The Thug Tee @ Socialfabrik

admin    T-Shirts     Brit t-shirts, Socialfabrik, UK t-shirts, indie tees, street art tees

I got an email from Eddie Sadowski who runs and designs for Manchester, UK based indie fashion label Socialfabrik. Now that is a great name for a brand! In particular he wanted me to pay particular attention to their latest shirt Thug – which I must admit is absolutely awesome! It’s based on a police marksman target that’s been used since the 1960s and definitely fits in with the whole “fabric of society” theme I’m picking up off this brand. It’s available for £20 in white and grey in all sizes.

The Thug Tee

Here it’s being modelled by Gary Briggs, frontman and guitarist of UK rock band Strays.

Adult Classifieds Tee

Whilst I’m at it I did spot this Adult Classifieds tee, I created a print on similar lines a while back – hey great minds think alike after all… Love it, but it just ain’t available quite yet – sorry folks :/

Socialfabrik already have a strong cult following in Manchester, soon their store will be an art gallery for limited edition art prints and the t-shirts will be the canvas. They aim to take street art from the city walls and onto the public themselves! Check out the rest at www.socialfabrik.co.uk.

Cheer Up Clothing

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     British tees, Cheer Up Clothing, Cheer up, UK t-shirts, designer t-shirts

Cheer Up Clothing is a UK based fashion label that offers a range of simple yet stylish graphic, logo/branded and typographic tees and hoodies for a discerning market. They’ve already had a ton of press coverage here in Britain including Front and Kerrang Magazine. They’re also big on music and sponsor several highly acclaimed bands and touring artistes, such as Four Year Strong, You Me At Six, All American Rejects, The King Blue and more. They’re constantly producing home-grown best sellers and are tipped for the top, especially in the international market.

CUC is what I’d call a “real” fashion brand, high quality and confident branding whilst creating a unified style for their collection – which is not an easy thing to do. I’m not so keen on the pocket logo apparel, I remember as a kid everyone buying Lacoste sweaters sporting a tiny crocodile logo. A savvy kid at the school yard asked his dad, who ran an embroidery business, to print up a few hundred tiny crocodile patches. Yes he sold out the first day. I didn’t even buy one of those. Still, even if I am a fashion Marxist I can still appreciate their more creative graphic shirts and the inventive use of their rather groovy logo in their collection. Expect plenty of ice cream themed tees – I’ve even included one in this post. All the tees are unisex and sell for between £20 and £22 (except one on sale for £16) each and are available in a wide range of colours dependent upon the design. Sizes range from XS-L and I’ve noticed a few discontinued t-shirts so watch out – when they’re sold out they’re really sold out.

CU wanted me to mention that their latest collection will be released Wednesday 17th November in celebration of their third anniversary – but as usual I’m featuring my faves across the board.

Tag Foil Tee

Higgledy Tee

Spaceman Tee

Scribbles Tee

All in all there’s some very cool stuff on offer at Cheer Up Clothing, personally speaking I love the Spaceman Tee – but I always like astronaut-themed tees. Maybe it’s something to do with wanting to be a spaceman as a kid and then discovering that I sucked at maths.

Anyhoo, take a look for yourself, it might just put a smile on your face… www.CheerUpClothing.com.

The Cooler

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     L.A, L.A t-shirts, L.A tees, The Cooler, The Cooler Collective, art shirts, designer tees

The Cooler is a collective of  artists and designers based in L.A created as a literal outlet for their pent up creativity, providing them relief from the daily grind and offering the general public a few visual treats for the wardrobe. They release new fresh tees each and every month under a different theme, they also offer other products such as, cards, wallpaper and pillows in a recent collaboration with Andrew Sebastian (I love their Tarot Pillow – although I think Brits would describe them more as cushions). Rather impressively they design, print, and press everything themselves at their LA studio which means, alongside a strong design ethic, quality control is at the top of their agenda.

Buy Tees Discount: enter buytees15 at the checkout for 15% off all products!

For the main part their collection consists of typographic shirts and L.A, TV, sport and design centric puns but there are still quite a few treats for the rest of us. I’d like to see a lot more truly graphic tees on show, especially considering how many designers are on their books. That said they do have plenty of great ideas and a few t-shirts jumped out at me, this is one of those occasions when it’s all down to cultural background and taste. The Cooler is more geared towards the American culture, so if you love basketball, L.A, a little punk ethic, the art of the expletive and retro gaming you’ll probably have your tee cravings satisfied here. All the tees are $21 – $22 each in sizes S to XXL for guys and $25 in sizes S-XL for girls – some available in a few colours.

Vinyl Junkie Tee

Cute, style wise, alongside their Miami Heat Basketball Tee remind me a little of post-Basquiat 80′s design, more painterly than all the retro gaming style gear out at the moment, the sort of thing the Olympics used to use. Sweet.

Wonderland Tee

In case you were wondering, no, your body isn’t a temple, that was knocked down years ago to make way for a theme park :p

Basketball Shorts Tee

No showing ya knees on the court please…

Growing Up Tee

Sorry kids, there ain’t no Santa either.

Hella Tee

Cartman taught me all I need to know :p

Shady Tee

A shady tee for a shady world…

It’s difficult running a design collective, especially when each artist’s style differs so wildly from the next, the themed idea is a good way to go, but I’d prefer to see more full panel graphic tees. if I had the talent and the equipment at my fingertips I’d make sure to pull out all the stops. Still, an interesting label worth checking out. www.TheCooolerCollective.com.

Benny Gold

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Benny Gold, Pez, SF, hip hop tees, hiphop t-shirts, urban tees

All that glisters is not gold, unless that is, you’re Benny Gold. Benny Gold has a mantra “Stay Gold” which, for him at the very least, is a reminder that all the ideas and experiences we hold dear are the “real gold” inside each of us. Based in San Francisco Gold’s one man empire began with a lowly sticker and has now branched out to a massive list of design clients including big names like Nike, Adidas, Huf, Wired Magazine, Real Skateboards and tons more. Cool retailers across the planet sell his gear, America is totally covered alongside a few in Europe (including one shop in Britain in Gravesend (of all places!), a few in Canada and a whole shed load in Asia.

Still, if there isn’t a store near you don’t worry Benny Gold has his own online store featuring some very cool tees, tops, jackets, hoodies, hats and stickers. His tees are superb, not particularly on any conceptual level as such, the guy just has an eye and flair to boot. The print quality is mint, plus the house style is a few notches above the usual urban hip-hop iconography you’ve come to expect. What BG has is something almost unobtainable in the market, at least not without a ton of brand recognition strategy and that is a buzz around the label – not for the name or the logo, but the quality. There are some collaborations with some cool artists too including Barcelona born street artist Pez. My fave has to be the Mariachi tee tee which awesomely enough was created by a chance event that placed Benny and his photographer pal Bryan Derballa slap bang in front of a Mariachi player with one of BG’s stickers on his guitar. The rest is history…

No celebrities needed to rank this label in the public Zeitgeist, he has built it, they will come…

Mariachi Tee

Chance is a beautiful thing. Hecho in Frisco detailing with metallic gold accents. $30 in all sizes – colours black, white and green.

Tried & True Tee

Solid as a rock an anvil. $30 in all sizes – colours black, red and navy.

Freemasons Tee

Don’t forget the secret handshake. $30 in all sizes – colours black on black, white and royal blue.

Hold Fast Tee

Time is slipping away. Have fun whilst your young because it’s too much bother at my age :/ $30 in all sizes – colours black, grey and red.

Benny Gold, the beauty of it is, they’re just tees you know you’re going to wear…

A T-Shirt Renaissance At Sistine

admin    T-Shirt Discounts, T-Shirt Reviews     NY shirts, Sistine, art shirts, art t-shirts, streetwear

The Sistine Chapel ceiling might be famous for Michaelangelo’s Creation of Adam, but Sistine, a progressive streetwear company based in NY, want to bring the same recognition to t-shirt art – and to be honest, they’re definitely going the right way about it! The site looks more like a gallery than a store, each product image is gilt framed and stacked together in collections for which you’ll find a lookbook on hand if you fancy taking a closer inspection. There’s a great little news section too, which does exactly what every good t-shirt brand blog should do – feature each and every t-shirt at the store alongside a decent background story on their inspiration and design.

Every tee at the store is  available in sizes S-XL at $36 each which doesn’t include shipping, that’s a little steep for me considering the print sizes, although we do have a special price for all our faithful Buy Tees readers! To save $6 on each and every tee in the store use the code LIVELETLIVE at the checkout and you’ll save yourself 15% of the usual price! Altogether there are thirteen shirts at the store including six from their winter collection which launched just last week and is simply titled “Live and Let Live” as you might have guessed by now :0 Here are a few of my faves… (sorry I can’t link to each tee – that’s Javascript for ya :/)

Genesis 2 Tee

Gods of technology or simply slaves?

Malus Tee

Boy meets girl, girl meets snake, girl eats apple.

Live and Let Die Tee

Donnie is looking older everyday.

Imprint Tee

I’m always a sucker for a Rorschach.

See the rest of both collections now at www.Sistine.co.

Muzed Wear

admin    T-Shirts     Canadian tees, Muzed, Muzes Wear, skater tees, snowboarding, sport t-shirts, sports tees

There’s a big difference between the words amused, mused and muzed. According to the weighty online tome that is the Urban Dictionary it means “Stoned on music. Can also be described as a lasting eargasm.” Now I think I’ve had one of those before but I was 17, high on a particularly psychoactive substance and in reality there wasn’t actually any music playing, it was all in my head. Ah well, near enough.

Muzed Wear are a Canadian label who specialise in skate and snowboard apparel which is a little confusing considering the eargasm reference, and the lack of music themed gear at the store, none in fact. Ah well each to their own, I’m not too keen on all the branded logo tees and hoodies on offer, like I’ve said a thousand time before, even major worldwide brands are trimming back on the self-promotional design for something a little more personal and individualistic. Then again, there’s one great typographic shirt (which is a rarity in my opinion) and a rather amusing panda bear tee, which isn’t even overly cute, another rare achievement I’d say.

Love Life. Love Mused. Tee

You can see what I mean about the heavy self-promotional tactics now. I’d change the name of this tee to match the print “Skate. Snow. Live.” I couldn’t put it more simply myself. Beware though, it’s on pre-order and they reckon it might take up to a whopping 2 months to ship – gulp… One day it will be available in $19.99 in sizes S-XL. As a side point it’s better to get to know someone well before you start declaring your love for them – just a thought.

Cool Panda Tee

It’s a panda, it’s a cool panda, and why not. Lovely piece of stencil work, groovy retro shades topping off a great design. I’d much rather see a lot more of this kind of graphic tee any day. $19.99 in sizes S-XL.

For more info visit www.MuzedWear.com

Isaiah 53

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Brazilian Tees, Isaiah 53, Isaiah Fifty Three, NY Tees, art shirts

Now don’t worry heathens, I’m not going to go all God fearing on you now, Isaiah 53 is actually a NY/Brazilian t-shirt label with heavy subcultural, music, film and art roots. This post is a little bit of a treat for me as I rarely get a chance to feature t-shirt brands from south of the border, I mean South America not Watford. What’s even more exciting is there isn’t a reference to Rio in sight, the collection is punchy as they come and the visual references are a real treat for an old art school geezer like myself. Some lovely little concepts on offer here, a heady mix of New York Nostalgia and Brazilian zest for life, their range of graphic and photographic montages subtly infuse rather than hammer home the message.

Created by Lucas Penido and brought to life by collaborators from across the globe, Isaiah 53 takes a lot of artistic reference on board, some more obscure than others. I even had to get a reminder on the name “Sprouse” which  features in his über slick graphic Legends tee. It’s Stephen Sprouse, subculture’s legendary fashion designer who drew inspiration from the punk stylings of  the 1970′s London fashion scene. There’s a rather Warholian design too, which makes sense seeing how connected the two artists were, the Visionary Kids tee which again really packs a punch. All the tees are available at $38 each (ouch) and in sizes S-L. Some are available in a few colours too.

Visionary Kids Tee

Although I’m no fan of self-promoting brands I have to admit I’m suckered in by the grandiose statements – declaring a t-shirt a debut in print and offering up a creative ethos “We sell clothes for the visionary” is gutsy, I will give them that. It’s almost as if we’re witnessing yet another evolution in the medium of the tee here. I had a dream last night, not on the Luther King scale mind you, I walked into a posh gallery in London, a place where prices aren’t even mentioned let alone displayed. All I could see on the walls were t-shirts, highly unique, sumptuously printed, classic art tees from the past decade. That’s where this one belongs.

Legends Tee

Another tribute shirt, this time hailing four legends of NYC. I’ve mentioned Sprouse earlier on, but Haring, Warhol and Basquiat should be familiar to you all. Based on the classic Ramones tee this one presses all the right buttons in the right order as far as I’m concerned. Also available in magenta/white.

NYC “Hotdogs” Tee

I like it, I like it a lot, but I know zip about this one. Being a Brit I prefer sausages, well, I’d rather neither seeing as they both contain unmentionable animal parts. Still a great design which I’m guessing is something to do with Big Apple Products Inc. 1991. Hmm…

Blonde Ambition Tee

Don’t worry, it ain’t scrawny old Madge doing her rounds (again). I’m guessing it’s Marilyn making a play for yet another Hollywood hunk of old, ah for the memories. Marilyn is as classy as a dame can get in my eyes. Boo boo bee doo.

Any criticisms I have for the label are middling, I’d reduce the size of the header at their Big Cartel store (although I appreciate the branding it slows down the shopping experience) and fill that blog with a few posts (or take the link down) and maybe get a few stockists too? I’d also work on those prices, at $38 each and no mention of screen printing or limited editions at the site it could put off a few potential punters. Asides that I’d say this is a label that simply needs to keep doing what it’s doing so well.

Negrete

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     London t-shirts, Negrete, funny t shirts, graphic tees, political tees

Negrete is a highly subversive London based t-shirt label with a strong street art feel that plunders popular culture and urban myth with great aplomb. Started by a group of well travelled students of culture with a knack for powerful conceptual thinking, I love their tag line “product of a wasted youth”. Although saying that their tees do appeal to a wide range of ages, as long as you live your life with a pinch of cynicism and truth. There’s a powerful street art ethic that pervades throughout their large collection, which includes a new organic range; their Spring/Summer range, a discounted range and a few stragglers from the last season. I really like the way Negrete has done things over at www.negrete.co.uk. For a start they’ve taken the time and trouble to create a “back story” for each and every tee, many of which are both insightful and rather amusing in parts. Their concepts are powerful, leaning to the left field, they deal with all kinds of controversies and slices of subculture. What’s more, for the main part, their graphic skills back up the plan to the hilt, producing some high impact t-shirt designs that really make an impression.

The majority of their tees are home-grown, although there are a few impressive collaborations including art maverick Garry Milne and photographer Lex Kembery. It’s almost impossible to describe the house style over at Negrete, mainly because there isn’t one, I’d say it’s more about the message than prettifying the wardrobe. If you want to make a stand against anything, display a savvy cynicism for the state of mankind, or share a pithy savoir faire for underground pop culture, they’re your boys. All printed on 100% cotton tees in rich clean colours the organic range are going for £28 in sizes M-XL, the Spring/Summer tees are £25 each (S-XL), and the rest range between just a tenner and £12.50.

Negrete are one of those labels that’s managed to catch the Zeitgeist of Britain right now, students smashed up Tory HQ yesterday, with massive job cuts on the horizon it won’t be long before the rest of us join in. I can’t help being reminded of a famous quote from the movie Network “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore”. If you don’t fancy getting into a round of fisticuffs then one of Negrete’s t-shirts is definitely the next best thing.

Love Sprung Tee

An awesome organic shirt, it’s a collaborative work with artist Garry Milne that takes inspiration from the Baz Luhrmann reinterpretation of Romeo and Juliet. I had to include some detail shots for this one, beautifully conceived, beautifully drawn. £28 in M-L sizes.

Drugs Tee

Drugs are bad m’kay? The thing about drugs is that everything older druggies tell you when you’re in those “experimental” years is absolutely true. I remember a hippie chick telling me how resin gives you constipation, a few years later on the toilet I tipped my invisible hat to the girl. Still, toilet-based nostalgia asides, this is one awesome design, if you look carefully you’ll see a few immortal words by Sean Coombs – which according to Negrete were probably ghost written, lol. Only £12.50 in sizes S-XXL. What a bleedin’ bargain!

Sick Rick Tee

A jaded tribute to Ricky D aka Slick Rick, a British born rapper who made it in the Bronx in the Golden Age of Hip Hop. Everything went downhill from there, if you want to know more read this! It’s a sad state of affairs, but as far as t-shirts go, it’s a cracker!

New Yorker Tee

I have to admit this is probably the classiest t-shirt on the block, featuring a rather sublime quote from O’ Blue Eyes himself and stunning photography by the legendary Lex Kembery. It’s probably what I’d wear to a business meeting (if I ever needed to do that), my kind of formal. Available in white in sizes M-XL for £28 each.

There are supposed to be 100 styles over there, I can see around 30 but let’s not  nitpick – see them all at www.negrete.co.uk and check out their blog too.

Non, je ne regrette rien…

Closd Clothing

admin    T-Shirt News     Closd, Closd Clothing, Italian t-shirts, Italian tees, limited edition tees

Most definitely open for business Closd Clothing are a brand new Italian label with an awesome piece of branding, three superb tees on offer, and definitely some seriously artistic talent amongst the ranks. A lot of thought has gone into the site too, they’ve already set up their own little shirt spotting page at Flickr, and there are a few freebies available too.

Their first 3 tees for guys & girls (except for Rōnin) are on sale at $22 each, printed on 100% fine cotton jerseys in all sizes. The print colours are superbly rich and clean and each design is a limited edition – cleverly incorporating their branding without jarring the composition. The subject matter is a tad crazy too… just the way I like it :D

Bear Attack Tee

Rōnin Tee

Go! Sailor Tee

Go! Girl Sailor Tee

Nice stuff! I for one am eagerly awaiting plenty more tees from Closd.

New Star Wars and Spartan Shirts from Seventh.Ink

admin    T-Shirt Discounts, T-Shirts     7th Ink, Seventh Ink, Spartans, Star Wars T-Shirts, t-shirt discounts

Two new designs have been added to the 7th Ink t-shirt collection at www.furyshirts.com. If you’re a movie fan then you’re in for a treat with a Star Wars themed Greedo Guido tee and a rather luscious gold/black affair, the For Glory tee! Both are available for guys and girls in all sizes and For Glory is also available in red and grey and even hoodies. The tees are on offer right now at $19 each (reduced from RRP $24). So if you fancy shooting off into space or back into ancient history – take a looksie.

Greedo Guido Tee

Greedy but popular :p

For Glory Tee

Yum, gold and black, always a winner.

See the winter collection at www.furyshirts.com/all.