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Step into promotional clothing
It all began with the humble T Shirt and normally white at that. The 70’s and 80’s had their student demonstrations, political rallies, and high profile events on our TV’s " and there they all were dressed with the message of the day blazoned across the front of their clothing - T Shirt in the summer “turning into” Sweatshirts for the winter.
And that’s how it was for Corporate Market too " T Shirt for warm days and indoor events, Sweatshirts when it turned a bit chilly. How things have changed.

The first major addition " and enduringly popular well into the new millennium " was the Polo Shirt. With it came a greater use of embroidery for personalisation.
Traditionally screen-printing was, and still is, the process used for T Shirt decoration and Sweatshirts too, although from time to time the embroidery process was used on the latter.

Polo Shirt did not accept screen-printing as well as their predecessors because of the nature of the material they were made from. Although a minority were available in “Single Jersey” Cotton (T Shirt material) and therefore printable, the vast majority were manufactured from Pique Cotton. “Pique” is a weaving style characterised by raised parallel cords or fine ribbing. Screen-printing could only be completely successful on totally smooth surfaces. It was therefore unsuitable for the new arrival. The Polo Shirt, in any event, was considered a superior garment to its forerunners and merited the use of embroidery, which gave an extra feeling of quality.

This greater use of embroidery spawned many improvements in the process and it now goes most of the way towards replicating four-colour process printing.

During the 80’s and 90’s the Promotional Product Industry was burgeoning and moving “up-market” in terms of quality in all product areas. Promotional Clothing was no exception " in fact it was where it was most notable. Well-known brands, such as Fruit of the Loom, Jerzees, Hanes, and Henbury were amongst the first to realise the opportunity this trend presented and it was during this period that Corporate Golf Days were being staged more frequently - the number still rising today. This encouraged the larger players in the Golf Apparel Industry to join the fray. Glenmuir, McForsum, Slazenger, Adidas, Ping, Callaway, Ashworth and others now offer their products to this market.

Outerwear became available. Waterproof Jackets, Windcheaters, High Performance Out-Door Jackets, Fleeces and so on arrived on the scene.

The introduction of Women’s and Men’s Fashion Garments took the market in yet another direction. Employees dressed in Corporate Uniforms are now a common sight. These days the range of garments available is acceptable for everyday use and the embarrassment of being asked to dress in out of date styles has been removed. This use of Corporate Clothing has in recent times overtaken the demand for Promotional Apparel.

The full range of Promotional and Cooporate Clothing is nowadays truly mind-blowing and professional guidance through this maze is strongly recommended.

For a wide range of all the products mentioned in this article visit Steel City Marketing

James Biggin is MD of <a href="http://www.steel-city.co.uk">Steel City Marketing</a>, the UK's leading supplier of Promotional Gifts and business incentives. SCM supply and brand all items available for Promotional Use
Read more at: http://www.ArticlePros.com/marketing/brand_marketing/article-171602.html.
 
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