Sirius Business

Today, we're introducing a new feature to the blog: the MultipliciTee. It is what it says... a blog on multiple tees. It may feature a theme, or a store, or whatever whim I have at the time. Hoorah whim! There will be new tags accordingly filtering through the blog, and will not effect the Contest Watches. Not that all that is too important to you the reader, but there you have it.

The format is one that allows for coverage of some total specialty retailers that may have very small or specific stocks. Sure, I love browsing woot daily, checking Threadless every Monday, etc, but to find some of the real fun items out there, it's the tiny retailers that really hit the quirky button juuust right. As such, welcome to Skeledog.

Skeledog embodies one of the best reasons to have a tiny shop... total.niche.marketing. If you love dogs, you may have found your new favorite shirt. If you love bones, you're probably just weird enough that a Skeledog shirt is perfect for you. If you happen to have an aunt in the medical field who owns a dachshund, her Christmas gift might just be pictured at the left. Every shirt is basically the same concept: an outline of a dog breed with it's skeletal system drawn out. It's a stylistic choice I've praised elsewhere... I love the contrast between the simplicity of outline and the complexity of bone structure. I am no anatomic whiz, so I cannot state the accuracy of the dog skeletons, but they're still fun and simple designs for the more avant-garde of dog people.

Skeledog offers twelve breed options thusfar, including the above Dachshund, probably my favorite of the designs, and while they don't compromise on color combos (what you see is what you get) they -are- willing to take suggestions for their next breed. It's uncertain as to just how expansive such a niche shop can get, but if you simply must have a shirt featuring the internal workings of your shih-tzu, it cannot hurt to ask. Most of the dogs are shown in a standing pose, but others are in breed-related action shots: the Greyhound is shown running, while the Jack Russell Terrier (right) is shown being jumpy and annoying. The graphics are simplicity itself, with one color prints meant to pop against the shirt canvas. As for the shirts themselves, they're American Apparel, so they're soft as hell. Skeledog admits what most won't... AA shirts run prettydamnsmall. Probably due to this, they don't offer their shirts in tiny sizes (men get to choose from M-XL... women don't even get the medium option). They also suffer from a bit of a steep going price at $25 a pop, one of the drawbacks to running a specialty operation. But then, when you find a shirt that is specifically tailored to you, or the perfect fun gift for someone in your life, spending a little extra isn't necessarily an issue. Let's face it, there are plenty of totally un-hip ways to love your dog... instead of stuffing him in a sweater, why not wear him on your body instead? He'll bite you less for it, and even when he's at home, you can show the world you love him... inside and out.