So, yet another Nor’Easter!  I’ve never seen anything like this in all my years of living in Virginia Beach.  I don’t know how many storms we’ve had this winter (I’m too irritated to actually look it up), but I fear it’s been a lot!  Too many for me.  For someone that lives for warmth, winters in the 757 can feel like an eternity.  Although, our sea faring friends up in New England have much worse to deal with…so, I really can’t complain.  It does seem that the older I get the further south I want to go.  South Carolina is looking awfully attractive right now.  Maybe I’m just in a funk right now.  When the warmer weather starts to crawl in, I’ll remember why we love it here.  Soon enough I’ll have my toes in the warm sand watching Harbor and Haley play on the beach, and mommy chasing after them!  Glad Megan isn’t looking over my shoulder while I type this

In the meantime, we here at TommyWants are busy trying to figure out how to create a little coast in every kid.  We’re still trying to pound the pavement so to speak and get our fantastic polo shirts and belts into boutiques throughout the east coast.  We’re making some headway…I guess you have to crawl before you can scuttle   We have so many new ideas for new products that we can’t quite tackle yet (like bermuda britches in khaki and other tropical colors, more shirt colors like drawn butter, morey green, etc.).  But, I feel this is going to be our year, the year of the crab!  What we have managed to accomplish is putting together a cute little product line of t shirts and one pieces that are environmentally friendly.  The initial designs are fairly simple “branding” pieces that are made of 100% organic cotton, printed with water-based inks, and manufactured in a socially responsible way.  People much smarter than I am tell me that 1/4 of the pesticides manufactured in the world are used to grow fluffy cotton, making cotton the most environmentally damaging crops grown.  We have become so intrigued by this fact because of our love for the ocean.  Apparently, all that pesticide makes its way into the ocean…not good.

So, while we continue to plug away at creating a little coast in every kid, we aim to do it in an environmentally friendly way.  We hope that you will be a partner with us to build this into something of a much larger scale so that the amount of good we can do grows as well.  You can do this simply by spreading the word about our website, our facebook page, and our initiative to do good!  Thank you.

Capt. Tommy

We’ve been busy since our last post finalizing specs on our Butter Organics collection.  We are very excited about the collection, and have already received positive feedback and interest!  Over the course of the year, I became intrigued by the prospect of sustainability and becoming more green.  As I researched the impact that apparel production (particularly the pesticides, etc. used in the growing of cotton) had on the environment, I graduated from intrigue to a steadfast desire to change the business model of TommyWants.  In addition to limiting the impact on the environment and the workers that farm the crop, “going green” will help to differentiate TommyWants from the competition.  Right now we are just a sprout of a preppy company, but plan and hope to blossom into a major player with apparel that is not only “must have” but eco-friendly as well!

The collection consists of onesies and tees made of buttery soft 100% organic cotton, screen printed using water-based inks featuring our iconic blue crab logo (better known as “Butter”) in four different designs: Pinch Me…I’m Cute; Shiver Me Pinchers; Crab Cakes; and Bucket.  With the introduction of our Butter Organics collection, TommyWants is that much closer to becoming a truly eco-friendly and sustainable brand!

Look for the collection in a boutique near you in the coming months!  In the meantime, if you are interested in any of the pieces shown here you can email us at mayday@tommywants.com and let us know what you would like.  That way, we could include these pieces in the production order when the time comes.  Until then, spread the word about our little company and big dreams, and as always keep…

Swimming Against the Tide,
Capt. Tommy

I cam across a poem at the Art of Manliness (an awesome site that I recently stumbled across – I highly recommend it!), and wanted to share it with you.  It reminded me of how important it is to keep your youthful enthusiasm, for that’s what dares one to persevere in the face of despair and discouragement – a place that I admittedly find myself way too often lately.  It is entitled Youth, and was written by Samuel Ullman.  Enjoy!

Youth
By Samuel Ullman

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what’s next, and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.

From As They Grow Up
November 15, 2009

Being that the original reviewer obviously loves this shirt since he has asked to wear it numerous times, I can fairly tell you that it washes up fantastic! We have experienced no fading or shrinking of any kind with this shirt!…[Read more]