Threadmason makes a better fitting t-shirt [Crowdfunding]

By making it all the way to the bottom of the Threadmason Kickstarter, we learned about “vanity sizing.” Vanity sizing is a system where, for example, jeans that are actually 33″ are marked 32.”

Threadmason is an effort to bring a new approach to t-shirt sizing that is somewhere between tailor-made and mass-produced.

The origin story: When the girlfriend of one of the cofounders bought him a designer t-shirt and he found it didn’t fit that well, he customized it rather than taking it back to the store. After that, it looked great, which led them to realize that a better fitting t-shirt could be something guys really want. They have already passed their Kickstarter goal of $20,000, with 31 days to go, so it appears they might have been right.

Plus, they’ve gotten buzz on USA Today, PandoDaily and TechCrunch.

They worked with menswear designers and number crunchers to come up with 24 sizes of t-shirt, to fit a wider array of male body types, better.

Except, you don’t need to think about the 24 sizes. You give Threadmason your weight, height and waist-size, and they use that information to pick one of the 24 sizes for you. It sounds like what the Brooklyn Research crew told us about when they made their hat sizing machine. Threadmason cofounder, Jake Huston, told us that it was important to keep the variables reasonable or endanger losing customers that don’t want to spend all that much time thinking about clothes.

They have sizes to match everyone from a generic Small to XXL. They worked with myFit to help come up with a 3D imaging tool to show guys how the shirt will fit online, before they buy.

Custom shirts will retail for $50. You can get one after the crowdfunding campaign closes if you pledge $34 now. You can get more shirts at larger levels of commitment. The shirts are being made in small runs now out of the garment district, and, said Huston, they are working on setting up a deal to have the shirts made at shops either in Brooklyn or Union City, NJ.

The cofounders are spending most but not all of their time on Threadmason, right now, with only two people on the team while they bring in others for contract work. Jake Huston is the Managing Director at Minimal Dose Studios and his cofounder, Vincent Ko, is also a cofounder at We Are Panda.  Threadmason doesn’t have a dedicated work space yet, but splits its time between a Williamsburg design studio and The Bobst Library in Manhattan.

The Kickstarter page promises that the team will move into other kinds of clothing soon.