We have a confession to make: We love our women’s t-shirts.

Alright that’s a little inaccurate, let’s be more specific: We love our new women’s t-shirts.

Sound familiar? That’s probably because you remember where we were six months ago… you know, back when you told us our women’s tees were so small you had to give them to your nine year old niece. Well we’ve made some progress since then. A lot of progress, actually. All it took was almost a year of researching, tweaking, testing, tweaking, and, did we say tweaking and testing? We produced five rounds of samples and gathered your feedback along the way. Now we’re ready for Blank to hit the streets, but not before giving you the scoop on what we’ve done to get here.

Say hello to Blank. No, the new Blank

Is a soft and durable fabric, more comfortable neckline, just-right sleeves, and a fitted but not too fitted body something you’d be interested in? Okay that’s a trick question. We already know the answer—and since we’re being honest, we mean that you already told us the answer. Funny how that happens when you send 350 samples to customers, friends, and followers of every shape and size.

We already had our own ideas of where we needed to improve, but there are only so many of us here with opinions lol. So in June, we pushed our baby out into the real world like a proud parent, knowing there’d be good times and times when Blank would come home crying.

Your responses didn’t disappoint.

Blank was largely met with love and praise, but there were also some hiccups. Many of the issues we knew about. Some of them we didn’t. All of them we fixed. There was plenty to celebrate, but to us, the verdict was clear: good but not great.

We didn’t go back to the drawing board, but we did make some halftime adjustments. That’s good news if you were one of the testers who loved your sample, because it means not too much has changed. It’s also good news if you were one of the testers who didn’t love your sample, because the tweaks we made addressed your issues. Blank is still recognizable, it’s just all grown up now. If that’s too vague, we’ll be more clear: Blank is the same tee that we set out to create for you since the beginning, but now it’s better because of your input. THANK YOU.

Make sense? Good. We’re gonna give you a rundown of everything anyway.

The good, the bad, and the ugly

Let’s start by covering the basic changes and a few things we learned along the way:

1. When more than half of testers think your product is really good or perfect, you’re basically already in the Showcase Showdown.
2. There were still some things that needed to be tweaked, but there’s no such thing as a quick fix. Every t-shirt variation came with a different set of challenges. Tri-blend is not the same as cotton; women’s tees aren’t the same as men’s tees; an XS isn’t the same as a 5X. No surprise here, but that means each issue needed to be addressed separately, but we’ll cover that more later.
3. Philosopher Mick Jagger said it best: “You can’t always get what you want” (you sang that last part, didn’t you…). We knew we wouldn’t be able to please everyone, but there were some obvious modifications we could make so you could get what you need. We’re here to cover those modifications.
4. We’re designing and producing a comfortable, size-inclusive, quality, American made, crew neck t-shirt in great colors (for women and men) because nobody else is. That means it’s hard. Like really hard. Now you know why this was a year long process…so far.

Okay, now that we got that out of the way, let’s get on with it.

There’s no such thing as a universal truth—unless it’s our sizes

We nailed a couple of things right from the start. One of them is our size range—specifically for women. It’s not just that we offer XS-5X either, it’s that our tees fit like they should fit. A true crew neck that’s true to size… now that’s rare. Blank lands in that soft middle spot between a basic crew neck and a fashion fit. It has shape—unlike the men’s shirts women have had to order from us in the past—and it still looks great with a graphic design on it.

“Amazing. I really liked the length and how it didn’t ride up. I would buy 50 of these shirts even with the neck issue for the length and comfort. Also I didn’t feel fat in a T-Shirt in the first time in my WHOLE LIFE. Literally.”

— Blank Tester, Women’s 2X

Oh, and men, that’s no shot at you. Full disclosure, our current supplier makes a pret-ty, pret-ty good t-shirt for guys, but we felt like there could be some improvement there too. Our men’s cotton tee is a tad more relaxed, the length is a touch longer, and again, our sizes are more inclusive. And that whole length thing, yeah… we carried it over to the women’s tees as well. Finally there’s a shirt that doesn’t ride up when you bend over or try to do pretty much anything. We know, ladies. You can thank us later…like in the Kickstarter.

As far as fabric goes, well, maybe we were wrong—you can always get what you want.

Survey said: our cotton is as soft and durable as any out there. It’s not too thin. It’s not too thick. It’s breathable but not see-through. And our tri-blend is just as comfy as any we’ve tried before. Still, we’re flying to our factory in LA next week to see what we can do about making our fabrics even better.

“I like that it’s soft and light weight, but not see through. The length is just right, even after washing and drying! Can I have 6 more?”

— Blank Tester, Women’s 4X

A crew neck tee that fits all sizes was definitely a good start. We’d even say it covered everything a base model should. But we’re going for the sports package here, which meant there was still some souping up to do.

So we rolled up our sleeves—which meant rolling them down

We came up a little short with our sleeves. No biggie. Nothing some lengthening can’t correct, right? Well not exactly. It wasn’t just that our women’s sleeve length was off. They were too tight too. Ditto for the men’s tri-blend.

One thing they don’t tell you before you make your own t-shirts is that the sleeves affect the chest, which affect the rest of the body. Yep, it’s kinda like a domino affect. We fixed this weird armpit/chest thing that was happening, and consequently, lengthened and widened the actual sleeves too. A few alterations later and voila! Fabric bunching in the chest and armpit weirdness be gone. We ran a reverse on the men’s cotton tees which suffered from the opposite problems and were quite pleased with the results. Now about that collar…

General consensus was that the neck rib/collar was a little“off” somehow. In some cases the collar became flimsy in the front after washing, and sorta like a piece of 🥓. So we got rid of the extra fabric along the seams, flattened the rib, and found nicer thread.

Now might be a good time to mention that we adjusted the back collar of the women’s tees as well. One common complaint was that our necklines crept up too high in the back, so we added a subtle scoop. And even though this is a crew neck (we heard you about v-necks, don’t worry!), we went ahead and lowered the collar on the women’s tees. Larger men’s tri-blends received the opposite treatment.

But wait, there’s more

Here’s where things get complicated. We’re dealing with four different shirts, each with its own personality. Since we already covered universal flaws and fixes, it’s probably best if each tee goes their own way at this point. You understand.

Let’s start with the women’s tees:

• Tri-blend XS-XL results were unanimous: too tight up top. Aside from the changes mentioned above, we made the entire pattern bigger. Nothing drastic, but enough to make it work for more of you.
• After washing and drying, the hips lacked the fit we were looking for, so we kept the general shape, but very subtly took in the sides from the lower waist and hips, for both fabrics.
• We also added a tiny bit of length to the women’s tri-blend since it was running short.

Now for the men:

• Stop us if you’ve heard this before: our tri-blend tees were too tight, so we gave them room to breathe: longer and wider in the body, and better proportioned sleeves.
• Our cotton tees were refined for a slightly more modern look. Always gotta be different, this one. But don’t worry, there’s still more room in them than our current tees.
• Grading between the tri-blend XL and 2X was fixed. Our 2X let itself go, but we put it on a strict workout routine and it’s back in playing shape.

It takes a village to raise a tee

Six months ago, we lifted the lid on Blank. We’ve relied on your opinions, testing, and support ever since. For a minute, we were worried about running out of ways to show our appreciation. Then we realized we don’t need to say thank you. It’s not because you don’t deserve it, it’s because we’re partners in Blank—and partners work with each other, not for each other. You’re as invested in this process as we are, which means we’re light years past the point of thank you. Together we designed and refined Blank, and it’s been one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. Now comes the big ask.

This month we’re launching our Kickstarter. Finally. The research is done, we just need production to begin. We already know how committed you are. What we need now is for you to tell your friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, and your mailman to be committed. We need your help spreading the word about Blank to everyone you know. Put #BlankbyCB on Twitter. Put it on Facebook. Heck, put it on your dog. Because we love our new tees, and so will they.

Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on our Kickstarter launch and all things Blank.

It’s our birthday and we’ll talk about Blank if we want to! That’s right, Cotton Bureau turnsfour years old today and we’re celebrating by focusing on our newest project—and by giving away a bunch of 20% off coupons and $400 Amazon gift cards (more about that part later).

Since we’re another year wiser, we’ll get straight to the good stuff. You’ve heard that we’re making better t-shirts for women (and men). Now we just need women (and men) to test them. A lot of them, in fact. That’s where you come in. We need about 300 volunteers(women and men of all shapes and sizes, from XS to 5X) to try out our latest Blank prototype tees and give us honest feedback. Here’s how you sign up:

• Fill out the tester survey before Friday, June 16. We’re asking a lot of questions, so thank you in advance for your patience (and don’t forget to check the box to be added to the Blank mailing list).
• When you complete the survey, you’ll receive a 20% off coupon.
• Once the deadline passes, we’ll evaluate all your surveys and make our final selections. Tester tees will ship soon thereafter.

If you’re selected to be a Blank tester, we’ll send you a free prototype tee and have you put it through the ringer for two weeks. Wear it, wash it, wear it again (and, you know, hopefully wash it again). Don’t be easy on it, these tees have to hold up to normal wear and tear. Once the two weeks is up, you can keep the tee…it’s yours. But you must understand that with great t-shirts comes great responsibility. We’ll need you to be generous and timely with yourfeedback. No holds barred. If the length is wrong, the sleeves are awkward, the collar is too tight, or it shrinks too much in the dryer, we want to know (and if it fits like a glove right out of the package, we want to know that too). Oh, and not to add any pressure, but your input will directly affect every CB customer on the planet. Just kidding. Sorta.

If you’re not lucky enough to be selected as a tester, all is not lost. As a thank you for simply completing the survey, you’ll receive a 20% off coupon, good for anything at Cotton Bureau, now or in the future. It’s our way of saying happy birthday to you…or wait, happy birthday to us. It’s somebody’s birthday here, right?

Speaking of Birthdays…

We’re giving away four $400 Amazon gift cards for CB turning—you guessed it—4 yearsold. Y’all have Instagram, right? Twitter and Facebook are just as good. Any social media platform where you can use the hashtag #HappyBlankDay to spread the word about tester signups will work. Because what fun is a party if you can’t celebrate with all your friends(and their friends)? Let’s break it down for you:

• Instagram: Regram our morning post with the hashtag #HappyBlankDay and check our story for a chance to win a $400 Amazon gift card.
• Twitter: Tweet out the hashtag #HappyBlankDay and tag up to five friends. If you have a short memory, see this morning’s tweet.
• Facebook: Share this morning’s post to your page with the hashtag #HappyBlankDay.

Contest ends at midnight ET tonight (Monday, June 12) with winners announced tomorrow.

We can’t say thank you enough for supporting us over the past four years. Coupons and gift cards are fun ways to show our appreciation, but Blank is how we can best reciprocate. We’re more excited about this than anything we’ve done since Cotton Bureau was born four years ago, and we won’t stop ‘till we get you in our Blankday suit.

PS: Imagine us talking super fast through this part. No purchase necessary. US residents only. Limit one entry per person. #HappyBlankDay drawing ends at 11:59 EDT on 6/12. Blank tester signup offer valid until 11:59 EDT on 6/16 or until the response is overwhelming because c’mon we’re only 10 people here.

Last week we asked you guys to help us celebrate turning the big 0-4…and you didn’t disappoint. Over 3,000 people signed up to become Blank testers! We’re overwhelmed by your interest and support. Here’s what happens now:

• We’ve spent this week poring over the entries, and we hope to make our final tester selections soon. There are only about 300 samples to go around, so we have to choose carefully.
• When we determine who the testers will be, we’ll reach out via email, so keep your eyes trained on that inbox.
• Our 100% cotton samples are in hand, and the tri-blend samples will arrive a little later this week. Some of you will receive cotton samples, others will receive tri-blend samples (based on the preference you told us in your survey, or at least as close to your preference as we could get).
• Once you receive your sample, you’ll have two weeks to wear it and wash it as many times as possible, and let us know what you think (we’ll send you a survey to gather feedback).
• Someday—and that day may never come—we will call upon you to do a service for us.Until that day, accept your Blank sample tee as a gift. Actually, that day will certainly come, and that’s when we launch our Kickstarter, but we’ll talk about that later.

As always, we appreciate your dedication to CB and enthusiasm for our latest project. Sign up for the Blank newsletter to stay completely up-to-date.

Back in mid-February, we lifted the lid on Blank, our mission to make better t-shirts for women (and men). Then, well, we disappeared for a few months. Frankly, we’ve been a little busy this year: packing and shipping almost 100,000 shirts (more than all of last year), moving into a brand-new office, hiring and on-boarding more than a handful of new people, etc. But just because we’ve been quiet about Blank doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any progress. Far from it. We’re just (very) overdue for an update, so here’s everything that’s happened since you last heard from us:

We teamed up with a pattern maker.

Meet Melanie Yi. A 25-year veteran of the apparel industry, Melanie’s been patiently holding our hand every step of the way—producing (and tweaking, and tweaking, and tweaking) patterns, consulting on fabrics, fit, and model selection, and racking up frequent flyer miles between NYC and Pittsburgh. She’s become an indispensable member of Team Blank.

We visited a few factories.

After countless conversations, endless research, and a handful of scouting visits, we landed on a few factory finalists: a full-service apparel maker in Los Angeles, an apparel consultant/liaison who plays matchmaker between brands and factories (also in Los Angeles), and a cut-and-sew factory right here in Pennsylvania. We’d love to keep our production at home in the Keystone State, but we’re likely going to end up out on the West Coast (we know…what a shame to have such a frequent excuse to leave our beautiful Rust Belt weather behind for dreary Southern California).

We produced our first round of samples (and second and third rounds are coming soon).

That’s right, Blank t-shirts actually exist (just not very many of them, and only in a few sizes). We had a first run of samples produced by multiple factories—tri-blend and 100% cotton in medium and 2X for women, medium for men—to compare fit, consistency, and construction quality. If you’re wondering why we didn’t make all the sizes, you always start with just a few—usually only medium—and base all the other sizes off it (in a process known as “grading”). In our case, we developed two separate patterns for our women’s tee (one for XS–XL, one for 2X–5X) to make sure everything fits like it’s supposed to. Truth be told, we’re already pretty happy with the samples. We know that because…

We had our first model fitting.

A dozen local models showed up to participate in our first Blank fit session early last month, and the results were better than we could’ve expected (particularly on our tri-blends and women’s 2X shirts). We’ll be dialing in the fit and proportions over the next few sample iterations, but aside from a few consistent issues (the sleeves were a little tight across the board, and the body was a little too relaxed), they’re already pretty close. A second limited round of samples comes back within days for another model fitting next week, and we’re already producing the fabric for a full run of XS–5X in both men’s and women’s cuts (see our last update for more on that).

We’re preparing for our upcoming Kickstarter.

In our first post, we mentioned that we’d be launching Blank with a Kickstarter this summer, and we’re still on track for that. We’re teaming up with our friends at Sandwich Video to produce our Kickstarter video. The shoot is at the end of the month, and we might enlist a few of you as on-camera talent. If you live in or near LA, you’ll be hearing from us very soon.

You might get your hands on a Blank tee sooner than you think.

As we mentioned, we’re already producing the fabric for a full-scale run of tees, and we’re gonna need some testers (that means you). We’ll be posting a questionnaire for open tester slots in the next couple weeks, so stay tuned on that.

That’s it for now. Thanks for hanging with us, and we promise it won’t be two-and-a-half months before you hear from us again. We can’t wait to get Blank out there.