Ask Tug: Desperately seeking Classic super-thin Indian undershirts

Here’s another request from a reader for a India-made undershirt, but this time, this one doesn’t have a hidden pocket – it’s super thin like the old Towncraft undershirts. I have some back channel emails out, but no replies yet, so I thought about posting it here with the possibility of getting some help from my readers.If anyone knows of where the reader below can purchase these India-made undershirts online, please post a comment or email me directly. (thanks in advance, everyone!)

I’m also planning to call some clothing stores in “Little India” to see if they know how to track down this undershirt.

The only similar looking shirt I’ve seen recently is a paper-thin shirt from American Apparel, however, I could not find one in your standard everyday white color, plus, it’ll likely be way out of this readers ~$1 price range.

Here’s the email exchange:

Hi Tug,

Ya gotta love Google – I got right to you.
As I sit here in my 9-year old holy remnant of a classic Indian super-thin undershirt, I am hopeful I won’t have to travel to India to get them replaced.
After years of thinking that was the only solution, yesterday I realised it must be found somewhere online. Duh!
These undershirts:

have never been found by me outside of India

are worn by tens if not hundreds of millions of Indian men every day

of course have sleeves to absorb armpit sweat

are extremely thin cotton but of such a quality that they can last forever. My last one is held together by the holes.

confirm Indian intelligence in a hot climate as they are surprisingly cooling

are of tubular construction in the trunk ie. no seam on the trunk

are long enough so that they can be tucked in

have a very deeply scooped neckline ie. are about the only kind of undershirt that can confidently be worn without being exposed when worn under a topshirt

for the same reason are not suitable as outerwear for perhaps the majority of men

are cheap as chips ie. under a dollar if bought in India

can absolutely definitely be found in almost any town in India

are excellent for many temperatures, as I can attest from my years living in Sydney Australia.

Please help me, undershirt guy!
Best……M

My reply with M’s answers in line:

hey m,

happy holidays! thanks for your very detailed email and for stopping by the site!

I’m hopeful I’ll be able to help you track down your beloved undershirts, but first, some questions:

1. does the undershirt have any distinctive labels on it? if so could you either take pictures of the label or provide the label information
m>I didn’t photo it so well since I forgot this request. However the red label that you see says “Ashish” and you can see clearly the M/M in blue in a circle.

2. what size are your looking for?
m>It’s 105 cm. but I normally fit Medium. Key point is that it really is long enough to tuck in.

3. do you have any photos of your 9-year old holy remnant undershirt that you could share with me? this will help me when trying to locate them.
m>See attachment.

4. where do you live (city & state)? we might be able to find them in the states, but more than likely only in areas that have a large indian population (california is one example)

m>It always amazes me how many Americans who use the internet, and have websites, somehow assume that only Americans will read their site. Even earlier today I encountered a dropdown menu with just the American states listed. Amazing when one thinks that Americans comprise just 5% of world population, and not so much more of the online population. It’s a big old world out there!

I come from NZ and such thinking would never happen.
Don’t feel bad, just expand your context!
You’ll also make more money that way.
But I digress.
<smile>
I live in Berlin, not the New York one or the one in about twenty other states, but the original in Germany.
Ideal would be finding something online.

it’ll be fun to see if we can track your undershirt down. let’s see what we come up with.

m>I appreciate it.

More Pictures: