The ustream live shows are becoming increasingly popular amongst the tee community. Kyle Crawford, of Electric Zombie, had a live show earlier today and answered a bunch of questions from his fans and viewers. Kyle is a very eclectic person, as such, you’ll find some useful information intertwined with colorful words and endless rants! In the live show, he talks some about his upcoming line, why he loves MerchNow, music, why he likes AA tees, and why collaborations aren’t really his thing. He also talks a little about why he will not be selling tees over $20 again. The show last about 60 minutes.Â
Kyle also announced an upcoming contest during the live show. Electric Zombie will be having a contest on Friday the 13th in conjunction with the release of his new line. The first 13 people to email him, after the new line is posted on the EZ site, will win $13 via Paypal to go and see the new Friday the 13th remake in the theaters. The 13th person to email Kyle will also win a gigantic signed James Davis print with a huge skull, I Love EZ tee and belt, a shirt or two of the winners choice and a Friday The 13th DVD Boxset!
Arkaik Clothing announced today that all orders will receive 30% off when you use the code: CARDINALS. This is in celebration of the Arkaik’s hometown team, the Arizona Cardinals, winning the NFC Championship and heading to the Superbowl for the first time since 1948. The sale runs till next week Sunday.Â
Here are some of my picks from Arkaik’s online store:Â
T-Shirt Magazine announced their 2nd Tee Maniacs Contest, this time with the support of online tee giant Threadless! This is the contest for all T-Shirt crazed maniacs. If you’ve got a closet filled with tees and need more room then this contest is for you!Â
What do you have to do? Simple. Submit a photo or video showing how much of a tee maniac you really are. That’s it! Be as creative as you can because the competition will prove to be fierce, considering that the first Tee Maniac Contest drew over 1000 entries.Â
You can start submitting your entries on January 23 and continue to do so until February 20. Five finalist will be chosen from all of the entries and will go up for voting by the tee community. One winner will be announced on March 21, 2009.Â
The newly crowned Tee Maniac will win the following, courtesy of Threadless and T-Shirt Magazine:
15 t-shirts
A hoody
A 24×30 print
$150 cash
$50 Threadless gift certificate
A feature interview on T-Shirt MagazineÂ
I’ll surely be throwing my hat into the mix and submitting an entry – will you?Â
Our pals at Loyal To Your Soil is having a crazy sale at their online store! Buy products now and you’ll get 40% off your entire order. The sale ends on January 18 – so you have 2 days to save some cash. It’s a great time to buy that tee that you’ve been holding off on. Even better, you’ll receive a free Loyal To Your Soil hat if you spend at least $40. Are you Loyal To Your Soil?Â
They also sent me a sneak peek of their upcoming spring line. You’ve got to use your imagination a bit – but hey, that’s part of the fun of sneak peeks! I’m digging the colors so far and I can’t wait to see the full designs.
I recently received an email from a regular reader here, who has decided to take the plunge and enter into the apparel business. He sent me a a nice email asking me how he might go about having his product reviewed, talked about and posted on my site. I decided that I would do a general post based on his question for others that might be interested in doing the same.Â
I basically break my blog posts about apparel brands into three different categories: brand news/sales, brand reviews and brand interview. The best way to let me know about any of these things is through the contact form in the above menu. Many of my posts originate from tidbits that I find myself through other blogs, forums or social networks. However, a lot of the time, bands will contact me directly.
If you decided to contact me directly then these are some things to remember:
General Brand News/Sales. Any changes to your brand? Big sale?Â
1. Be as specific as you can about the news about your brand/company. Provide a link to the news if you made a post about it on your site.
2. Be as specific about the sale as possible. How much is the discount? How long does the sale last? Are there specific products on sale?Â
Brand Reviews. Most of the emails I receive are from different indie brands wanting me to check out their online store/site or to review a product. Here is some insight as to how I decide what to review.Â
1. If you send me a physical product to review (i.e you mailed me something) I will almost always do a post about your product (I’m 100% so far). I have been more inclined as of late to do video reviews in conjunction with a text review of the product you shipped to me. Needless to say, products that are shipped to me typically receive the most attention – since you took the time to send it, it’s the least I could do. You can find my shipping information in the contact menu above.
2. If there is a particular product you want me to check out and possibly review then please provide a specific link to that product. Or include an image of it as an attachment.Â
3. If your brand or a specific tee design jumps out at me (i.e. I really like it) then I will be more inclined to post about it.
4. If your story and/or background excites me then I will be more inclined to post about you.
Brand Interviews. These are a lot of work and I try as hard as I can to pump out at least one Interview a week. Interviews on this site come in two flavors: the Indie Tee Spotlight series and one-off interviews.Â
1. Most of the time, the interview will be a part of my Indie Tee Spotlight series. The Indie Tee Spotlight is always reserved for brands from which I have been sent a product for review and have really enjoyed or that I have purchased from and have really liked. These are usually my biggest posts, in terms of word length, and I try my best to promote these as best as I can.Â
2. Other times, I will do one-off interviews, for instance, if a brand has big news then I might interview them about it or if I really dig a particular brand I might send the them a few questions.Â
That’s it! I look forward to all of your wonderful emails and products. Keep up the great work!
Linty Fresh’s Eric Terry announced the date for the 3rd of his Linty Fresh live chats. He’ll be available once more, Sunday January 25, to answer any questions you might have live via ustream. He’ll also have a special guest this time around, a friend and SEO specialist. This should be great for those of you wondering how you can best optimize your blog or online store for search engines like Google. It’s a two hour live show, so come ready with questions to ask, bring some snacks and get ready to gain some knowledge!
Johnny Cupcakes recently made a post on Emptees regarding some very very very similar looking items being released by Pastry, a brand owned by Vanessa and Vangela Simmons. Some of you might recognize the Simmons girls if you watch Run’s House on MTV – they are the daughters of Rap legend Reverend Run of Run DMC.Â
Johnny posted the following message:
“Last Spring I was alerted by a customer who happened to work at a popular mall sportswear store. This customer of mine caught a glimpse of his manager’s catalog which had various items that were being released in the near future at all of their mall locations. One of the items in this companies catalog was a “Make Pastry Not War” t-shirt. Not only was it a very similar slogan, but it had the same EXACT placement, font, EVEN A CUPCAKE in the center of the t-shirt. This was no coincidence. Weeks later my inbox was flooded with furious Johnny Cupcakes customers who saw this same catalog with the ‘Pastry’ design in it. I could of made a big deal about it online, making everyone else aware of it. Instead, I decided not to be a cry baby and post it all over the internet, so I sought out a different route. I decided to contact my trademark attorney, who then contacted the owners of Pastry / Pastry Kicks. We got in touch with the President of a certain mall chain-store who ended up declining the order of all ‘Make Pastry Not War’ t-shirts.”
Â
“Recently I’ve received several e-mails from confused and upset customers of mine. Now, 2 other designs have appeared on their website. You be the judge…”
Johnny caught them on this once before last year, with the Make Cupcakes Not War tee. It looks like the girls didn’t learn from their previous mistake. The new Pastry tees are too similar – way too similar. It is so shameful that they are doing such blatant rip offs of an already established brand. Shame. On. YOU!
Here is the information that you need if you want to voice your concern to Pastry. Let them know this is wrong and lame in every way.Â
Â
Customer service toll free NumberÂ
1-800-970-0776Â
212-246-1900Â
Mon-Fri 9AM-6PM. Sat 10AM-5PM (ET).
Here’s a sale I learned about at T-Shirts Around The Internet – it’s called the Super Recession Sale and its taking place at MNKR Clothing, a tee brand based out of California. The sale runs through February 1st. I’ve included a couple of my recommended pick ups, including one that would be semi-fun to wear at your local Wal-Mart.
I’m happy to announce that there are a couple of new additions to the Attack of the Coupon Codes! You can now find the following indie brands (see below) in my coupon section along with the fine bunch already there. Check out each of those links as each page talks a little about the company and I also share my favorite picks from their online stores.Â
This is just the tip of the iceberg, my friends! I hope to get a bunch more coupon codes for you to use at your favorite indie tee shops. Beware of the Attack of the Coupon Codes!
In this episode I wear Failed Launch by Manos Lakoutsis and review a tee sent to me by 410BC. The 410BC tee is called Skate Wolf and is a parody of the Michael J. Fox 1980′s classic,Teen Wolf. Sorry about the knocking midway though – I didn’t even notice it while recording, yikes! Enjoy with tea and a comfy tee!
Skate Wolf by 410BC. Good: Fancy custom packaging, did a good job of sewing on the custom hang tag, very soft and comfy tee, very complex print, lots of colors. Bad: A bit tight around the neck. Price: Currently Not Available for Purchase.Â
