A couple of weeks ago we were sent a top from the nice folk at Ningnong. Notice I said top, and not t-shirt. The piece of clothing that arrived could surely fit the definition of t-shirt but it is really a little too classy to be categorized as such. What I didn’t realize when I first looked at these shirts is that they are basically tourist t-shirts. They are the most stylish tourist t-shirts I have ever seen. Each t-shirt tells a story about different parts of Canada. What a great concept!

There is a small but growing selection of both lady’s tops and men’s t-shirts at the Ningnong website and I know what you are thinking. Where did the name Ningnong come from. Don’t worry, the answer is to be found on their site and it is a pretty clever name when you read it.

<– Click image for closeup.

Now back to the review. We liked the design, the design placement and the light material. It gets pretty hot here. I don’t know which company manufactured the t-shirt but the label says Made in the USA and sweatshop free. The top is longer than a regular t-shirt which which means they can be either tucked in or left out depending on your style. Mrs. Retro was very impressed. It is also low cut which is great for girls who want to flash a bit of cleavage and guys who want to see it. It’s not too raunchy though.

We do have some criticisms though. One is the logo on the back (covered by copious amounts of hair in this picture). We have mentioned before how we don’t like to be walking billboards so we think the logo on the back (outside) is a little too big.  There was one other problem too and while it is not so noticeable when you are wearing it, I think it is important to point out. Because of the placement of the image the print has to cross the seam on the side of the shirt and the ink is pretty smudged along the edge as you can see in the images below. I don’t know if this is a quality control issue or just one of the problems of screen printing over seams. If it is a difficulty issue we think Ningnong should search for a top without side seams.

There is also an interesting t-shirt competition where you can submit your ideas for vouchers, t-shirts and cash prizes, so if you have the next great Canadian T-Shirt idea check it out.