TypeTees Slogan-A-Day Experiment Week 5

Every day I come up with a new witty Threadless TypeTees Slogan in hopes of earning a Threadless Alumni Club Medal of Honor. At the end of every week I post a round up of that weeks slogans here on my blog. What can you do to help the cause? Vote! Just click on a slogan (preferably all of them) and then vote by click “I’d Wear It!” – it’s that simple! If you want to see and vote for all of my slogans then just click here or on that photo of me with the Rockband guitar. Vote for me and I will bake you your own burrito if ever we meet in real life.

Week 5 (January 29, 2010 to February 4, 2010):

“The only chemistry I know is synthesized by Cupid’s arrow.“

I was listening to someone talk about biochemistry and this slogan popped up in my head! Would make a good Valentines Day TypeTee, Threadless staff **Wink, Wink**!

“CAPS LOCK: for moments when an exclamation point is not enough!“

Especially for those who like to write things like FTW! or WIN! – you know these people and you might even be one. Slogans FTW!

“65 is the original 140.“

OK, you need to be both a web geek and a Threadless geek to get this one. Before Twitter made 140 characters an iconic cultural limitation, OMG Clothing (later to become TypeTees) made 65 characters the max you had to get your thought across. In my opinion, 65 is so much harder to do than 140.

“Geeks don’t skip. They tab.“

Skipping? Pfffftttt. Real geeks tab.

“Moderation is key. Now can I have more advice?“

People inherently want more, and more, and more. But the key, no matter what, is always moderation. Want more advice? Knew you would.

“Being green is as easy as finding a yellow and blue marker.“

Step 1. Find yellow and green marker. Step 2. Color yourself with said markers until your entirely green. And there you go – BAM – GREEN! Now go worry about your carbon footprint.

“Optical zoom should be a default feature of the human eye.“

Really, it should! If cameras can do it then why not the eyeball! Imagine if you could zoom in and out using your MIND. That would be insane. I want that!

Moonbase Commander

I’ve been a fan of The Dept. and their sci-fi-ish tees for a while now. And so I was excited when they released three new tees a few days back. The Android character might not be present in any of these new shirts but they still do retain the futuristic vibe. Clean line art and brash colors along with text worthy of being on any promotional science fiction movie poster have always defined the shirts over at The Dept. And these three new tees don’t deviate much from that winning formula.

The new shirts featured below can be purchased from The Dept. for $22 a piece.

Get The Valentines Day Hook-Up at IMU The Inside Out

If you guys haven’t had the chance to check out IMU The Inside Out then I highly recommend that you jump on over and see what they have to offer. IMU is the brainchild of former University of Michigan basketball team captain, David Merritt. Prior to making the team, David had his share of challenges.

“It wasn’t so easy. Despite my hard work, I didn’t make the cut – two years in a row. But the more work I put in, the harder it was to surrender. So I gave it another shot. And on my third try, I made the team. Two years later I was named co-captain. That same year we went to the NCAA tournament for the first time in eleven years.”

IMU was born from a text message that David received on the road while playing a game at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York City. The text read IMU, which he interpreted as meaning “I Miss You.” Since then, David was inspired to bring those three little words to life and he has done that through his clothing line IMU The Inside Out.

The IMU line reflects David’s drive to succeed. Their tees are bright, fun and youthful but with edge.

Tees from the first season of the IMU line were priced between $30 and $38 but from now until February 15 you can grab these shirts at just $15. IMU also released some new plaid inspired tees just in time for Valentine’s Day and these are priced at $25.

The Why Waltz When You Can Rock & Roll Shirt

Found Item Clothing’s latest movie inspired T-Shirt comes at the perfect time, especially with the the resurgence of vampires in film, albeit teenage ones. Why Waltz When You Can Rock & Roll never “fully” appeared in the classic 80’s flick, The Lost Boys, so the FIC crew had an especially fun time recreating this beauty.

For every vampire, there is a vampire hunter. Count Dracula traded blows with Van Helsing; Deacon Frost went fang-to-fang with Blade; likewise, The Lost Boys were tracked by Edgar and Alan Frog, a pair of comic book-obsessed nerds portrayed with enthusiastic gusto by Corey Feldman and Jamisom Newlander.

And to hunt the undead, you need a killer wardrobe. To wit, we present the Why Waltz When You Can Rock & Roll design, which makes a blink-and-you-miss-it appearance during an uneasy, get-to-know-you sequence between the Frog Bros. and their relunctant ally, Sam (Corey Haim). However fleeting, the mix of non-sequitur sloganeering and provocative imagery instantly caught our attention here at FIC HQ…

You can pick up Why Waltz When You Can Rock & Roll from Found Item Clothing for $21.95. And no, vampire hunting is not a pre-requisite to purchasing this shirt!

A little side story: Before I started blogging about T-Shirts I used to do design DVD covers. I’d create my own covers for films that had deficient ones. Needless to say, for a few years I ran a site dedicated to that hobby. I had a couple hundred of covers in the bag and hundreds of others uploaded by some other people in the cover world. One of my DVD Cover friends, Bunny Dojo, actually started doing legit DVD Covers and one of the first films he worked on was 2008’s Lost Boys: The Tribe. Bunny Dojo is also the designer that came up with the logo for this site! Be sure to check out his packaging work for films that you may and may not have heard of!

Hide Your Arms Logo Tee

I’ve been a huge fan of Hide Your Arms since I first starting writing about T-Shirts on this blog and so I was excited for HYA founder, Andy Bowness, when he announced that he would be releasing the official Hide Your Arms logo tee. The shirt was designed by Ray Masaki of Lowdtown Friends & Freaks and features the new HYA site logo. I personally love the new logo – it’s fun!

I applaud Andy for taking the jump from just blogging about T-Shirts to actually making them. I’ve been itching to have some designs screen printed myself but am a bit wary about pulling the trigger. Hopefully this HYA investment is worth its while for Andy!

The shirt features a three color print on an aqua American Apparel blank. You can pick up your HYA tee for $21 now and every order comes with an HYA pin.

Prestigious Clothing Winter 2010 Line

I’m not sure how this escaped my T-Shirt radar but our friends over at Prestigious Clothing recently released their winter line of T-Shirt goodness. This unique brand which emphasis the DIY mantra describes its T-Shirts as being “Handmade by Humans.” Their recent release is in my opinion their most impressive to date. The new line features more subtle and mature artwork highlighted by a darker color palette.

My favorites from the bunch include the Prestigious Crest, Falling and Handmade. Each of the shirts are available now from Prestigious Clothing for $22 and you can save 10% off your entire order by using the coupon code “prestigious” at checkout.

Everything You Need to Know About T-Shirts in 1000 Words

The History of T-Shirts in 320 Words

One-piece “union suits” are cut into separate top and bottom pieces. The top part of the union suit is long enough to be tucked into the waistband of bottoms. Miners and stevedores use the T-Shirt to combat the hot environment. The United States Navy makes the T-Shirt standard issue at around 1918 and are used as undergarments worn under uniforms. The T-Shirt appears in Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary for the first time in 1922. During the Great Depression the T-Shirt becomes the default garment for many workers. The Wizard of Oz releases the first promotional T-Shirt in 1939. Presidential candidate Thomas E. Dewey was the first to put a political slogan on a T-Shirt and it said “Dew-It With Dewey.” Charlie Brown first appears in a T-Shirt in 1950. Following World War II it is common to see veterans wearing T-Shirts with their trousers as casual clothing. Marlon Brando turns the T-Shirt into a fashion statement after wearing one in A Streetcar Named Desire in 1951. In 1955, James Dean appears in Rebel Without A Cause in a white T-Shirt making it the symbol of rebellious youth.

Tank tops, A-Shirts (wife beaters), muscle shirts, scoop shirts and v-necks are developed as variants to the T-Shirt. Plastisol ink is developed in 1959 allowing variety in T-Shirt designs. Screen printing becomes the most popular form of T-Shirt printing. Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara graces the T-Shirt of many activitsts in the 1960’s. John Sebastian and Janis Joplin popularize tie-dyed shirts. Jacqueline Bisset appears in the movie The Deep in 1977 and is seen surfacing wearing a white T-Shirt and a bikini underneath – the Wet T-Shirt is born. Thermochromatic dyes are introduced in the 80’s and change color when subjected to heat. In the 90’s, Hip Hop afficianados wear T-Shirts that extend to their knees. Threadless revolutionizes the way T-Shirts are designed and sold online in the 2000’s with their crowd sourcing model of business.

(more…)

Out of Print Clothing

Some people say that with the rise of the digital age, physical books are going out of fashion. Out of Print Clothing has decided to bring the classics back by making them a part of our fashion wardrobe. Their T-Shirts feature the original artwork from some literary favorites of years past, including The Catcher In The Rye, Catch-22, and 1984.

“Out of Print celebrates the world’s great stories through fashion. Our shirts feature iconic and often out of print book covers. Some are classics, some are just curious enough to make great t-shirts, but all are striking works of art.”

Out of Print Clothing works closely with the artists, authors and publishers to create T-Shirts that best reflect the original books. They receive permission and licenses to print their unique and retro T-Shirts so you can be sure each T-Shirt has the seal of approval from the original content providers.

They currently have 16 T-Shirts available for sale at $28 a piece. For each shirt purchased, Out of Print Clothing promises to donate a book to a community in need through their partner Books For Africa.

Chop Stick Wardrobe by Andreas Saxer

You probably won’t find these at your local Ikea. Designer, Andreas Saxer created these chop stick like wardrobe hangers and was inspired by traditional Japanese wood joinery methods and the daily used chop sticks. Four wooden sticks are loosely connected with an aluminum profile. The loose system gets very stable by the weight of the clothes.

The piece was part of the Made In Asia exhibit in Zurich, Switzerland.

Team Get A Life + Always Sunny from Kosher Ham!

Our friends over at Kosher Ham recently released a slew of awesomely funny T-Shirts in its latest release. Two shirts caught my eye, Team Get A Life and the Experimental Jet Set look-a-like Always Sunny In Philadelphia parody tee. If you’re like me then you haven’t seen or read any of the Twilight books or films because like me, you believe that movies about vampires and werewolves should not involve horny teenagers.

The Always Sunny In Philadelphia shirt is the Kosher Ham take on the Experimental Jet Set phenomena. For a review of Experimental Jet Set shirts, check out this list of 25 from Andy at Hide Your Arms. What better subject to tackle than the cast of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia? Some might argue that they are almost as influential as the original Experimental Jet Set tee that featured The Beatles. OK, so the cast of It’s Always SUnny is nowhere as influential as Ringo, Paul, George and John – but they are funnier!

Pick up both shirts from Kosher Ham today for $17.99 a piece and don’t forget to use the coupon code “COTYFANS” at checkout to save an additional 10% at checkout! Tip: Buy 3 shirts from Kosher Ham and score a  free Kosher Ham tee!