

Kickstart the first tailor-fit, American-made henleys and hoodies - zapnap
http://blog.pistollake.com/post/60775085351/kickstart-the-first-tailor-fit-american-made-henleys

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theshaneo85
Shane, one of the other co-founders from Pistol Lake, here. We started Pistol
Lake to make basic, well-crafted shirts that just fit. Happy to answer any
questions!

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hashtree
Very interesting, as this is the first time seeing your company. Perhaps I
missed this (I went over about three pages on the website), but:

1) How much are you trying to raise? What if it fails to meet the goal?

2) How exactly can I get a perfectly fitting shirt? What do I need/get to
measure (i.e. is it two things and you get close or is it more)?

Love this idea for a company, by the way. I often have to find clothing in odd
corners to fit my physique (tall, thin, long arms and torso). I've ordered
tech shirts just because of how they fit (e.g.
[http://www.googlestore.com/Google+Redesign/Wearables/Men+s+T...](http://www.googlestore.com/Google+Redesign/Wearables/Men+s+T-Shirts/Long+Sleeve+Organic+Crew.axd))
and buy lots of cycling oriented clothing as it seems to fit me better than
"mainstream" clothing without being tailored.

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wsul
1\. We just hit $10K, our goal was at least $5K, which is the minimum to place
an order for 16 rolls from the mill.

2\. Most people are adequately covered by the standard 6 sizes. Ours fit
particularly well - how a shirt should. It is a lot about how it fits in
certain areas of the body and then drapes. We spent a ton of time perfecting
our block, specific for our cotton, and then expanded it with other shirt
designs. We take it a few steps further and have made a number of other sizes
to fit between a Small and a Medium, and one between a Medium and a Large, and
then tall sizes, tapered cuts for extremely athletic people, and a relaxed cut
for heavier.

We're working on the interface now, and will have it done when the campaign
ends to collect measurements. We can match you pretty well with height and
weight, but chest helps a lot as well. Whatever you're comfortable giving!

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napoleoncomplex
Just ordered, and your reply is confusing me a bit regarding the measurements.
I entered some measurements under "My Profile", are those all I need to enter,
or will there be a different interface once the campaign ends?

First time I'm doing something like this, so I'd like to make sure I'm doing
it right :).

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wsul
The section of My Profile was our first stab at taking in measurements, but
we're refining it and making the UX much better. We'll definitely let you know
when it launches.

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flanbiscuit
I would love to see them tackle t-shirts and dress shirts. I'm a tall (6'4")
slim man and a lot of the times when I get a t-shirt there's so much extra
material sticking out on my arms. I want it to wrap snuggly around my arm like
it does for people who have bigger arms. Once in a while I buy a t-shirt that
does this but it's very sporadic.

For dress shirts I usually do 2 things. I get mediums, never tuck them in and
roll-up my sleeves (this is my preferred method). If I want my sleeves to
actually look like they fit me I get a large and once in a while I get it
tailored, if I don't tailor them it's because I usually wear that shirt with
something over it like a sweater/vest/blazer/jacket/etc so it hides the
bagginess around my back/waist area.

I would really like to pre-order this but I actually don't see any examples on
their site of what their different sizes are and how they'll fit. All I see is
the same model type. You can tout that you are going to have all these amazing
different sizes for all types and not showcase that. I'm particularly looking
for someone of my body-type.

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exhaze
I'm a big fan of custom-made clothing (I'm an engineer at ThirdLove [1] - you
take a picture of yourself, we figure out your measurements based on the
picture, and you can buy clothes from our vertically-integrated brand based on
your fit).

Maybe I'm a pretty standard size, but is there really a huge demand for
custom-fitted t-shirts/henleys? Custom fit is valuable for clothing that is
three-dimensional (suits/sports coats) and/or has many different fit
parameters (dress shirts). For the segment of people that are interested in
custom-fitted clothing, is a custom tee significantly better than an off the
rack one? I guess I'll answer the question for myself - buying the $99
package.

On a side note, some feedback on your checkout process:

As a guest, when I go to check out, after I register/log in, it takes me to a
referral page instead of the payments page. That was really confusing. You
should be taking people straight to the payments page if you want to maximize
your conversions.

[1] [http://www.thirdlove.com](http://www.thirdlove.com)

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hashtree
In the states, if you fall into a certain number of body types and desire
properly fitting clothing your options are very limited without tailoring. For
me, even clothing that is aimed at my body type doesn't fit well. I appear to
be on the extreme end or simply have too high of standards.

I know I'd pay a pretty penny for just a few shirts that fit exceedingly well.

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wsul
This is -exactly- why we're doing what we're doing. What is your body type, if
you don't mind me asking? Would love to see where you fit in our size scale
and shoot you a shirt.

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hashtree
Really a great idea for a business. It won't likely go upsetting the
powerhouses of the clothing industry but that doesn't mean there isn't a large
revenue stream to be had on those of us who fall into these areas. Millions
might be small sums for said powerhouses, but it could be life-altering
revenue for a nimble and focused company and it's employees.

No need to send, I plan on ordering here shortly. :)

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jmduke
A smart move by these guys was targeting a high-profile member of a fashion
community (in this case /r/malefashionadvice, though I wouldn't be surprised
if they hit up Styleforum and other places as well) and sending him a bunch of
stuff to review -- the guy reviewed it and it hit the frontpage of a ~250K
community for a day[1]. This isn't a particularly novel or high-cost approach,
but its a classic marketing move that seems to be glossed over by nouveau
entrepreneurs. Writing a book on Rails? Send a copy of the book to a prominent
Rails blogger to see what they think. Launching an AirBNB for corgis? You'd be
well-advised to spend an afternoon finding and reaching out to the dozens of
corgi forums.

[1] Incidentally, this is why I think Reddit advertising will never take off:
the value proposition of stuff like this is just so much more appealing.

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wsul
Thank you. We're huge fans of MFA (subreddit every dude should check out:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/malefashionadvice/](http://www.reddit.com/r/malefashionadvice/))
and jdbee was awesome. Since we were avid readers, we knew the rules and how
to approach him - we told him straight up that we expected complete honesty
and were open to the public. Things like this are a win, win I think. I love
reading about new brands, and enjoy the unbiased reviews, and the companies
(like mine) really benefit by gaining a few customers and a lot of eyeballs.

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exhaze
Another good person to approach would be Dan Trepanier of The Style Blogger
([http://tsbmen.com](http://tsbmen.com)). They have a [self-proclaimed]
readership of 100K+ monthly, and they offer style advice to specific groups
like bigger guys, really tall guys, short guys, etc. I think your product
would be a perfect fit for their audience.

~~~
wsul
I'll definitely reach out. Any recommendations for getting the word out are
much appreciated!

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necubi
If I may make a suggestion: there's a hugely underserved population of short
(< 5'6") men who cannot buy good quality, well-fitting clothing in the US. I
would love to see a small shirt manufacturer tackle this demographic.

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wsul
Great idea! Shoot me an email at will@pistollake.com and I'll get some
measurements from you and work on the pattern.

Our XS fits 5'6" well, but we haven't tested to see where it starts to become
too long. Here are a few people that are 5'6" wearing it:

[https://pistollake.com/images/examplefits/Erik_XS.jpg](https://pistollake.com/images/examplefits/Erik_XS.jpg)
[https://pistollake.com/images/examplefits/Zach_XS.jpg](https://pistollake.com/images/examplefits/Zach_XS.jpg)

NAME SIZE HEIGHT WEIGHT PANT SIZE CHEST STOMACH BICEP ARM LENGTH Zach XS 5'6"
140 28/28 35" 31" 11" 28" Erik XS 5'6" 130 28/28 35" 31" 10.25" 28"

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HeWhoSitsAtDesk
Question: Sorry if this is listed, I couldn't find it. How do I figure out
what size is the best fit for me?

They look awesome and this is such a great idea. I've been thinking about
something similar since I can't find graphic t-shirts that fit well AND look
good (ie have a graphic I want to wear). Generally everyone prints on american
apparel and to be honest AA sucks. I have a lot of artwork I plan to do a test
run with, will you guys be doing graphic t's? Any chance I can buy a stack of
shirts to print on for my test run?

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grannyg00se
Seems you have every country on the planet in your drop down list for the
shipping address, but I keep getting "no shipping option" no matter which
country I choose.

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wsul
Sorry about that! What're you trying to order and to what country? We'll get
to the bottom of it.

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grannyg00se
I was trying to order one polo to Canada. Then I tried a bunch of different
countries at random.

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wsul
We are just implementing international shipping. It has been really cost-
prohibitive previously. UPS is $76, Priority is $32, we've figured out some
cheaper options, but we want to make sure everything we offer is at prices
we'd pay... and we haven't been able to nail it down yet. That said, we're
looking at ~$14 shipping to most parts of Canada now. Not sure if that makes
sense on one polo, but at least we have an option.

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lukethomas
I ordered a polo as well - easily my favorite shirt in my wardrobe. It's
extremely comfortable, and I'm definitely going to make another purchase.

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wsul
Check out the new henley - it is a one-of-a-kind. I may be biased (I'm a co-
founder of Pistol Lake :) ) - but I've never had so many compliments on a
shirt before.

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onehp
Definitely interested in this range but I'm still waiting on my order from the
first campaign. How far are you guys from getting the UK orders sent?

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wsul
We're starting international shipping next week! Can't wait.

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Nicolo77
Congrats! I was in on the kickstarter. Great company with a vision for men's
clothing I can get behind.

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freerobby
Congrats! Stoked for the new line, loved the first [Kickstarter] package.

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wsul
Can't wait to get you your hoodies. :)

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champion
I ordered a polo as part of their Kickstarter launch and really like it!

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wsul
Killer - we aim to please.

The question is.. was it lagoon blue? :)

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defen
Is it possible to see the colors that will be available?

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wsul
Hey! The colors are in the slider images in the middle of the page. They are
charcoal, black, white, navy, red, and steel.

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defen
Oh cool, thanks. I actually hadn't scrolled down far enough to see them. I was
that sold!

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syerram2
Loved the first kickstarter package - perfect fit.

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wsul
What'd you get? We had some quirks with the polos, but overall, I'm really
proud of how well the first run came out. We're going to continue to make
improvements every batch, so let me know if you have any things you'd like to
see changed!

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danvoell
Where does the blog post talk about angel round?

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wsul
Good observation, a section got removed, adding it back now. Happy to write
separate blog about it as well, if you're interested. We raised a unique round
from mostly younger company founders - an advisory round.

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the7nd
Wearing the v-neck right now! Congrats.

