Touch: A Woman’s Point of View

Visits: 6

My Touch Obsession

by guest writer Lori Thompson

Alyssa Milano's Touch Mariners Shirt

It started in June 2007. My once yearly trip to a Mariner’s game was going to happen in a couple of months and just didn’t want to wear the same gray/blue men’s baseball shirt that I’d worn the last four years. I was looking for something new. Since I live 4 hours away from the Mariner’s team store, I was doing a little online shopping.

Oversized shirt, men’s jersey, pink tank top…not me. Guess I’ll wear the same shirt…then I saw it, wait, what? – Alyssa Milano to make a women’s fan apparel line? This is intriguing. I’ve always liked her, she’s pretty, we are the same age, I grew up watching Who’s the Boss, she always had great clothes on Charmed, AND she is a baseball fan after all… I’ll check it out.

I felt like there was a warm angelic glow coming from computer and angels were singing …’aaaaa’ I had found it. I am on MLB.com looking at the cute stuff – yes, cute, cute, cute…hmmmm…here’s my problem – Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Red Sox – great stuff…only 1 short sleeved zip up hoody sweatshirt for the Mariners – and it’s black???? Hmm, ok, still better than anything else I found, ‘add to cart’ – checkout! Yes! 3-7 days later it was delivered. I am almost shaking as I take it out of the box, very cute, but 1 major problem – that’s a large? I stuff my arm into the arm hole and tried to zip it up – sadly, I had to box it back up and return it for the XL. And that is how my Touch journey began.

I had such a difficult time finding the items I wanted, I contacted the Mariners Team Store, I even have the female buyer’s email address and I now converse with her regularly, but they haven’t purchased items for their team store since the summer of 2008. Nothing last winter and nothing this spring; I must rely solely on MLB.com and a couple of other online sports apparel shops.

This season? I am still waiting for anything new to come out for the Mariners this season, even though the spring line is popping up all over. Seattle is making more Touch items and the size range has expanded to 2X. But the items do run a ‘tad’ (i.e. couple sizes) small. It is difficult to find many of the items unless you are a Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, or Red Sox fan. The premier online Touch boutique, www.Fandalia.com, is my favorite shopping spot. They have the best selection and videos of the model’s wearing the clothes, so you can actually see how they are supposed to fit. For football fans the Raider’s team store carries a large selection. The line has also manufactured apparel for NHL and NCAA. There are many Seahawk items, but I’ve never really been a football fan, so I haven’t resorted to the NFL clothes just to have the item…yet.

The line has also branched out to include hats and jewelry. Yes, I do own a hat that was made for the Mariners as well as every piece of jewelry that has hit the racks. If you ask me why, I probably couldn’t answer other than to say that I love the style of the clothes & jewelry and I love to wear them. I always get compliments on the argyle v-neck shirt and the beaded glass earrings.

Healthy obsession? Probably not, I have gone so far as to purchase other team’s items that could be altered with a patch that would make them Mariner’s apparel. I have the 1 item that has been produced for my alma mater, Washington State University and a couple of black Met’s items I purchased and covered the Met’s logo with a WSU Cougar Head patch. How do I decide what team items to buy? If I am going to make a Mariner’s item I will buy something in the same team colors from a National League Team so not to be a traitor. If the item is destined for a WSU logo – it will be either from the Mets or Raiders – I refuse to buy a SD Giants anything!

Bottom line, IF you can find your team and correct size – the clothes are cute and not too expensive. If you are wondering – last season, this fashionista wore the blue v-neck sweatshirt, star stutter cap and my distressed 7 jeans. My husband told me I looked hot, it couldn’t have been the jeans.