cut, fit, color and price is out there. We found it for Los Pollitos and we’ll find it again. It’ll just mean trying on a whole lot of T-shirts. (Lots for the yard sale pile later!)

In the meantime, if you have a favorite T-shirt brand, feel free to let me know.