New York Style For The World At R.A.G

R.A.G Clothing opened its doors in NY in 1959 and has since expanded its number of stores to 5 locations across Manhattan. My partner came across RAG Clothing on a recent trip and was surprised (and relieved) to find their inimitable range of stylish designer t-shirts and urban wear are available online. They offer a great line in graphic art shirts although I’d say their men’s tees outclass the women’s by miles. There’s also a small selection of I Love New York tees for those of you who can’t quite afford a weekend fix of NY right now, though again they aren’t quite on the same level as their graphic t-shirts.

Graphic Crow Prisoner T-Shirt (in white and grey) for Men.

This is one hell of an eerie t-shirt but I do love the minimalist use of colour and the superb illustrative style. Very reminiscent of the Hitchcock classic “The Birds” and a dash of Poe, the composition here is strong and works as well in grey as it does in white.

Dreamer T-Shirt (in white, khaki and red) for Men

If you’re a fan of classy distressed tees you should like Dreamer, this t-shirt has a lot of Ancient Greek influences bubbling under the surface, the central character has a lot in common with carved figureheads. The old wooden sculptures you find affixed to the stern of many old ships of times gone by. They were supposed to bring good luck to all those on board by placating the gods of the sea, although I’ve seen quite a few unattached ones in antiques stores and fairs so I’m not sure if the luck spreads any further than the figurehead itself. My advice, if you’re sailing on an old wooden ship and its breaking apart, hang on to the figurehead, they always seem to make it to dry land :p

NYC Map Babydoll T-Shirt (in black white and khaki) for Women.

If you happen to be wearing the NYC Map tee whilst wandering around New York you’ll find your popularity amongst the tourists will shoot up. I love maps, even as a work of art, although I can’t stand those made-up maps that some fantasy artists have a habit of churning out. This all over print babydoll is a real eye-catcher and even if you’re not in New York, or have never been there, it gives you a little worldly-wise clout amongst your friends. I’d have thought it might be more fun to creative a mirror-image version of this so that you can only read it in a compact or a fashion store mirror, then again maybe that would be too vain, even for the NY fashionistas out there.

Snake Warrior T-Shirt (in blue, black and grey) for Men

The Snake Warrior T-Shirt is atypical of many Chinese-style tees out there at the moment, however the choice of image and composition shows some real flair. I’d love to get a translation of the golden text but it would probably be something along the lines of ‘luck’, ’sex power’ or some wise saying from Confucius along the lines of keep your snake in your trousers, who knows, it’s just a great design.

I’m still at a loss to what R.A.G’s acronym stands for, maybe you can enlighten me. I’d like to see their voting system open to all and not just subscribed shoppers, but apart from that a very snazzy and well thought out t-shirt experience awaits you www.ragnewyork.com.