Friday, November 6, 2009

Eco Fashion Friday Feature Organic Cotton is All the Rage in Band Tees

A couple weeks ago a bloggy friend of mine sent me the link to a sale going on in the tee shirt shop** of one of GLR’s favorite eco-conscious musicians, Jason Mraz. Back on October 10th, all tees in the shop were to be listed at $10; it was called the 10-10-10 sale. I decided to give a look as it had been a while since I had purchased a tee, least of all from this guy’s cool shop and what I found had me really excited!

This tee is made from 100% organic cotton, as are many in the online shop, but best of all it showed off Jason’s strong commitment to a healthy environment through the wind turbine and mountain graphic; something I would wear proudly about town. I placed my order right away.

When it arrived I was excited to try it out but as with all clothing I buy, it was washed first. The tag indicates “This EarthPositive shirt was manufactured solely using renewable green energy from wind and solar power.” Sweet!!

Flipping the tag over for washing instructions however I was slightly confused as it suggests to “save the climate wash cool - line dry”. It did not indicate that it should not go in a dryer, just that it was a suggestion for a more Earth friendly alternative. Since line drying is not possible in my apartment building, I opted to set the dryer on the lowest setting.

When the shirt came out I was definitely disappointed. It appears that the fabric pieces were not cut on the correct line of the weave and the side seams had turned about an inch and a half toward the front / back of the shirt (a semi bias cut). The neck and shoulder placement maintained alright and the graphic remained intact (I also always turn graphic tees inside out) but I was wholly disappointed by the shrinkage. Luckily I had snapped the photo prior to washing and I was happy to have only spent $10 on this tee (although shipping was almost as expensive at just under $8).

I will continue to wear this shirt but sadly it would never have fit as comfortably as it should have due to the fabric twisting incorrectly because of the cut, it is just more noticeable now after going through a low dryer. In the future, I will likely reserve my band tee purchases for after the show and will always remember to check the fabric weave for any signs of ill construction prior to purchasing!

** Please note all tees are temporarily sold out.

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