The Mystery of Hipstery (and FREE Coupon!)

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     hipstery, hipstery t-shirts, hipstery.com, mystery t-shirts, mystery tees

First off here’s a limited time discount code “buymoretees” – enter it at the checkout for 10% off from the 29/09/2009 to 15/10/2009. Right, here’s a tricky one, a t-shirt brand review that’s built its appeal on mystery, in practicality that means their customers buy blind, they have no idea what they’re about to receive through the post, and who knows it might just work. I remember life before the Internet, it was full of mystery then, or rather ignorance, it took ages to research anything, be it the library, or enquiries on the phone or via snail mail. Luckily things have moved on and by the magic of the WWW I can show you a few items that Hipstery have sold, so at least this review won’t be totally blind. However when it comes to your order, I have no idea what you’ll receive, and so to put your mind at rest, here’s something about the mindset at the mystery label Hipstery.

First off I received an email from Willem Von Tinkel (who possesses a remarkable resemblance to Sacha Baron Cohen), one of four guys behind the label who proceeded to direct me towards their manifesto. Boiling it down their mission statement essentially cites Hipstery as a group of people on a crusade to rediscover mystery and all that that entails, a leap into the dark that relies on the idea that the inevitable boredom of most consumers, faced by the same retail experience, the same hype, the same range of products will take a leap into the dark with them and let illogical passions rule the day. I can see the sense in that, and as far as I can tell Hipstery are already making waves in the t-shirt market. They’ve got a few interviews under their belt already including t-shirt review blogs Hide Your Arms and Loving This Tee, so if you want to know more about their thoughts, machinations and vision for the future they are your best bet. I’m going to take a more objective line on this, essentially I believe what I see and so I’ll be featuring what evidence I can of what to expect from their wares.

When you hand over your ‚Ǩ16 for any size t-shirt for either men or women your details are passed through a ‘fashion algorithm’ which essentially involves a series of questions when you first order from Hipstery. Those questions include an option on your fave colours (or rather an omission of your most hated), a few psychological questions like “Do you own a gun?” and even an ink blot test, basically the same kind of questioning you might receive when being considered for a mental home, no I’m joking, but some of this information might be as useful for finding recruits for a revolution as picking a t-shirt. Who knows, the Hipstery revolution may just be around the corner?

Joking asides it’s a fascinating project, circumventing the usual t-shirt brand hype and genuinely attempting to engage on a far deeper level with their customer base, I still need convincing, it would have been nice if they’d let me have a trial run, I could’ve asked the questions and they could’ve sent me a pic of the t-shirt they’d chosen, but then again that wouldn’t have been very ‘mysterious’. One thing I’ve found out is that a lot of their t-shirts are very very rare, you might not know what you’ll be getting, but if you tick the right option you can be assured that very few others will receive the same tee. Anyway here’s some concrete proof of exactly what Hipstery do… read more

The World of Mondo Tees

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Mondo T-Shirts, Mondo Tees, MondoTees.com, Tyler Stout, cinema, film tees, film tshirts, mondo posters, movie t-shirts

There’s the movie world, the fictional geography of a million hits and flops, the corporate PR and image stylists, you know La La Land. Then there’s the world of Mondo Tees, a highly creative company with more than a few feathers to their bow, they love film, that can be gathered almost immediately on viewing their wide range of classic t-shirts and posters, but more so they offer an alternative vision, merchandise that was never made (but should’ve been), imagery that can conjure up the intrinsic feel of any plot line or character, with a level of finesse unseen for many years by the movie industry.

MondoTees.com offer one of the wildest selection of t-shirt collections seen this side of the silver screen, including memorable titles such as Badass Cinema and would you believe it even vintage nudie films get the treatment, there’s a section featuring a rather glitzy treatment of past and present famous directors in the business, and although they do offer a range of music tees too, I personally think that movie-influenced designs are their strong point.

MT don’t have a biography or ‘about page’, it’s a conscious choice to focus on the products rather than the people behind the label, their Facebook statement reads as follows – “If we have to explain what we are, you wouldn’t understand.” We understand, we understand. If you want to stay updated on all the latest if rather bizarre news from Mondo, then check out their blog, as well as their Twitter and Flickr pages. But don’t expect any indepth discussion there either, MT are about the art, flat out, there’s nothing more to say, so let’s check out their tees (oh and one poster :/) read more

Simplified Sale!

admin    T-Shirt News     Simplified Clothing, airplane t-shirt, airplane tee, art shirts, art t-shirts, discount tees, simplifiedclothingdesign, t-shirt sale

Here’s a quickie to let you know that SimplifiedClothingDesign.com are running a weekend sale starting lasting until Sunday night at midnight. All of our t-shirts are now $10+ off including free domestic shipping (USA). If you don’t remember our review of Simplified Clothing’s cool tees click here

Here’s my personal fave at SCD’s store right now:-

Airplane Tee

Just $15 for the weekend sale so get down there and grab this classic (and others) dirt cheap! To stay updated on future sales hook up with SC at Facebook and Twitter.

.

Always Read The FinePrint!

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Chicago t-shirts, Chicago tees, Obama, The Fineprint, art, art shirts, art t-shirts, basketball, charity, fine print, limited edition t-shirts

…And Wear It Too. Don’t worry, I’m not about to start dishing out legal advice, The Fineprint are a Chicago-based design company featuring limited- edition apparel and original artwork. Offering a fine line between fashion and art, The FP offer a wider range of highly unique, generously proportioned designs for artistic lovers of limited edition tees. They offer a creative bridge for Chicago artists to reach a wider fan base of customers looking for something a little different for the wardrobe. Selling both apparel and art online they aim to showcase local talent in the Chicago area, providing an arts hub for customers worldwide, Fineprint aim to open the eyes of the art market to the hidden talents of the windy city. The Fineprint prints all of their tees and art in Chicago, using water-based, non-toxic inks that are safe for the consumer, the environment, and their employees.

The FP offer a strong commitment to their local community, and have hooked up with DonorsChoose.org in order to support public school teachers requiring funding for independent projects. The Fineprint have already provided funding for a project that will give young men and women from the Hyde Park Academy High School access to “the Art of Airbrushing”. They aim to fund many more projects for the future with your support.

Artistically The FP’s aspirations are just as lofty with a strong collection of cultural and political tees and prints that reflect Chicago, America and global ideologies in equal measure. Ranging from urban culture to city scapes, the famous and infamous, our relationship with nature and both historical and contemporary art and literature, The Fineprint offer a unique yet eclectic broad brush of ideologies rarely seen as subject matter for the humble tee. Their handmade product range are of a high quality, all hand printed and highly desirable for those seeking alternatives to the mainstream fashion scene. read more

Almost Human Tees at The Department

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Space 1999, androids, robot t-shirts, sci-fi, sci-fi t-shirts, science fiction t-shirts, the department, thedept, thedept.com

Here’s a rather quirky label at TheDept.com offer a variety of groovy android-related items including t-shirts, badges and bags and the guy behind the obsession brand is L.A based designer Richard Leighton. I have to admit I share many of his earliest passions for sci-fi movies and TV shows, and corporate logos from the 1970′s. He’s even designed some Space 1999 badges, which I’d love to see make it to t-shirts, but for now we’ll focus on his insistence that ‘Androids Always WIn’. He’s also working on a few short animated videos forAndroids Always Win!, as well as more designs, and products for release in the fall at The Dept. Store.

Now, first of all I predict that a vast majority of females of the human species will be rolling their eyes in disbelief or even nodding off at this very moment. I learned very early on that if you want to impress a girl, don’t mention humanoid synthetic organisms. Perhaps times have changed but in my early teens it was a definite no no to express any interest in robotics and A.I on the dance floor. Maybe it’s different in Japan, almost everyone there is robot mad, the more the better it seems, they’ve even started creating something called an actroid, which I guess won’t be winning any Oscars in the near future. Osaka has even been nicknamed Robot City, which is populated by so many robot receptionists, cleaners, tourist guides, and factory workers I have an inkling that it won’t be long before all humans can rest on their laurels and let androids run the place soon.

Still, for now, if you haven’t quite got the budget for your own android, you can always purchase one of Leighton’s t-shirts, and share his belief that indeed, Androids Always Win. What’s more you get a free pennant with every order to help you cheer on the oncoming advancement of a new and artificially intelligent race, let’s just hope they don’t decide to wipe us all out and take over the planet :/ read more

Fifty Percent Off Tolky Monkys Tees

admin    T-Shirt News     Spanish tees, cartoon t-shirts, comic tees, discount, funny tees, illustrated t-shirts, mad tees, sale, tolky monkys, tolkymonkys.com, voucher

Woot! If you’re after a bargain and are one of the first five people to read this post then do I have a bargain for you! Totally mad t-shirt label Tolky Monkys have done it again, here’s the thinking behind the offer in their own insane words…

“When last year the Tolky Monkys sent the Resales, Sally and Sally, back home, they thought that these naughty twins would never come again to make a visit. They were wrong. Surprisingly, they have knocked at their door and in only 10 minutes they have destroyed the whole studio. How naive they were… After that, they have created for us a special coupon with a 50% off.“

I know once again the reasoning behind Tolky Monkys‘s wisdom has been lost in translation, still, all you need to know is this…

The first 5 readers to use this coupon code: REBUYTEES can buy any adult tee at just 50% of the usual price. The offer doesn’t include posters, metro-wallets, but does include boys t-shirts, girls t-shirts, hoodies and polos. You have from Wednesday 23rd till Thursday 1st of October to use this coupon: REBUYTEES. But be quick, only the first 5 readers will take advantage of it.

If you need a recap on the madness of TM then check out this past review, but hurry, the first 5 to order get a real bargain!!

Phat Tees From Leino

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Chariots Retired, Hide Your Arms, Ian Leino, Threadless, designer, illustrator

Ian Leino is an indie graphic designer and illustrator based in Asheville NC who has for many sneaked under the radar when it comes to t-shirt visionaries, asides a great deal of respect at Threadless and the occasional if rather brief mention at various tee blogs like Hide Your Arms, so we here at Buy Tees think it’s about time the guy deserves to get the full treatment, a real review of his work to date, with plenty of visual goodies for all. Leino’s illustrations draw from a wide range of artistic styles and eras, he’s as adept at recreating the imagery of the past as he is at clean cut vector work, and more often than not, with a healthy dose of sass to keep his following smiling all the way to the checkout.

Leino is an independent guy, he doesn’t have a store, as mentioned he’s well known at Threadless, he’s also had a fair few commissions for clients including Cinder Block, Live Nation, Cotton Images, as well as other tee contest sites such as TeeFury.com and DBH. Leino, it must be stressed, is an all-rounder, he creates just about everything under the sun, be it CD covers, posters, calendars, however it has to be said that many of his t-shirt illustrations are stand out designs, and well worth checking out. You’ll have probably spotted many of the following in your time, such as a Collection of Flies and Vampires Beware, but what the heck, great tees are great tees, and besides this guy needs more exposure. If there’s one thing we can’t stand at Buy Tees, it’s great talent going to waste. Let’s take a look at what makes a phat tee in these lean times, over to you Leino… read more

T-Shirt Caviar at Finroo

admin    T-Shirt News     Finroo, Finroo.com, limited edition t-shirts, limited edition tees

We all want to savour the finer things in life, no matter what you love, there’s always someone somewhere selling a better quality, rarefied alternative that you’d give your right arm (or preferably cash if you can afford it;) for the chance of owning a piece of that exclusivity. The same rule applies to the creative t-shirt industry, there are limited editions and then there are black label tees at Finroo.com. One of our favourite t-shirt community sites out there has just upped the ante (again) and have released a range of highly limited edition tees for their connoisseur fans.

Everyone has experienced t-shirt envy at some point or other in their lives, many more of us have experienced exactly the opposite, and that’s over the saturation of our favourite designs. If you hate spotting your t-shirt on passers by, if you can’t stand the fact that many labels out there hit their margins by selling your most treasured t-shirts to all and sundry, if you’d like your wardrobe to be as unique as possible without going mad on haute couture items, then here’s what Finroo can offer you.

Purple Label

Limited edition of 200

Gold Label

Limited edition of 100

Platinum Label

Limited edition of 50

And the ultra exclusive

Black Label

limited edition of 25!

Now, expect the prices to rise depending on the label, the black label tees are a whopping $94.99 each which is steep I agree, but remember, only 25 people in the world will proudly wear your favourite design. So essentially you pay for the exclusivity, if you don’t care how many dopes are wearing your favourite design then I’d try K-Mart, if you do then here are some of my favourites on offer right now, although I can’t guarantee half of these won’t be sold out by tomorrow! read more

Swish Swosh Sneak Peek Preview!

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     British t-shirts, British tees, England, N. Ireland, Scotland, Threadless, UK t-shirts, Wales, swish swosh, swishswosh.com, t-shirt community, t-shirt voting

In just under 24 hours SwishSwosh.com – a British t-shirt contest site will be officially opening their doors to the public, and just to stir up a little more excitement I thought it best to share the love and let you all see what’s around the corner from this exciting new store. What I can tell you is this, Swish Swosh will be offering all their t-shirts on pre-order at £12 each (£15 for winners), yes a Brit tee community at last, and they already have quite a few cool submissions under their wing, and that’s no surprise seeing as SS are offering a whopping great prize of £1100 for the first place winner plus 50p per t-shirt sold. The total in prizes is £2009, and with ten winning positions to fill I’m sure a lot of you budding t-shirt designers can see a chance for success here! Every runner up receives £101 plus 50p in commissions which should be enticing for the least adventurous, but if you haven’t submitted a tee you will probably have to submit for the next round. There has been so much demand that SS have actually been accepting votes in beta, and some of their tees are already in pre-order!

As their motto states ‘no more clones’ SS will be limiting prints to just 50 of each size per print so if you do fancy any of their winning tees (and hoodies) I’d hurry because I doubt they’ll be hanging around too long. Although this will be a monthly contest so if you do want to get in on the action you have a decent amount of time to get on board for the next round. Fancy submitting a design? Then submit your design here. They want cutting edge, drop dead gorgeous designs if you can muster them, and I’ll tell you why.

The two founders of SS (I’d give you more details but their meet the founders page simply states ‘be patient you nosey gits’ right now) decided to create SwishSwosh.com after running a heap of successful club events where they witnessed fashion atrocities that would send anyone barmy, not only in calibre but also quantity. Imagine turning up for a night out and bumping into half a dozen other clubbers wearing the same t-shirt as you? It’s not just sad, it’s a a sad indictment of the state of corporate fashion these days. The fact is that originality is king, and that’s what SS are all about, if you want originality they will try their damndest to provide it via an army of keen talent touting for your votes. Let’s check out how Old Blighty are fairing in the t-shirt contest war… read more

High Arcane Chicanery at Beautiful/Decay

admin    T-Shirt News     Wizard, beautiful decay, beautiful decay t-shirts, black t-shirt, gothic, horror t-shirt, satanic

Beautiful/Decay have just made their latest offering to the dark lords of the t-shirt dimension, placed upon the designer’s altar this month is their Wizard Tattoo tee. Designed by a BD favourite Kyle Thomas, LA based designer with a history of corporate projects under his belt, muralist, and devout graffiti fan – this is another of his stream of consciousness illustrated tomes for t-shirts, featuring everything any self-respecting devil worshipping, head banging fifth horseman or horsewoman could want from their tee collection. So put down your ouija board for a minute, let the sacrificial goat take one last stroll around the graveyard and direct your mystical gaze towards this… read more