Music is for Everyone: Why ElRat Designs Offers Band Merch from XS to 6XL
I thought I'd write a little about why I stock merch in more sizes than most...
When I first started ElRat Designs...
In the couple of months before ElRat Designs went live, while I was building the website, and deciding what my first shirts should be, and what I was going to put forward to The One Hersh for approval.
I was obviously talking a little bit about what was going on with some friends, and in a quiet moment one of them said to me, "you know, I've never been able to buy a band shirt... I've been to see lots of bands live, and I want to support them, but I've never been able to buy a T-Shirt from the merch table, I used to ask, but they never catered for my size, just dismissed me... and eventually I just stopped asking because I was too embarrassed."
I have to tell you, that moment broke my heart, because I could hear the hurt in those words, see how much those things had impacted on her experience of those moments... and I just felt so horrible for her that I knew right there, that I would have to make sure that people who came to ElRat Designs never felt like that... never felt dismissed and unwelcome.
I am eternally grateful to her for giving me that insight, because those are problems that it's really difficult to see unless you live them, and had she not said those few words, I might never have understood what an awful hole there was in peoples experiences.... and I might never have committed to doing something about it.
When I started to look around
The hole in that availability was glaringly obvious. There aren't a lot of, so-called plus sized band shirts. Most band merch goes to 2XL... and I guess those are the sizes that they think they're going to sell... but... it really is a self fulfilling prophecy.... because if you don't offer people things, they can't buy them... and eventually, like my friend, they stop asking for them.... and a whole group of people start to feel othered, and unwelcome... and that is the real shame of it.
How ElRat Designs is different... I am all about choices
I don't have a lot of budget, when I first started especially, I had just a few shirts in each size, I think I had 3 or 4 colour options... BUT... this actually turned out to be a good thing, because I really want to offer people choice, I have all these ideas in my head, and I can't afford to just print a stack of stock for all the ideas I have, especially given the niche nature of the designs I make... So right from the start I needed to print to order. I might only sell 1 or 2 of some designs... and that's OK, because I only really make shirts for myself, and even now, I have no idea what people are going to want to buy or not. If I print to order, there really is no reason I can't print on any size, and in any colour, and I can hold much less stock (which is great, because my bedroom looks like a warehouse anyway these days😆)
It takes some working out, because not all colours are available in all sizes, the Gildan Softstyle only go to 5XL and even there that's only for a very small number of colours
So I will try to explain what you get here at ElRat Designs...
Size options:
- sizes XS-6XL available across the entire range of prints
- I use Gildan Softstyle: S-5XL (not all colours go up to 5XL)
- Anthem Organic: XS & 6XL (some 3/4/5XL too)
To know for sure which shirt you're getting you can check the SKU code which is displayed below the size selector on the product page
- code beginning GD001 is Gildan
- code beginning AM10 is Anthem
Colour Options:
Not all colours are available in the bigger or XS sizes, but I am actively working on giving people a good range of choices in all sizes.
where I can get the equivalent colour in Anthem shirts, I do.
Where I can't, I will try to find something similar, such as Light Blue Anthem, in XS & 4/5/6XL to make up for the fact that Carolina Blue Gildan only goes to 3XL
On top of that, I have added a few extra different colour choices that aren't available in the smaller sizes
If there is a particular colour you would like in any size, you can always reach out to me, and I am happy to look at what I can get, and add it on to my next T-Shirt order. Remember if it doesn't cost me extra, it doesn't cost you extra.
Which leads me to the price. You will notice there is a small price difference between the XS-2XL and the 3-6XL. This is purely because those sizes cost me more to buy in.
What the Print to Order Model means for you...
- Full design catalogue available in ALL sizes
- I am aiming for genuine sizing equality, and in that spirit, am working on adding more sizes to the ready made One-of-a-Kind range
I hope to keep adding options as I go, building until everyone can get what they need
Choices choices
I now have a lot more colour options of 3/4/5/6XL shirts,on top of that, I have a bunch of random stock, left over from the custom lyric shirt events. Because I always order 2 of everything I need for customs, just in case something goes wrong. As well as that, I have 25 ink colours, and... I don't have the time to add all of those options to all the standard listings, and even if I did have time, and even if Shopify allowed all of those variants, there is no way I could even think of all the colour options that people might want. Already, people have picked options that never would have occurred to me
So... why my store really needs a Design your Own section, so you can have your shirt, how you want it, and all for standard pricing...
- Choose any shirt I have in stock (standard shirt price)
- Choose any print I have on the site for the front
- Choose any of the 25 ink colours I have in stock
- Choose any print for a back print if you desire (+£3)
- Choose any of the 25 ink colours for the back
Knowing that it matters... and that I'd made the right choices
I've had some wonderful feedback from people who have bought the bigger sizes, when they've realised that they can actually have Hersh Merch in their size, not only that, that can have choices, the same kinds of choices that everyone else has. This has felt like such an important stand, for all the people who have ever felt like my friend, just for asking to be treated the same as everyone else.
I could never really express what it means because I haven't lived it, but this Instagram post and review from @nigelcheney says it all:
Instagram Post:
Rubbish photo. Super tee.
Absolutely in love with my brand new bespoke tee.
Got drawn into a threads conversation the other week about how groups don't cater for larger sizes. So many excuses, but basically boiled down to some variation of 'it's too hard' and 'no one buys them'. We have been conditioned our whole lives that big people can't have nice things. We've stopped looking. It's really clear you don't want to be associated with fat people. Our money, your loss. More than happy that Kristin Hersh gets it all.
World take note. Elrat is the best example of a small business I've come along in a long time. Passionate. Professional and entirely customer focused. From the start of the whole ordering process through to packaging and communication. Superb. Other bands? Learn.
Click to view original post
Customer Review:
Finally!
If like me, you want merch but are a size 6xl, you have probably given up. I know I had.
Imagine my joy when I realised El Rat offers a bespoke service at every size. You get to choose t shirt type (there are options!!!), design, colour placement and those are just the easy one click choices. If you need anything more specific (hard to imagine what more you could want, but hey ho) then El lives to make her customers happy. I've never had such a rewarding shopping experience. It made me feel central to the process, an individual, not just a number. The divine tee arrived really quickly, every stage communicated effectively, and boy oh boy what a delicious parcel. I don't do those cringe unboxing videos but I squeaked with delight, (quite embarrassing). Won't spoil the surprises for you, but it's over and above. Worth every penny. This is my third tee shirt, and my favourite. Would recommend to anyone and I will definitely be shopping again.
- Nigel
Click to view review
Read more customer reviews or check out Nigel's beautiful art on Instagram.
My friend Jim, and the other end of the problem
My wonderful friend Jim, who died unexpectedly last year had struggled with this throughout his life for entirely the opposite reason. He was a small guy, and he used to bemoan the choices, he never looked at the shirts at gigs, "they're all too big", he knew without looking. He loved clothes, honestly more than anyone I've ever known, and he liked his band shirts to fit snug, and even the smallest shirts were baggy.
So, for Jim, and for all the people who struggle at this end of the problem, I have just added some X Small options too. Just a few colours for now, but with more coming over the next few weeks. So now all print to order shirts are available in sizes XS through to 6XL
Hersh People Deserve Nice Merch
Hersh deserves to have nice merch, and Hersh people deserve to have nice merch, no matter what their needs, and I am still trying to expand the range of options. I am trying to find a supply of XXS to add, maybe 7XL if I can.
If you have something that you need, please reach out, and I will endeavour to do everything I can to find the solution for you, and make you the Hersh (or ElRat) merch that you need. Be it bigger, smaller, or just a different style of T-Shirt
Music is for everyone, and Merch should be too, no one should be excluded from band merch because of their size, so here at ElRat Designs, you can get the same prints as everyone else, you might not get all the exact same colour choices, but where I can I will add equivalent, and where possible I will add extra options not available in the smaller sizes, so that you do have choices.
This whole thing, running a T-Shirt shop, people around the world wearing my designs... this always felt like an impossible dream, and it would have stayed that way had Hersh not liked the things that I made, and allowed me to sell these things to you. Hersh gets studio time, and I get to run this place, and sell my own designs, and I will never forget that you wonderful people are the real reason that I get to do this, you put your trust in me and in return the very least I can give you is a shirt you can love, and my personal attention at all stages, before, during and after the order.
Thank you to everyone who supported ElRat Designs so far, it really means everything to me to be able to do this, and I am grateful for every single person who became a part of the ElRat Story.
If anyone ever wants to just talk Hersh music, I am always open to those e-mails.🖤
You can browse the various collections at the links below
View size charts: Gildan (up to 5XL) | Anthem (up to 6XL)