Prpl Nrpl

Kids. Aren't they great? They eat and spew and burp and fart and crap and snot all the time. But they're just so damn cute and innocent no-one cares. In fact we even think they are all the cuter because of their limited control over what comes out of their assorted orifices. The crew over at Prpl Nrpl have decided to celebrate the bodily functions of little people (amongst other things) with their collection of onesies and tshirts. While this formula generally ends in lame and tacky kids apparel that is best suited to dodgy market stalls, Prpl Nrpl have successfully used clever puns and beautiful design to create this quality collection. And if you think it'd be funny to get around in a "I'll have the boob du jour please" tshirt, they are only available in baby sizes, thank goodness. Tshirt sizes are available for kids up to six, but boob related designs are tastefully omitted.

Want My Font?

Here's a sweet new shirt for fontophiles and designerds alike. A Girls Want My Fonts shirt is also available for the guys and both are available from the Chop Shop.

New Jon Burgerman Stuff

Jon Burgerman has some great new stuff on his site including his own range of toys, some limited edition slip mats, and this Pumpkin Horse tshirt. It is printed on a 70% combed cotton 30% bamboo blend, which is apparently extra smooth, and uses environmentally friendly, water based inks. Goodness on so many levels.

Jordan Mattos

If you're sick of seeing people all over town in the same shirt as you, or you just don't want to risk it, why not get a customised tshirt? Jordan Mattos creates custom, hand drawn, one off tshirts that are sure to be as unique as your fingerprint. You even get to let him know what you want on your shirt - all for a casual $150. Just don't wear it when you're sticking up a bank.

Mike Cina/You Work For Them

Following up from the post I wrote about You Work For Them's first tshirt release, Anthropomorphotosynthesis, I got an email from YWFT co-founder Mike Cina, letting me know about a couple more new tshirts that are coming soon. Mike is a somewhat iconic designer. With a background in typeface design, he went on to co-found the design collective We Work For Them in partnership with Michael Young. WWFT has an impressive clint list touting such names as Adobe, Bacardi, Coca-Cola, DC Shoes, Emerica, Etnies, Es Shoes, ESPN, HP, MTV and VH1, so you've probably seen some of their work somewhere. Cina and Young have yet again flexed their creative muscle with these new shirt designs for YWFT, which I'm told should be released some time in the near future. Stay tuned.

TEE TEST: Filthy Panda

Filthy Panda is a small, mysterious Australian label that was started by the enigmatic Billmund. They have a range of shirts on offer at their store, that mix bright colours with strong imagery that is influenced (not so subtley) by popular 20th century cartoonery. The result is a wonderful, unique style that is instantly recognisable and gives a dirty, electro vibe (dirty, electro vibe??... Who am I?) despite it's older influences.

The shirt they sent me for review is entitled Pure Filth and, as you can see, they aren't pulling any punches.

The illustration work is fantastic and very true to the Disney style (perhaps this is what Mickey would've looked like if Fantasia was made in 2005 and had a dirty house soundtrack) and the colouring is sensational.

The American Apparel shirt ensures that the quality is top notch, and in my opinion these are one of the best fitting shirts on the market.

It's hard to find something bad to say about this shirt - design-wise it's awesome and the garment quality is great. The only downside would be that you'd have to wear this tshirt selectively (definitely not in front of your Nan) unless you're a complete prick and don't care what people think. Sure some people will hate the dance music references and mild profanity, but I'm not a huge fan of either (well dance music is good) and I love it. Grab one now before they get too popular and Disney sues.

Filthy Panda will also be attending Shirty 07 this Saturday - say hi from me!

RRP: $39.00 (Australian)
BUY IT HERE

If you would like you're tshirt reviewed, drop me an email. You will get some great free exposure right here and get a link in our t-shirt stores section.

Shirty07

I could spend a few minutes telling you about Shirty - the new not-for-profit one day only t-shirt market that is being held in Sydney this weekend... or, I could spend a few seconds copying and pasting from their highly informative (and very cool) website.

Hmmmm... I'll go with option B

About Shirty
Shirty07 is a new not-for-profit design initiative - a market selling only t-shirts.
It's an event that fuses fashion with art, music with culture; where guests can purchase unique t-shirt designs direct from independent designers, enjoy live music and chill out at the bar with a drink.

Prices are capped at $69 so everything's kept accessible.
SHIRTY will run from midday to midnight the first in an ongoing annual event - a yearly shindig to kickstart the spring.

Why?
To create a new platform for up and coming t-shirt designers to reach a mainstream audience. Celebrate the power of the humble tee, believing that while a t-shirt slogan or design may not change the world, it can sow the seed of thought.
p.s. why not.

Where and When
September 15th 2007
Midday - midnight...
Newtown Neighborhood Centre
Town Hall
1 Bedford Street (opposite the train station)
Newtown, NSW

Who?
The designers: (In alphabetic order)

2x4tshirts, Bill Chen Meet Tyrone, Bill Ross, dj Jose, emShop, FunkdUP, Imok, Lethal Clothing, Marion Hertford, Nicholas Martin, Nipple Cripple, OKTOKIO, Once smitten twice shy, People Like Us collective, Salad Days, Sweatshop Productions, Thirteen Army, Two salty, Zoe Sadokierski

Alexandra De Bonis, Alyson Pearson, Anna Pigott, Ellen Williams, Glamourpuss, Glen Martin, Mark Iaria, Monique, Natasha Hammond, Pat Grant, Peter Strong, POFO, Stefano Lentini , Sylvan Doyle, Tara Bennett

Sounds Good doesn't it? Visit the Shirty 07 site for more details.

YWFT: Anthropomorphotosynthesis

You Work For Them has for a long time been a great resource for the artisticly inclined, stocking art and design books, posters, stationary, typefaces and, in particular, vector stock images. Now YWFT have released a tshirt entitled Anthropomorphotosynthesis, designed by Eric Carlson and Maddy Nye. Yes it's a bit mental, but sometimes that's the most fun right? It's printed on an American Apparel Standard T and is available for $19.95 here.

TEE TEST: Chor Bazaar

"Through the act of Chory and appropriation, we initiate a Desi phenomenom." Don't worry, I'm not exactly sure what it means either

This is the mission statement of independent Brooklyn based tshirt label Chor Bazaar. While it may not make a lot of sense to most of us, it refers to the company's aim to create clothing items that are relevant to, and inspired by Desi (south Asian) life.

To be honest, I didn't expect too much when the guys from Chor Bazaar said they were going to send me a shirt for review. Their website seemed a little clumsy, and while graphically some of their designs are ok, there are some that really aren't so great.

However, when the package arrived from the states I was very pleasently surprised. What this company lacks in flashy websites and ground-breaking graphics they more than make up for in quality. Shirt, print and packaging quality are all top notch.

Product presentation and packaging was up to retail store standards - wrapped in plastic and beautifully tagged with printed card and string. Once i ripped the plastic off I noticed a whole bunch of nice little extras including a logo printed on the back of the neck and a sewn label on the bottom front.

The shirt itself is printed on an Alternative Apparel blank which has a great cut to it and is 100% cotton (and made in Honduras if you're interested). The quality of the screen printing could be a bit better, but I've seen heaps worse. My only real problem with the shirt is the sewn on Chor Bazaar logo on the bottom of the shirt - it's a really cool logo but the positioning is all wrong. When I put the shirt on it is almost right in the middle and, well, it just looks weird. It needs to be moved over about 6 inches...

All said and done, this is quite a nice shirt. While Chor Bazaar isn't going to be your first stop for amazing artistic tshirts, they do have a unique and interesting range that is worth checking out, especially if you want to celebrate Desi-ness.

RRP: $25 (US)
BUY IT HERE

If you would like you're tshirt reviewed, drop me an email. You will get some great free exposure right here and get a link in our t-shirt stores section.

Changethethought

I love emails with surprises. I got one from a label I'd never heard of called Changethethought, and the shirts looked sweet so I investigated to find out more. Turns out Changethethought is a triple treat extravaganza of a website, consisting of the Changethethought apparel store, a really good art/design blog and the jaw-dropping online portfolio of the man behind it all Christopher Cox (who also blogs for Design Is Kinky).

Surprise me