Hello diligent supporters and those who desire fancy new merchandise. I come bearing good news and hopefully gift ideas for your cute gay friends! Or your straight friends! Or whoever!
We have stocked our store full of stuff in preparation for the Holidays and the new year. We made things for you! Let’s take a little tour of our new store items.
Below is our store widget for you to browse right here in this article. And below I’ll go into detail of our new products, as well as give you a sneak peek of something special that’s currently in the works:
1. The 2013 Autostraddle Calendar
As always, we have our calendar. I designed it, so I’m biased when I say that I think it’s awesome. So awesome that I made this little video to show it to you:
Also we’re stoked to share that Curve Magazine has featured our 2013 Calendar in their December issue with all these other impressive queer calendars! Thanks Curve, we appreciate the support! Fuck yeah community.
2. “You Do You” Tri-blend V-Necks
If you were not one of the 411 people who selected the “You Do You T-shirt” perk in the Indiegogo campaign for our redesign, then you missed out on a perfectly soft black American Apparel Tri-blend V-neck with a two-color “You Do You” imprint.
However, you can get in on this perfectly soft indigo American Apparel Tri-blend V-neck with a one-color white “You Do You” imprint. We’ve never sold a tri-blend shirt in our store before, because they cost more to make, but we feel like it’s totally worth it.
Same idea, different shirts – don’t miss this one this time.
3. “Straddle This” Boxer Briefs
Based on the popular “Autostraddle This” shirts which are also available. You wanted underwear, and these American Apparel boxer briefs are one of my favorite styles.
Note: the sizes are in mens – they’re unisex.
4. “Autostraddle THIS” Shirts
Back by popular demand! We’ve been offering these for almost two years and they always sell out.
5. “You Do You” Briefs
If it can be printed on, we will print ‘you do you’ on it. Trust. These American Apparel briefs are also unisex (mens sizes) and are good for avoiding that underwear line you can get on your leg from wearing boxer briefs with tight pants. Or maybe that’s just my problem. I’m not sure, I should really leave my house more often.
6. Unicorn Plan-It Raglan 3/4 Sleeve Shirt
A black and heather gray baseball tee with the “Unicorn Plan-It” logo across the chest. These have been hugely popular and we only have a few left!
And of course, there’s tote bags: a “You Do You” tote and “A-Camp” tote from this past September, as well as A-Camp shirts.
All that is exciting and all, but there’s one more thing that you need to know. This is really important. We have a new merch item that is currently in production and we’re kind of really excited about it…
Ready?
IT’S A MEMO JOURNAL YOU GUYS
It’s a memo journal for all your feelings!!!
These will be 48-page memo journals custom-made by Bound for Anything, who we love, and who you can order your own custom journal from! It’s a nifty idea, I wish I had thought of it.
For the interior pages of the 3.5″ x 5.5″ memo journal, we included both lined and blank pages as well as graph pages, checklist pages, and the best thing: hangman-ready and tic-tac-toe game pages, all enclosed in a “So Many Feelings” custom cover.
We hope you like the stuff we have to offer this year and browse the Autostraddle Store to check them out. Thanks to all of you for your continued support and happy holidays!
xo Alex
– – –
Autostraddle Merch Store
um, HOLY SHIT.
i [predictably] have so many feelings.
YOU BETTER WRITE EM DOWN GIRL
PRO TIP: When you get your boxer briefs in the mail just go ahead and throw them on the bedroom floor because that’s where they are going to end up anyway.
I just posted this article to my girlfriend’s Fb wall and capslock YELLED about how much I want the journal. And then felt self-conscious because it sounded like a giant Christmas gift hint but I know she’s already bought me something. #ValentinesDay?
is supporting american apparel something we want to be doing? http://likeneelyohara.tumblr.com/post/36652921690
All of these things look absolutely fantabulous! However, I won’t be supporting any use of American Apparel.
I’m sorry dudes, but it’s just not a company I can give my money to.
http://gawker.com/5564171/life-at-american-apparel-the-employees-speak
Same. I love Autostraddle. I do not love American Apparel, though.
we’ve been printing on AA since the beginning — they’re affordable and they’re the highest quality, made in the USA clothing that printing companies carry. we could find another shirt maker, i suppose, but to meet the quality standards that we’ve set for our merch, we’d have to charge you about twice what we are now just to turn some sort of meaningful profit, creating an elitist little group of shirts that only readers with lots of disposable income could buy.
what shirts are y’all wearing now? or anything, really. what clothing brands do you support? can you confidently say that the brands you’re currently wearing have hiring policies that have nothing to do with physical appearance? if you’re using wi-fi, are you sure that the employees of your internet provider, the employees behind your technological device you’re typing on, the employees at the electric company, as well as all the people who handle all their billing and customer service and payroll — are you positive that they’re being treated kindly and fairly and that no one cares what they look like when they apply for jobs or come in for work? and that these employers are all feminist and pro-choice and pro-equality and never ever act like total douchebags?
vetting every company whose brands or services you consume would be really time-consuming! Especially because not all of them are staffed by people who write in to gawker or post on tumblr.
Point taken, but in the face of pretty well-documented douchebaggery by a specific company, I don’t think that the answer is to support them (assuming you knew their practices). Particularly if you’re interested in empowering women. Just because we can’t change the world with our purchasing practices doesn’t mean that we should just give in when we know we’d be supporting a man who is pretty well-known for masturbating in front of a reporter, has had sexual harassment suits filed against him, etc.
I appreciate Riese’s statements, though, acknowledging these concerns, and understand that the merch has been purchased.
The reason we’ve gone with American Apparel is because they have the best quality apparel for the best price AND their stuff is unisex (or more specifically: their mens sizes run slim) which means they will fit the majority of our demographic, size- and style-wise.
Furthermore, unlike the other affordable shirt printing options, AA doesn’t operate sweatshops overseas.
I think when you buy AA stuff, you just don’t support one man, right? I mean, probs there’s a lot of people who depend on jobs? idk. I didn’t realize this one man was the only one being supported by AA sales.
I understand your stance against AA and those hiring practices sound terrible (we’re also not fans of their advertising), but you’re not hurting American Apparel by not ordering from us at this point. We’re just trying to get by, here. We just want to give people great quality shirts that aren’t too expensive and that actually fit.
But for the future, we’ll definitely be looking into Alternative Apparel for our next run, if y’all are okay with paying a bit more! I’m a huge fan of Alternative.
Thanks for the feedback!
“I think when you buy AA stuff, you just don’t support one man, right?”
True. He’s just the man who gets to determine many, many aspects of the company–which some of us find very troubling.
“I understand your stance against AA and those hiring practices sound terrible (we’re also not fans of their advertising), but you’re not hurting American Apparel by not ordering from us at this point.”
No, yeah, I get that. I don’t wish anything ill upon this site at all. I just wanted to register my voice as one who is uncomfortable with many aspects of American Apparel. I totally appreciate that you and Riese took the time to respond respectfully and are interested in looking into alternatives in the future. <3
(And I feel like I should qualify: I’m still very interested in giving Autostraddle my money. I want you guys to live forever. I use the affiliate links, am going to A-Camp, and donated to the Indiegogo campaign. I don’t think that anyone was saying “don’t give Autostraddle your money.” Rather, “this is a concern for some of us.”)
thank you for using our affiliate links, signing up for a-camp and donating to the indiegogo campaign!!
I LOVE the idea of using alternative apparel instead! (clearly if it meets all the other necessities–price, fit, etc).
I love all y’all. Seriously.
I’m always open to discussion about things like this, especially when it comes to finding clothing that fits me well. Which is close to never.
When it comes to large companies, ethical practices, and cost effectiveness, it never seems like you can win. There’s always some compromise. Be it fit, ethics, dolphin-safe, whatever. Make an argument like @alex , and maybe you’ll change my mind.
On the subject of cost and alternatives, though I’m willing and wanting to be able to spend more on a “better” piece of clothing, I really can’t. I’m a student. Life is expensive.
hey Alex, fwiw I would definitely pay more for something like Alternative Apparel. I think that is a great idea! Actually I would be way more likely to buy something to support AS *and* ethically made fashion.
AMEN. AA is shitty (and we all know it) but as compared to someplace like Hanes or Gildan? So much better to the factory workers. Shirt blanks are a HARD, HARD THING to deal with and you also want high quality, comfy shirts (for example, I had a shirt that was printed on Bayside, I think? Union made in the USA. Neck was strangulating).
Notre Dame is switching to Alta Gracia for some of it’s shirts–way better than Adidas, but I think they only market to colleges. And then you have to deal with who will supply a limited amount of shirt (Autostraddle probably doesn’t sell as many t shirts as a university does, and therefore they are a liability to work with).
I don’t know. I don’t love American Apparel and I try not to buy things direct from them, but t shirt blanks? They are a way better bet than most of the other alternatives.
we’ll definitely look into this and take this into consideration for the future (although we’re limited by what the printers – also independent businesses like ours — print on — and what’s affordable for our readers) however all of the merchandise we’re presently selling has already been printed, the garments have already been purchased from AA by the printer, what’s done is done.
so although i respect your desire to speak out on this issue, discouraging people from buying this merchandise won’t hurt anybody but autostraddle.
I can’t really afford much at this time anyway, so I’m more inclined towards totes/stickers/calendars anyway. You’ve still got my sale.
I don’t know where to post this since it applies to this entire discussion:
I’ve always reconciled my ethical quandary against supporting AA by reminding myself that Autostraddle is still a small business. Until AS has the financial flexibility to choose more ethical vendors for their merch, I understand and respect your decision to use them for business reasons.
On the flip-side, I absolutely refuse to buy anything from an American Apparel store directly as consolation because any purchase from that store only supports AA, not any other company that I’m interested in.
Is this why I never she butches working at AA, because they refuse to wear heels and show “side boob” ?
Don’t worry. When you wear an Autostraddle T-shirt, you’re not thinking, “eek I’m supporting American Apparel”. You’re thinking, “Autostraddle is awesome!”. The T-shirts are nice and good quality.
There’s a lot of hiring bias everywhere. Nowhere can be perfect.
GAH. THAT JOURNAL! #feelings
Question, what’s the rough conversion from women’s sizes to men’s sizes? (Boxer briefs, I’m looking at you.)
Hey Krissy – I wear a size SMALL in the boxer briefs, but would probably go for a medium in womens I think? I haven’t worn womens underwear in forever. It’s not a huge difference, but this size chart helps and goes by your waist size if that helps!
http://store.americanapparel.net/product/?productId=4443
I tend to wear a medium in men’s undies in general and I think I was a large in women’s the last I checked. So down one size is probably a good bet.
That’s what I suspected would be the case. Thanks to both of you guys!
Hot damn. I’m gonna have to order like five journals. Soooooo many feelings.
Oh.
My.
God.
I need that journal.
STOP WRITING ME LOVE POEMS KALYNA, IT WILL NEVER WORK.
You must stop this game
There are too many players
And no one likes you
Trying to justify getting the You Do You v-neck even though I already have the one from the Indiegogo campaign, aahhh. I just want to wear and pimp it out twice as much without actually wearing it twice as much.
dude, they’re totally different. like super different. like so different that i’m gonna buy the new one for my gf, even though we both have the indiegogo perk one, and she’s gonna be really excited by how different it is.
…right??
right. no, i’m totally right. you are so justified in owning both. actually, you probably need both. go get it, grrrrl!
You’ve just sold me!! I was agonizing cause I have the Indiegogo one and was going to get the new one for my gf (her first piece of AS merch) but couldn’t decide if I need one too. Now I know the answer though!
Plus this way I’ll have at least one of everything, and that’s important, right? Right! It’s like collecting all the Beanie Babies isn’t it…..
Also, you can borrow her shirt whenever because #queerladyperks
I caved in at the last second and threw one in for myself! Now we’ll just have to have matching shirts and resist #thelesbianurgetomerge
It’s okay. I have matching Auto Straddle This tshirts with my girlfriend. I think that needs to be a new stage entered into the queer woman cliche, right after moving in together and just before getting a cat.
omg i’m so glad you’re sold
i sold myself, too
seriously the logic is flawless
it is JUST LIKE BEANIE BABIES!
YES!! Now we’re all winning!!
Beanie Babies and AS gear ftw!
I’m so glad that I’m not the only one who’s wrestling with this dilemma.
Well fuck.
right? I feel like I should just give a.s. the account number and password to my debt card.
Direct deposit to The Excitant Group LLC seems the way to go. My debit card will be a debt card too after the merch store is done with me.
I ordered a fundraiser You Do You shirt and it’s my fav piece of autostraddle merch yet – i’m so stoked that there’s another version of it.
fwiw I prefer AA tees to all other brands I’ve tried. It’d be ideal if AS finds a company with more ethical practices and a comparable product, but until then I’ll continue to buy AS tees because i know they fit perfectly and won’t disintegrate in the wash.
I brought a Moleskine notebook to A-Camp in September for myself and for friends to write in. The So Many Feelings journal will be the perfect mAy-Camp companion.
I can’t get over how many feelings will be held in one little “So Many Feelings” journal if you get one and bring it to camp!!
Yes to community feelings journal.
Boxer Briefs! Didn’t know I wanted them till I wanted them. :D
Seriously? Straddle this? How awesome is that? Those’d be my lucky underwear. Or… you know… Get Lucky underwear ;)
Those notebooks are perfect and far more appropriate locations for my feels than tumblr.
Be with you in a sec… I’m …..juuuust…cliiiiimbing ….up….ontoooooo….my….hiiiiiigh……horse…..AHHH, ok I’m up. Nice views from up here.
I worked for a print business for a few years and was disgusted at the way staff there were treated, the amount of people who lost their jobs because we started to import materials ready made for print, the companies we bought our clothing from were awful as were the shops they were made in, the print industry is literally a big fat joke.
SO off I went and started my own print business. Got a small grant to buy the equipment and was all set to start up an ethical print company that only used ethical suppliers and materials…. IT LASTED ALL OF 5.4 SECONDS! Impossible guys. If it wasn’t the lack of affordable ethical clothing, it was sourcing the materials to print with that was the issue, or the delivery company, or the packaging, or shipping from abroad ….
Most of all, costing. I would have loved to be able to offer high quality garments that were fair trade etc but unfortunately (and I mean unfortunately, cos I really do like to support ethical clothing suppliers) their products can be literally twice the price, making it impossible to have any profit margin unless you charge your customers through the roof.
I think its really lush that people have voiced their concerns over this issue on this thread, and it was discussed in a proper grown up way! Gold star straddlers! But I did want to chip in and stand up for the merch team though, I know how difficult it is to find decent, reliable suppliers… let alone affordable ethical ones.
I for one will probably order another t-shirt, have it packaged in plastic, shipped a bajillion miles to the UK and wear it to bed….cos that’s how I roll.
Standard.
Your intro to this was the best thing ever.
*feeds sugar to the High Horse*
Thanks for that perspective; it’s super useful to hear about all those logistical things from someone who has more experience with them.
I’m glad you added your perspective! Yes, the difference between AA and other companies that I don’t support when I find out about their practices (like Chick-Fil-A) is that AA becomes the middle man in these situations, as a few have noted. So it’s a stickier issue than just wholesale boycotting. I do feel better about the possibility of buying AA if (and only if) it’s supporting businesses like Autostraddle after this discussion. Good talk; I like hearing different angles on issues.