Run Safe

Monday, August 19, 2013

I Am Funny Shirts-Review

I was recently contacted by the creator of I Am shirts, Matthew Perret, and asked if I'd be willing to check out their line of shirts.  Matthew explained they had a large collection of shirts which included an entire line of running shirts.  How do I turn down that?!  I was asked to pick out my favorite and it arrived three days later.  When the shirt arrived I found a fava bean with the company logo on it.  According to "legend" this bean is supposed to bring luck.

The first thing I noticed about this shirt was it's softness.  In watching the intro video on their website I learned this shirt is made of a blended material which included a material called rayon.  According the I Am, this gives the shirt an already washed feeling and over time the shirt will continue to get softer and softer.  Another interesting fact about these shirts is they dye they use.  The inks are eco friendly and are a unique formula used only by the I Am brand.  The ink is dyed into the shirt rather than printed onto the shirt.  The design has a weathered  look to it.

So I know what you're thinking, "can I run in it?"  While the shirt is not marketed or sold as a running shirt I had to know if it was a shirt that could be added to my running days.  I wore the shirt out on a 6 mile run the first time out.  The temps were mild (low 60s f) which allowed me to stay pretty cool during this easier, slow paced run.  The second time I wore the shirt out, I intentionally waited for a warmer day.  We haven't had too many really warm days here in the midwest recently so it took some time for that to happen.

While I waited I wore the shirt out to the casino one night to see if it would bring me any luck, of course I took my new lucky bean with me.  I must say I was looking sharp in my "Your pace or mine." I am shirt with some jeans and nice shoes but the bean, well let's just say it didn't live up to the hype.

It's not easy to take a selfy of your sweaty armpits
Back to the hot run.  On the warmer day, I ran about 4 miles in the shirt and worked up a pretty good sweat.  This would not be a shirt I would run in again.  It wasn't to the degree of wearing a cotton shirt but after a couple of sweaty miles it became an issue.   As I stated earlier this shirt is not marketed or promoted as a running shirt and given that fact, I can't really call this a negative.

If you stick with using this shirt as your fashion statement running shirt or for running on those cooler days you'll be happy.

One finally note about the I am running shirts they are all individually hand made and made in the USA.  Head on over to their site, maybe you'll find your next favorite shirt there....well,
second favorite to your RunJunkEes shirt :)