Tommy John: Revolutionizing The World Of Men’s Fashion, One Shirt At A Time

When it comes to underwear, women have long reveled in shopping for and splurging on their undergarments, while men will simply wear theirs until near disintegration occurs. And while women are happy to pay for quality over quantity, knowing that they will get more longevity out of their delicates, men have always stayed true-blue to the passed down tradition of value-priced superstore “packs.”

While this may work for some, most guys I know still struggle with the same thing - their undershirt. Maybe in the Midwest it’s an acceptable thing, but here in Los Angeles, undershirts are a sure sign that you’re not from around these parts. But style issues aside, the problem lies in the fact that it gets incredibly hot in most clubs and while slim fit, tailored shirts are all the rage, they don’t exactly soak up the sweat the way you’d like, nor do they ever stay tucked into your pants, giving your slim-fit dress shirt a sort of mushroom-esque effect over your jeans, which can lead to horrific results depending on your body type.

Enter Tom Patterson, founder of Tommy John clothing, who set out to alleviate this age-old problem for men. He started his clothing line as a way to solve his own problem, but soon found that most men suffer from the exact same dilemma.

“Ever since college, I’ve worn a suit and tie everyday,” he explained. “Tailored clothing is becoming more popular and acceptable for men, so I started tailoring my shirts. I would go into the department stores to buy an undershirt and they seemed so form-fitting but after purchasing both smaller and larger sizes, I realized that all the shirts are pinned behind the back of the mannequins.”

Tom had been selling medical equipment for five years after he graduated college and when he was laid off, he became inspired by the television show, “The Big Idea,” where aspiring entrepreneurs were trying to make their dreams happen by way of their innovative products.

“They were saying to look at something in your life that really bothers you and there’s probably got to be a better way to make it,” Tom recalled. “I was actually going to give a presentation at a hospital, I got dressed in the morning and of course what’s the first thing I had to do as soon as I got out of my car? Go to the bathroom and re-tuck my shirt, so I was like, I’ve gotta do something about this.”

The Second Skin line from Tommy John is unlike most undershirts that come in the “packs” and will shrink, discolor or are simply too bulky to wear under a nice tailored shirt. The idea Tom created was to craft a shirt that was soft, slimming and most importantly, stayed tucked in.

“True story,” Tom recalled to me. “I knew a guy who actually cut off the bottom of his undershirt, so that he had something to absorb the sweat but didn’t want any of the bunching.” I laughed at this and then remarked that if his date were to have discovered his homemade belly shirt, their love affair would have been over in an instant. “Exactly, so that’s when I knew I had to do something because guys just had no other option.”

Tommy John’s unique Second Skin design features a longer length at the bottom of the shirt which is tailored and streamlines to get rid of the “boxy” look that most “packs” have. The fabric is lightweight, super soft and very slimming, so streamlined in fact, that when worn under a tailored shirt, there’s absolutely zero bunching.

Now we all know the heavy hitters in men’s underwear when it comes to brand-name recognition and Tom is well-aware that his company’s name bears more than a striking resemblance to a couple of prominent players, but he isn’t worried.

“If you go to my website and look at the shirts they look like any other undershirt but the crazy thing is that 95% of guys that actually wear one of my shirts, buy one,” Tom told me.

When you feel the fabric and it fits right, guys end up buying several at a time.

Tom’s tale is truly one that is a beacon of hope in today’s struggling economy. He has taken the sales skill set he acquired from his previous job and has used that to fuel his passion project and hit department stores to help spread the word about this undershirt innovation.

Tom also knows that the majority of men’s underwear purchases are actually done by women, so he has had some fantastic results when showcasing his product at some of the largest department stores in the business, such as Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills and Nordstroms at The Grove. With a price point that’s right in between the higher-end heavy hitters and the “packs,” Tommy John offers up an option for the man who wants something high-end but doesn’t want to break the bank. Best of all, this product actually works.

I attended my cousin’s wedding in Cape Cod to close out the summer and not only was my Tommy John necessary to help fend off the chilled air off the Atlantic ocean, but it did in fact stay tucked in throughout the entire day and night. It’s the also the first time I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed wearing an undershirt. It was comfortable and sleek and with the v-neck version you can’t even tell it’s there.

As for the future, Tom promises he’s only just begun cooking up solutions to men’s most perplexing underwear problems.

We’re working on something with men’s underwear that could be even more innovative than the undershirts.

Tom then added, “Maybe that’s something for another story.”

You can bet that we’ll be all over, er, under that one too.

Photos By: Jacopo Campaiola