Before launching into the purchase of any clothing for your business, whether for use in the workplace to identify your staff or for the promotion of your brand at events, it is important to consider what other garments you may need in the future – for example, you may be thinking of a simple t-shirt for the summer months but may require something a little warmer for the cooler months of the year, perhaps sweatshirts or polos.
There are a large number of manufacturers from which you can choose and each have their own garment ranges, their own colourways and size ranges.
This is where it starts to become a little complicated and we feel a brief conversation with ourselves may be rather more useful than blindly ordering a range of garments from the internet and being disappointed with the result.
Let us illustrate this with a “real-life” example:-
A customer approached us for some red t-shirts to be emblazoned with their logo but also required an alternative which was a thicker, warmer material with long sleeves for the approaching autumn and winter months. It was, of course, important for both garments to look matched to each other but the warmer garment, a sweatshirt, was specified as requiring raglan sleeves.
Most manufacturers supply red t-shirts but the specification of raglan sleeves seriously reduces the options and as each supplier has their own shades of red it was important to choose one single brand which could supply both items.
Choosing different brands for each item would have resulted in a mis-match of colours and finding that the investment in one item that could not be matched with another at a later date would have resulted in disappointment too.
This is one of the reasons we believe it is important to take advice before purchasing.
There are other considerations too.
Firstly, sizing.
It is fairly common knowledge that sizes vary between manufacturers. A large in one brand may be a medium in another for example.
Is your preferred garment available in the sizes you will need?
It is an unfortunate fact of life that some people think fondly of the size that they used to be or, perhaps, aspired to but life has cruelly added a few lbs or kgs over time.
As printed garments are bespoke to your needs they cannot be returned (this is the law and applies everywhere) so it is important to check both the physical size of the garment (rather than it’s claimed S,M, L, etc.) and what might work for those who will be wearing it.
Does the garment you are choosing come in the correct colour? (remember that actual colours can vary from what you see on your computer screen).
Is it available in that colour across the range of sizes that you need? (many manufacturers only supply up to 2XL (which may be fairly meaningless in itself) and those who supply larger sizes often restrict those larger sizes to a very limited number of colours.
Does the garment also come in a “Ladies Fit”?
It is a fact of life that some ladies prefer a shaped cut with a tapered waist while others with a slightly fuller figure may feel more comfortable in a “Unisex” fit with a straight cut.
Similarly, the majority of shirts have a crew neck and some ladies feel more comfortable with a V neck option.
Will you have junior assistants helping at events?
If so, what about the availability of childrens and youth sizes to match the adults and provide a uniform, themed appearance?
