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Glades Wear: Everglades-Inspired Art & Apparel

5.2K views 35 replies 22 participants last post by  Flats Hunter  
#1 ·
Hello from Naples, Florida. Last year my wife and I launched a little online store offering Everglades-inspired art and apparel; see a small sampling of our products below. We have yet to do any heavy promotion -- trying to get our ducks in a row first.

I believe the shirt and hat designs will appeal to folks in here, and the art already has a healthy following. My art prints are generated digitally via a unique process. I've spent about 30 years as an art director and have worked in all sorts of traditional media, but I'm most fond of the flexibility and unique style created on a digital canvas. As for my credentials, I'm an 8th-generation Cracker (family hails from a Central Florida farming community) but we've had a presence in the SW Florida area since the 1950s. I've fished the lower Everglades since the late '70s. Yeah, I've got some miles on me. :)

Our company name is Glades Wear, and our website is gladeswear.com. Contact info as requested by the admins:

John McLean
PO Box 9318
Naples, FL 34105
866.452.3379
admin@gladeswear.com

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Appreciate this group and those who choose to support our little family-run venture!
 
#13 ·
Very cool stuff! I actually just picked up these two pieces from your Etsy shop a couple weeks ago for my office.
Buy with confidence!
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Wow. We offer both ready-to-hang canvas prints and unframed Giclee (paper) prints; you chose the latter. The mats and frames you chose complement them perfectly! Thank you for purchase.
 
#18 ·
Thank you. We certainly built the brand with locals in mind.


Very cool work. Hopefully you can make some hats in the future that are XL full cloth hats, not mesh trucker hats, for those of us who spent too much time in the sun as kids and are now paying for it by the milligram at the Dermatologist.
Duly noted! That sort of feedback is of great value to us. We’ll be adding full-cloth hats to our future lineup.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Thank you. We purposely chose the snapback style hats. Over the years I’ve tried fitted hats, velcro closures, snapbacks, you name it. In the end, weprefer the snapbacks. Yes, they can wear out after much use, but they last for years before that happens. To my mind, hats – – especially those used outdoors – – are disposable items to a degree. Wear and tear, sun, wind, etc. do a number on all of them eventually. But these are well made caps. We’ve had rave reviews from folks who use them, and my fishing buddies have tested them (and our shirts) thoroughly.
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#23 ·
You're not the first to note a preference for foam. We'll add it to the customer wish list. Agree about foam being very lightweight, and they seem to have made a nostalgic comeback, of late. There's something wonderfully irreverent about an old foam cap. My grandad used to proudly wear one with an all-caps "DAMIFINO" design.

That "window" above the snapback closure really does allow for one hellacious bit of sunburn! As such I am a FlexiFit kind of guy. Also do you offer any of your solar shirts in big guy sizes (3x-4x)? I really like that Mangroovin logo shirt.
The largest size we offer in solar shirts at the moment is XXL -- we're a small outfit so we've had to limit expensive inventory to certain sizes until we have enough of a following. But I've been threatened with physical harm by a couple buddies who wear larger shirts, so we'll likely add the bigger sizes soon. It pays to listen to threats levied by guys who wear 3X and 4X sizes.
 
#32 ·
Completely understand your preference, but most folks prefer snapbacks and as a business we need to cater to, well, most folks. My approach? I wear my snapbacks on a looser setting most of the time but snug them up when on plane.

This is awesome! Do you have a sizing guide for the shirts? I have a 43” chest so wasn’t sure if that would be large or XL
Here's the rule of thumb for our current shirt line: the solar shirts and hoodies have more traditional/roomy dimensions, so they tend to fit true to size. Our tees are more form fitting so if you prefer a shirt that's a bit looser then buy a size up. So it's said, we're always looking for better shirt materials so our line is not set in stone -- like most brands it will evolve over time.

The problem with hats and tees is that if you don’t have the best, which costs you a little more to stock, you will only have one time buyers... I like the hat colors and the fishing shirts are cool. You obviously have skills as an artist and know what colors work.
Agree. We've done our best to choose quality materials for our entire line, and we'll keep pushing that envelope. We have yet to have a product returned due to concerns about quality. Appreciate the compliments about my art and apparel artwork.

This line is going to take off.
We sure hope so. Endorsements by folks in this informed group mean a lot to us.
 
#28 ·
The problem with hats and tees is that if you don’t have the best, which costs you a little more to stock, you will only have one time buyers. For instance, I know that the tees that Hatch makes are some of the best out there. They fit well and are tag-less and have ring spun cotton. Even though I traded in my Hatch reels for Nautilus reels because they were much lighter I still order tees from Hatch.

The same thing goes for hats. Guys that aren’t XL-XXL, need hats that fit. It’s NOT one size fits all.

Your stuff looks great. I like the hat colors and the fishing shirts are cool. You obviously have skills as an artist and know what colors work.