Aug 5, 2009

Vergas residents’ clothing line goes nationalBy Barbie PorterFrazeeForum.com

Vergas resident Bette Pitzel and her daughter, Michelle Shaw, unveiled their new clothing line, “Free To Be Me” in March. It’s already gone national.

The clothing line can be found throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, New Jersey and at the Vintage Point in Fargo.

The clothing line is geared toward women and philosophers.

While there are plain white shirts (long- and short-sleeved) with philosophical sayings, there are also designer colored shirts.

Bette said to date the clothing line has seven sayings to choose from, such as “Allow me to live my life with the heart of a hippie, strength of a feminist and the knowledge of all the great women that have gone before me” or “It takes more than one sound to make a song.”

“Michelle came up with the concept and the logo,” Bette added, noting the logo is the sign for the female gender.

“Finding the right sayings took me pretty much all winter,” Michelle said. “They all had to be meaningful and I think I found some really good ones.”

While the shirts are sold in various locations throughout the nation, Bette was proud to say the shirts are also made in the U.S.

“Finding the right shirts, with the right feel and quality wasn’t easy, but we searched until we found some,” she said.

The designs and sayings are printed locally by Lakeshirts in Detroit Lakes.

To ensure no one copies the concept the two have already trademarked the clothing line and are currently working on securing a patent.

“It’s a long process,” Bette said.

Read complete article.