Where to buy a seamless, tagless children's shirt?

November 27, 2006 6:13 AM

Where can I buy a shirt without seams and tags for a boy with sensitive skin? He currently wears his shirts inside out to avoid discomfort.
posted by espertus to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (12 answers total)

I just bought 5 plain colored tees for 20$ from Foot Locker. They don't have tags (printed on), and the only uncovered seams are around the front of the neck attaching the 'collar' strip and around the sleeves. They don't have seams running up and down the sides, and the seam across the shoulders and around the back of the neck is covered up nicely. They came in a good range of sizes and colors, are 100% cotton, and mighty comfy. I am not sure if they come in childrens' sizes.
posted by carsonb at 6:28 AM on November 27, 2006

Hanes now makes a wide variety of t-shirts without tags, and their seams are pretty minimal, so that might be an option.

Also, without making any assumptions about the boy in question, I'd suggest that you might pose your question to one of the many online communities for parents of children with autism spectrum disorders. Autistic people are often highly sensitive to the feeling of clothing against their skin, so they might be able to suggest some comfortable clothing that has worked for other sensitive children.
posted by decathecting at 6:32 AM on November 27, 2006

Department stores have been carrying increasing numbers of shirts without tags - I've had good luck at Kohl's and Target and, for example, on this boy's shirt at JCP's you can see from the image that the tag is screened on. It's hard to tell this online, but you should have good luck at department stores.
posted by cobaltnine at 6:32 AM on November 27, 2006

Maybe he could wear an undershirt inside out, then wear his normal shirt over the top so he won't feel the seams.
posted by textilephile at 6:36 AM on November 27, 2006

Whoops, I missed the seamless part. You may have to go the undershirt route - you might find seamless undershirts from Hanes. Women's shirts are easier to find in the seamless style, so you might want to look at some of those in small/XS sizes and decent colors as well.
posted by cobaltnine at 6:53 AM on November 27, 2006

Oh boy, do I know this routine. I've cut out a few hundred tags in my day in order to render clothing acceptable for donning. Don't know if they sell boys' clothes (I suspect they do), but the Hannah Anderson catalog (pricey stuff) is full of nice clothes that at least one toddler I know deems acceptably non-irritating. I presume they have a website as well. In any case, this is very common and your better child clothing companies are aware of it.

Some quick googling reveals lots of articles, and at least one small-scale operation (here) that makes all natural, seamless, tagless clothes. Supposedly, clothing sensitivity is a sign of a "sensory disorder" -- a fashionable new pseudo-diagnosis for something millions of kids have and grow out of. So, for recommendations from other parents, you might check out sites devoted to hypersensitivity and sensory disorders if you can stand to wade through the pseudoscientific dreck. Just don't let it make you paranoid. It's 99 percent nonsense.
posted by spitbull at 7:14 AM on November 27, 2006

Eddie Bauer

I love them. They have seams, but I find them completely unnoticeable. The "tag" is printed on the shirt itself. Great color selection, too. Not sure how big your boy is, but they sell the shirts in men's small.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 7:50 AM on November 27, 2006

Nike and UnderArmor make undershirts for exercise that don't have tags, and the seams are stitched so that they're bundled up instead of hanging on the inside like most shirts.
posted by SpecialK at 8:23 AM on November 27, 2006

Target sells a seamless line of bodywear for men- no tags and no seams. They are made just like women's seamless bodywear. I don't know if they come in kid's sizes though. It's under the Merona label (which doesn't help at all) and I can't find any on their online store but all of my local Targets carry the line.
posted by chairface at 10:40 AM on November 27, 2006

My nephew is very easily bothered by seams, labels, knitted cuffs, and other scratchy aspects of clothing. He wears an old t-shirt, inside out, under his regular shirt. And his parents wash and dry every garment several times before he wears anything new. They say that, paradoxically, loose clothing can be more of a problem because it moves around more. Sometimes fabric edges are reinforced with nylon thread that never softens, but it often can be trimmed off without creating a fraying problem.
posted by wryly at 3:27 PM on November 27, 2006

As cobaltnine and chairface said, Target has several tag-free brands. I've bought lots of Mossimo basic shirts from the boys' department that have no tags.
posted by zoomorphic at 6:26 PM on November 27, 2006

Not sure about kids' clothes, but my husband and I have been remarking about how nice it is that the Gap has started just printing its neck tag info inside the shirt instead of on a tag.
posted by GaelFC at 7:43 PM on November 27, 2006