Lamp Tee

Available for £20 in white, sizes S-XL. An enlightened design.

Brand info:

Set up in East London 5 years ago by designer and photographer Gerry Buxton, who designs and hand prints (with water-based inks) all the tees and hoodies at www.planeclothing.co.uk. For more information about the design process and a behind the scenes look at Gerry’s studio, check out his Facebook page. Plane Clothing can also be found on the Upmarket next to Brick Lane every Sunday and on Spitalfields on Fridays.

These shirts speak for themselves… dead classy.

Oh Deer Tee

A dream within a dream.

Dead Man Tee

I’ve been to parties like that.

Oh Mercy Tee

The pic is blurry but the design looks gorge…

Stand Still Tee

Miniaturisation has a lot to answer for.

I think LV should sort out some more pics, maybe a zoom function, at least some larger images, it all helps – anyway see more arty tees at www.LeonVault.com.

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.

The Scribtee t-shirt community care of Shirtcity are offering 25% off all their designer tees in their Fall sale. I love the Halloween Flip-Shirt, that is one crazy idea. I’m not sure if the skull-face of the guy’s chest is the scariest but it’s still a great piece of innovation!

Halloween Flip-Shirt

Limited to just 100 pieces this is your chance to scare the bejeezers out of your friends and family this Halloween. Girls should probably wear something underneath though :p A measly £11.55 equates to at least hours if not a whole day of fun every year, a trick and a treat all in one :D

Clockwork Tee

Bowling was never as scary.

You’re Under Arrest Tee

You’re nicked!

Plenty more crazy homegrown designer tees at dirt cheap prices in the Scribtee sale at www.Scribtee.com.

The team at LU were kind enough to let us have a sneak peek at a few tees from the new collection, all of which will be available from the 13th of September, just a couple of days from now! As always all the shirts are cut and sewn to their exacting standards. There’s a tank top on offer titled “Mona LadyUmbrella” plus two further designs “LadyUmbrella and the Merry Go Round” and “LadyUmbrella and the Umbrella Tree” which are printed on their highly popular slinky style t-shirt, that features a swooped neck and longer sleeves. All the t-shirts at LU are 140grsm 100% pure combed cotton and printed with pigment print which is soft to touch, long lasting and shows off the details in the designs really well.

Another big improvement is a wider variety of larger sizes available including XL and XXL, this applies to the new collection plus three old favourites “LadyUmbrella is Away with the Birds”, “LadyUmbrella is Friends with Sir David” and “LadyUmbrella and the Wise Owl”. Plus the new collection features two woven tags instead of one, a neck tag and an additional blue tag on the front seam featuring their (now famous) umbrella logo. All of the designs come with their own unique hang tag which tells the t-shirts tale and is also signed, dated and number by our designer Elena to make each shirt unique to the buyer. This should be a real treat for the more discerning ladies out there seeking something affordable yet stylish for the Fall/Autumn season. Here are some preview shots to tide you over until the 13th.

Al I can say is that LadyUmbrella’s uniquely surreal and illustrative tees have, do and will go down a storm, with over 14,000 combined fans and followers on their Facebook and Twitter accounts and customers worldwide the latest collection of tees is bound to sell out fast. Bookmark their website at www.ladyumbrella.com to be sure you get yours!

This British brand gives new hope to the UK as we are desperately short of t-shirt collectives in the vein of the behemoths of the industry such as Threadless.com, so it fills me with pride (and a little relief) that the label is doing so well so soon. Offering the UK and the world unique and limited edition tees (only 50 printed per design) a unique British slant on t-shirt design is a welcome breath of fresh air for the market. After all, in this case, you can’t have too much of a good thing, and with a slightly edgier slant than you’d normally expect, I’m more than glad to see the quality of their submitted designs unbelievably but truly improve day by day.

In truth I have to admit that my absolute pick of the crop right now has to be Money Talks by Andy Cheung, take a look at this beauty…

Money Talks Tee

This is probably my favourite t-shirt at SwishSwosh so far – Money Talks is brimming with attitude and does exactly what it says on the label. Stick two fingers up at the recession (or not) and grab yourself this rocking tee before they sell out. Available for men and women for a piddling £12 right now, sizes are already selling out there are no more XS for women or S for men so if you’re of a smaller than average frame I’ m afraid you’re out of luck. Still put on a bit of weight, it’d be worth it :P

Just before I go, here’s a shot of the overall winning shirt in case you fancy grabbing one for yourself:-

Warning, Paint Can Stain Tee

Available at £15 for men and women, the women’s XS has already sold out, so again, screw the diet this Xmas or indeed go for the baggy look heh.

Check out all the latest fabulous contenders now at www.SwishSwosh.com.

The Infinite Now

I’m always receiving emails from new t-shirt designers asking for my critique regarding everything from website design to t-shirt ideas. When it comes to presentation www.Infinite-Now.com go a long way to offering a perfect example of content over concept, a concept is great, branding is essential, but great products tied with great presentation go far further. If you’re proud of your designs you’ll offer up large and clear photos of your products, Sean’s site does just that.

What’s more I-N are bang on when it comes to quality, with some extremely subtle imagery, good quality printing and a nice line in unique printed labels, this is certainly a brand to watch for the future. Hook up with The Infinite Now at Facebook to learn more about I-N.

Crypt Tee

Very strange yet I-N’s Crypt tee bears an enticing design all the same. The human race has a habit with playing with the dead, asides the usual crazy serial murderers like Ed Gein, there’s a lot of archaeology out there that shows the Christian church had until recently a habit of messing around with skeletons. The weirdest example being the Capuchin Crypt in the catacombs of Rome (SeePicture ). This is one of many churches and chapels built out of bones, and asides the usual thoughts of horror and gore, creating patterns from bones brings up a rather disturbing theme of mortality, in a word repetition. All those who have died before and will die in the future, all the lives lost and those to be formed, in such a field of relativity it can make one feel rather miniscule in the great scheme of things. The Infinite Now’s design forms a grid of femurs, it’s something I’d expect to see as a painting or a print hanging on a gallery wall, an inspired if somewhat bizarre illustration for a t-shirt. I think I like it, I know it’s powerful, it’s not as gory as many tees out there, printed in muted shades dark grey, the pattern abstracts the content, the subject, and leaves the viewer hanging in a conceptual mid-space not usually offered by fashion. I can imagine this print on a haute couture piece strolling down the catwalk in Milan, Paris, New York, but here it is, straddling a humble t-shirt. Fascinating. Available for $25 in dark grey, sizes S to XL.

Veiled Tee

Abstract, constructivist, and beguiling in nature, I have found my love of the abstract has grown over the years, however I understand how much it can confuse the general public. Veiled reveals itself in a series of layers, forming shapes through the alignment of others, half tone stripes bleed an impressive range of tones, with nods to Kandinsky and Mondrian, the composition leaves me wanting but I do appreciate the treatment. It’s difficult to review designs of this nature, the more abstract an image the more subjective the reaction. I’d have introduced more colour, perhaps a spiral cluster of forms that begin to disintegrate as the eye is led into the centre. However the concept stands, Veiled does what it says on the rather impressive label, it reveals itself slowly to the viewer. Available in dark grey for $25, sizes S to XL.

I have to admit I-N is attempting to breach a sector of the t-shirt market virtually untapped so far, there are a few comparable labels, Das Monk being one of them, but there is definitely plenty of room for competition. A very intriguing new brand, The Infinite Now are certainly worth keeping an eye on!

The Kitsch-Nitsch ideology sees design as “temporary and not timeless, revolution is the only way to make a change and constant reinvention and searching for the latest craze are the only things worth living for.” Kitsch-Nitsch offers uniquely limited edition tees designed on computers and made by hand. If you’re into your t-shirts but want something that no one else is wearing in the world, this might be your best bet! They offer world-wide shipping at ‚Ǩ5 for Slovenia, ‚Ǩ10 for Europe and ‚Ǩ20 for the rest of the planet. The site looks like a promo for a new indie band that music journos slaver after each year to make up their column inches for cynical new wave indie aficionados that have heard it all before. Great layout, stunning photos, mad designs, insane concept, it might just work out big time for these two renegades of the fashion world. Take a look at what’s still available to buy right now…

Screwface Vol. I Tee

Incredibly 80′s in style, it reminds me of all sorts of things, TOTP’s titles back in the day, French Pop Art and fashion for the new wave scene around then, even a dash of Basquiat, okay that maybe stretching it, but fun abstraction is the underlying theme here, a crazy face wins me over every time. It’s a H&M unisex shirt available (as of writing) in medium for ‚Ǩ45 and features UV glow-in-the-dark colour detailing. Remember, if the price seems steep, this is a one-off, no others will ever be made, ever! Here’s KN’s own crazy description for Screw Face Vol I. – “A weapon of choice for party animals and all other head bangers who like to enter with a scream.” Hilarious, outrageous, great fun.

Times II Tee

Here’s another funky number entitled Times II, featuring a strange and eclectic compendium of icons and shapes, marking what I assume is the passing of time. They may have even discovered a future professional model here, she’s obviously meditating on the meaning of time and this man made construction’s influence on all our lives. Maybe not. I particularly like the gold fob watches, it would be nice if they’d feature far more gold in their future designs, I know a lot of women who can’t resist the draw of gold on black. Perhaps a giant fob watch for the next in the series would be a good idea, although the ‘closed third eye’ is a new one on me, I’m guessing the moustache belongs to Grandfather Time. Who knows, it doesn’t really matter, the composition works, the colour combination provides a subtle temperance of what I am sure will be a signature style for KN in the future. Again a H&M shirt, this time available as unisex small for ‚Ǩ45.

Splash Of Neon Tee

Simple, classic, effective and once again packed full of fun. This has to be the simplest design of the lot, and yet it still works in some kind of quirky logic beyond my mortal ken. I’ve always found striped tees, or striped clothes in general, rather bland. Perhaps it was the rise and fall and rise of all that awful nautical gear so many women wore for summer after summer. But KN have done the unthinkable and mixed stripes, no, in fact they’ve trashed them. A Splash of Neon does exactly what it says on the label, this I am sure will provide hours of fun for one girl on the dance floor out there. The design is showered with pink, green, orange and yellow neon splashes and it works fine for me. It takes a lot of confidence to design simple, simple as they come, but still as stylish as ever. You can get hold of this loose and long H&M shirt size 36 for ‚Ǩ50. Featuring glow in the dark UV neon colours.

United Trash Tee

Again a funky abstract, reminding me somewhat of old weather reports, and all those magnetic meteorological symbols they used to stick up (and sometimes pick up from the floor) before TV got wise to the wonders of CGI. I rather like this one, it doesn’t mean anything I’m sure, but as far as I am concerned, dynamically, on an abstract level United Trash performs perfectly. It’s almost like a vortex to magazine detailing from the early 80′s British fashion and culture mags of the time. Lots of arrows, a subtle range of pastel hues, and a dirty great big black bang to mesmerise the eye. Superb. Available on a generic tee, women’s slim fit in medium for ‚Ǩ45.

See what niche kitsch tees you can grab before they sell out at www.Kitsch-Nitsch.com.

There are so many bargains to be had it’s difficult to know where to start. First off if you order £75 or more of their gear your delivery is free, there’s a newsletter that enters you for a contest to win free trainers for a year, plus of course their summer sale is now on with prices slashed at up to 75%! If you want an example of just how low the prices are at Rockomoda right now just check out this black/gold print NY Yankees tee for a staggeringly low £8. There a couple of Supreme Being tees selling at half price, and plenty of Old Glory tees at the same or even cheaper. But if you’re like me, an independent minded indie label loving t-shirt snob at heart, then you’re most likely better off checking out what Footage has to offer. Bright, poptastic, slightly generic at times, but overall a very strong start from what could be a major name in the future if they can grab themselves a decent distribution deal. The collection maybe limited in number right now, but with the experience and financial clout of Rockomoda behind them I wouldn’t doubt if this label eventually becomes a whole new company in it’s own right.

Here’s a few of my faves from their current season…

Connect Tee

This is a cool design for a number of reasons. First off you’ll probably have to be a child of the 70s to understand the graphic reference, essentially the design is based on the old board game Connect Four trademarked by Milton Bradley in 1974 – although it’s based on a far older game called “The Captain’s Mistress” – don’t ask. The idea of the game was simple, you drop four discs of the same colour in a row and you win. Unfortunately a lot of smarter kids (including myself heh) worked out that if you start in the middle row you can’t lose. There’s a conspiratorial subtext to Footage’s design however, a political game that takes inspiration from a lot of underground and mainly kooky theories riding around the American presidency, Bush, Obama, the Iraq War and 9/11. Essentially, from the million Youtube videos I’ve watched regarding the subject, mostly in an innebriated state in the wee hours, it seems that all sorts of nasty things are going on behind the scenes. All I’ve found is that certain characters involved in his election campaign literally initiated the first conflicts in Afghanistan via the Mujahadeen vs. the then Soviet Russia. Who knows, I’ve never trusted any politician anyway. Essentially power corrupts, we all know that. If you fancy connecting the dots of your own conspiracy theory get the Connect tee for just £12 (reduced from £30) here.

Rock Tee

Now I’ve seen a lot of “icon collection” tees in my time, you know, all the aliens ever created in movies, or a pile of mix tapes, or supermarket shelves of food, and even similar tees to this one, simply named the Rock Tee. But I have to admit I am impressed by the way they’ve actually made the logo the feature, usually it would go against my sensibilities to focus on a logo, but Footage have totally pulled it off. To incorporate the logo as a guitar amp, it might be a Marshall, is as close to genius as marketing and branding can get. Very slick move design-wise, a very subtle t-shirt for rock fans, there must be a few subtle rock fans out there? No air guitars or signs of the devil here please! Get this one for just £12 here.

Last but not least:-

Boombox Tee

I have a real soft spot for the early eighties, music and fashion-wise I was all over the place, I loved the last spluttering dregs of what had just been punk and ska, I had a taste for New Wave, but a mate of mine (now sadly passed on) had the most blinding collection of hip-hop and electro I’d ever heard. Actually it was the first time I’d ever heard any of it, and it rocked my world. I couldn’t afford the labels, no one knew how to dance in the UK then, there was no such thing as bling discounting the Crown Jewels and most kids I knew were more likely to kick a football around than have a dance-off or bust the street corner up with a boombox. Still I was 11 then. By 14 I had my own boombox, I started taping all my mate’s vinyls, and that summer I scarpered off to Cornwall to find myself, I phoned my mum to tell her I was alright, I had £30, music, a tent and a whole new fan base. No one in Cornwall had ever heard the sounds I played, I was a star for a week, I had to lie about my age, and no it wasn’t the projects, but I almost had my own possee there. Lol. Anyway get the Boombox tee in sky and white for just £12! I know crazy prices.

Check out all of Rockomoda.com‘s offerings, you are sure to find a bargain, or two, or three…

Everyone in the t-shirt blog community is writing about Tilteed.com – another t-shirt vote community but with one vital difference, well actually quite a few. First off “wow”, I mean $5000 in prizes for the launch? That’s $5000 in total for the two winning designs ($3500 for the grand prize winning design, $1500 for the runner up). That is some serious commitment on Tilteed’s side, if you’re a great t-shirt designer, and I mean you’ll have to be the best of the best, then I’d recommend you sign up and upload your finest tee designs now (the winner will be announced on the 29th July) or be prepared to miss out on one hefty prize. It’s about as near to instant fame, glory and wealth that any t-shirt designer can hope for, more than any of the competition, including the behemoth of t-shirt voting sites Threadless.com. If you want a head-start make sure to download their submission kit too.

Patrick from Tilteed contacted us at Buy Tees today and apart from seeming to be one of the nicest guys in the industry he revealed a few more interesting details, it seems he used dabble in t-shirt blogging himself but couldn’t ‘keep up’ with myself and Andy from HideYourArms.com – another great t-shirt reviews blog if you’re desperate for more tee news! What’s more it looks like big things are planned for Tilteed, once they’ve launched they’ll be printing a new t-shirt every 72 hours and paying the artists $500 plus $1 per shirt sold – which should definitely keep the designers coming back for more and judging by the incredible quality of many of their submissions that goes for the customers too. Tilteed aren’t taking any chances when it comes to gaining custom either, just take a look at what they’re offering as prizes just for voting!

The more votes you submit the more chances you have of winning one of the following:-

Members Grand Prize: A choice of one of the following gaming consoles – PlayStation 3 80GB Console or an XBox 360 120 GB Elite Package (which includes Halo 3 and Fable 2) or a Nintendo Wii 2 Player HD Sports Bundle. Plus free t-shirts for a year which clocks up to grand haul of 26 tees in total!

Second Place Prize: Free tees for a year.

Runner Up Prize: Five tees of your choosing.

I only have praise for Tilteed, I love the logo, the layout is clean and fresh, the traffic is already rolling in from plenty of sources including Facebook and Twitter, the designs are superb, and the blog is extremely informative – they even have a forum! But let’s get down to business and check out some of their superb t-shirts, if you want to buy any of these you will need to get voting now!

Bombs Away! by Daleed Winmurray

Okay I lied, there’s actually one t-shirt available for sale at Tilteed and this is it – Bombs Away! by Dale Edwin Winmurray is a pre-launch special available now on pre-order for a piddling $12, it’s funny, its cute, it’s not my favourite but that’s just personal taste. Although I do like some of Dale’s other work, check out his site at www.daleedwinmurray.com. He’s a rather serious contender as far as t-shirt design goes, with two Threadless and one Woot tee under his belt there’s definitely a following for the guy’s art. Bombs Away! is a 4 colour print tee on a slate coloured American Apparel is available for men (S-XXL) and women (S-XL).

Now for the submissions, I will try not to gush but some of these designs are so good it makes me feel sick – lol.

Expansion by A.mar.illo

I’d love to see some larger close-ups of this t-shirt design, Expansion by A.mar.illo (a.ka Sven Palmowski) – the detail is stupefying, the concept glorious, the result amazing. I’s like the Death Star on crack, perhaps not the best analogy but come on, how long must it have taken the guy to draw this extravagance? I think he deserves a round of (virtual) applause even if it’s just for the time and effort that went in to Expansion. I’m gobsmacked, I just hope the earth doesn’t end up looking like this or we all most likely fall off. The most subtle jab at anti-environmental culture I’ve witnessed in a long long time. The detail is (most likely) phenomenal. Sven, if you’re reading this get on over to Flickr and plaster your page with close-ups mate, it’s the only way to go. (* He’s done it! Check out the close-up of this design here!) Yes it’s a simple one-colour print on a black t-shirt, but honestly if it was any more than that I think my brain would explode. I know A.mar.illo’s work from earlier winning entries at Bad As Hell Clothing – one of my all-time favourites has to be Starlet, which is downright gorgeous. Anyway enough of the praise, we don’t want the guy to bathe in the adoration of bloggers when he could be busy knocking out more stunning t-shirts. Vote for Expansion (or regret it for the rest of your life).

Killer Saturn by Tang Yau Hoong

Tang is big on the t-shirt scene, check out all his work at tangyauhoong.tumblr.com if you want to see what he’s been up to – there’s even another Saturn-themed tee there so I can guess which planet he’s from. Actually he’s based in OZ but his tees are sold all over the world, he’s already made a major name for himself at Threadless clocking up a phenomenal eight winning designs there so far. Damn I don’t envy all you guys voting at Tilteed, there’s so many great designs I can’t make up my mind which should win the grand launch prize. Still we could always vote for lot and if there’s a tie we can let them fight it out Kirk vs. Spock style in an arena of death for the first prize… hah. No seriously this is a beautifully drawn tee, it reminds me of a lot of 1950s and 1960s educational books and posters that used to harp on about space and for the main part how man will finally conquer the universe with the aid of big rockets, even bigger egos and an assortment of nuclear powered government budgets. How times change eh? So what can I say, it’s Saturn, and Saturn loves to carve up its neighbours, beautiful. Surprisingly just 5 colours on a black tee, it’s so finely executed it could’ve been far far more. Vote for the Killer Saturn tee by TangYauHoong at Tilteed or else!

Get A Job by Rawroutlowd

Highly original, unique in fact, Rawroutloud of Lowdtown fame offers up a biographical slice of humour in this superb t-shirt design Get A Job. I’m starting to believe that Patrick and the team behind Tilteed.com must have some major major clout in the industry, the level of excellence amongst some of their contestants is outstanding. I don’t think I’ve seen a tee design quite like this before, a very nice style indeed and I want more, and more… A pictorial glance at humdrum psychedelia, the concept is great, but the execution is just perfect. I particularly appreciate the colours, it really should be printed on this colour tee, it works so well. Perfect for layabouts with heads full of ideas, dreams and ambitions and a penchant for noodles. I think we can expect a great deal more from this artist in the future. Now go and vote for this as if your life depended on it.

Machine Art by A.mar.illo

I know I know I’m featuring another design by A.mar.illo but I couldn’t resist it, I am after all an old sci-fi jerk at heart. The thing is this design is so completely and utterly different from Expansion I wasn’t about to let it pass. If you know your art history you’ll probably see quite a bit of DADA reference going on here. The muted colours are gorgeous, so subtle it makes me sick. There’s something classical about the design too, I never thought I’d ever mention the name in a t-shirt reviews blog, but Charles-Pierre Baudelaire comes to mind. Some of his poems have a distinct sci-fi feeling to them, the idea of self-replication and the mechanics of nature. That’s what I see emerging in Machine Art, a truly awesome t-shirt illustration that raises the benchmark when it comes to intellectualism in the medium. Amazing.

Whatever you do today make sure you get down to Tilteed.com and vote vote vote. These tees can’t be passed up, they have to be printed, you know it makes sense!