MENSWEAR Company takes a crack at solving problem

In spite of the humorous aspect, its extra-long T-shirt really works.
HARTFORD COURANT
Plumber's butt comes from the notorious pants' sag that exposes way too much of a repairman's assets. But it may become a thing of the past.
Thanks to the ingenuity of Duluth Trading, a Wisconsin company specializing in clothing and equipment for electricians, carpenters, construction workers and other tradesmen, working guys can now bend over and tackle repair jobs with confidence.
The simple solution is the Longtail T -- a classic crew-neck T-shirt featuring an extra 3 inches of length to help keep it tucked securely in place. Since its introduction a few years ago, the item has become one of the catalog and Internet retailer's best-selling and best-known products.
In response to the growing demand, Duluth Trading (www.duluthtrading.com) has improved the design and expanded its selection to include long-length, long-sleeved knit shirts, turtlenecks, mock turtles, polos -- and even the "Crack-Spackle Bucket" featuring a tee gift-packaged in a white plastic spackle drum.
"It's come to be known as the 'anti-plumber's-butt shirt,'" says Mike Klawitter, public relations manager for Duluth Trading. "It helps men who have to bend over when they work stay in the good graces of their clients and fellow tradesmen. And in spite of the humorous aspect, it works. Like all of our products, it's field-tested on job sites to ensure function, durability and comfort."
When the company was founded in 1991, corporate headquarters was a refurbished barge in the shipping district of Duluth, Minn., on the Lake Superior waterfront. (It has since moved to Belleville, Wis.) The first catalog offered eight pages and nine products dedicated to improving on existing methods of tool storage, organization and transport. Products were tested by a grizzly bunch of construction workers, dock hands, cycle riders, old hippies and other tough guys.
"If those guys couldn't break it, we added it to our line," says Klawitter. "Today, our merchandise is tested by a group we call our Panel of Tradesmen, but they still do the same thing: Use, abuse and improve our products by testing them in real-world conditions. After they try things out, we get them together in a motel room, feed them and talk tools with them for hours."
Results
Those focus groups have led to such products as the Presentation Jacket, a relaxed-fit, pre-washed cotton twill blazer designed to dress up jeans and to look good over everything from T-shirts to sport shirts. The functional garment features 13 pockets to fit everything from business cards to project paperwork.
For many in the trades, says Klawitter, the office is the front seat of their truck. That knowledge led to the development of the Cab Commander, an organizer that fits over the passenger seat and holds file folders, thermos bottle, building plans, tape measure, flashlight, clipboard, estimating pads, cell phone and more.
These days, the company features hundreds of items, both on its Web site and in the monthly catalogs mailed to contractors, handymen, hobbyists, do-it-yourselfers and tool lovers across the country. The catalog is a blue-collar version of the J. Peterman catalog, which combined sketches and stories to market the company's upscale clothing line, and is illustrated by a Minnesota artist and filled with first-person tool-time anecdotes.
"Most of our customers are men, and they tell us the catalog makes great bathroom reading," says Klawitter. "No question, we're a guy thing."