Wake Up… It’s Lazy Oaf!

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     British fashion, Lazy Oaf, UK fashion, indie scene, lazyoaf.co.uk

If there’s one thing British indie fashion collective Lazy Oaf aren’t, it’s lazy. The highly energetic creative bunch at LazyOaf.co.uk have a wide (and I mean as wide as the Blackwall Tunnel) range of just about everything under the sun that can hold one of their uniquely zany illustrations, produced by one of a small army of artists under their wing.

Lazy Oaf’s big bright pop art tees are a familiar sight around London, delivering a quirky sense of humour and a fresh alternative to many of the major labels, this is a truly emancipated label run by a team of frenetically creative women from their studios in the East End. The Oaf’s are slap bang in the heart of London’s urban art scene, within spitting distance of a wealth of excellent indie galleries and often contribute to print projects, exhibitions and events.

Founded by Gemma Shiel back in 2001, selling hand screen printed tees from a market stall in East London, the Lazy Oaf empire hasn’t looked back since, selling their fabulous wares via a whopping 150 stockists worldwide. In 2004 saw they set up what will most probably be the first of many retail stores, if you’re in Soho it’s well worth a visit, where you can see all their collections and further Oaf oddities sourced from Japan and the US first hand.

If you love the 80’s, pop art and a wacky sense of humour you’ve come to the right place. Here’s a few tasty morsels to whet the appetite:-

Polka Face Oversized Tee

Not quite a tee, not quite a dress, the Polka Face oversized t-shirt is jam-packed with fun and colour, I love the pastiched style of what could almost be a Victorian print if it wasn’t for the crazy smiley’s. Check out those fake collars, yes, there was a time when they’d have been for real, but this ever-so-slightly trompe l’oeil tee takes a light-hearted look at fashion, and it does it oh so well. Bold, bright, immediately eye-catching, a really refreshing slant on a catwalk standard. Here’s a funny one for you, a friend of Chris (my gf) only recently discovered that poker and polka were two separate words. She wanted to play polka for matchsticks which left everyone bemused, she even incorrectly sang the hermaphrodite hit ‘Poker Face’ from time to time, finally Chris put her out of her misery. She no longer dresses as an Eastern European at the card table :p Anyway, back to Polka Face, get this superb oversized shirt for girls in sizes S/M and M/L for £24.50 here.

Giant Pencils Tee

Well it’s obvious that the girls at Lazy Oaf do think size matters heh… Joking asides this is a very cool tee, I’d love to see this as an all-over print, front and back, but hey you can’t have everything. Some really really strong graphic design here, simple yet as powerful as they come, this is definitely Oaf’s trademark style, if it doesn’t leap out from the t-shirt and slap you in the face, then it’s probably a no-go at their bustling Shoreditch studio. Besides I’m sure on some subconscious Freudian level this must boost a few blokes’ egos, erm, I mean it makes them look sharp :0 If you believe the pen is mightier than the sword then you can enlighten others with the Giant Pencils tee for men in sizes S to L for £24.50.

Pyramid Oversized Tee

Here’s another totally funky design, the Pyramid Tee features a made-to-fade print, check out the second image to drool over the gorgeous vintage fading, very retro. This tee is kinda Mayan meets mayhem with a great selection of colours, love the bleeding, and that has to be the friendliest Evil Eye I’ve ever seen. If the $USD is ever redesigned I say tell the Masons to clear off and let Lazy Oaf have a try. For a higher state of funkiness grab the Pyramid Oversized tee for girls in sizes S to L for £24.50 here.

Groucho Tee

If you’re not in with the in crowd and can’t fight your way in with a D-list temporary place on the list at Groucho’s then fear not, you can always get yourself a fabulous Grouch Tee. Available for guys and girls this simple yet powerful tee does exactly what is says on the label. For those either unaware or not a fan of Groucho Marx take another look at The Marx Brothers, they truly have to be the first people on the planet who were genuinely funny, not oops custard pie in the face funny, but taking potshots at high society and sticking two fingers up at the establishment funny and not in anyway connected with the Soviet communist uprising either hah. Get the Groucho tee fin sizes S to L or £24.50 here in grey/blue for guys and here in white for girls.

Check out all of Lazy Oaf’s wildly illustrated products at www.LazyOaf.co.uk and have a skim through their blog too if you want to know all about who these girls fancy, think are naff, and a bunch of other mad posts I am sure.

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