Print Review: Full Metal T-shirt

I didn't even try to, but I won a Compete-Tee-Tion run contest for a free tee from Full Metal T-shirt. I simply expressed my sadness that no one shared my favorite tee of their catalog: Dale Edwin Murray's "Splash". Of course, this was before yesterday's feature was up for sale, and by a matter of days alone... there's a part of me that curses my luck for being just early enough to miss that opportunity. Still, a free shirt is always fun, and I figured I would share my findings with all of you upon receipt. If you like what you're seeing, too, don't forget "singularitee10" will get you 10% off your orders.

Blank: White Alstyle. Alstyle are arguably a step down from American Apparel, but still wear quite nicely. My one word of advice: check your measurements. The blanks FMT uses are cut much truer to size than AA, and possibly more so than the style of Alstyle Teefury uses... the shirt looked HUGE to me compared to what I'm used to. You might find your normal size is a bit bigger than you'd otherwise wish, so check. A convenient note: your tee will come tagged twice: one for the company, and the other containing helpful washing instructions for the long life of your DTG graphic.

Print: I can sum up my first DTG experience in a word: weird. Don't get me wrong, the print impressed me with how good it looked, considering the perceived shortcomings of the Direct-to-Garment process. The colors are bold and the linework is clear and it is smooth as can be. But I think that smoothness is what weirded me out. Unlike most prints, where you can make a judgment call about the ink texture, the print here feels synthetic and shiny. It wears fine... not stiff, not stifling... but the feel of the print is definitely unnerving, even still to a degree. My only comment on print quality is that there was a small fuzz on the print which, if stroked, unveiled the tee blank. I mention it only as a possible caution for DTG printers and purchasers... it's impossible to see unless you're giving a thorough perusal, but it's one more reason you should be very careful when you're washing these. The affected area is on the second photo below. Even if my camera were less blurry, you'd be unable to see it.

Shipping: Megafast. I got the tee exactly a week after I won the contest. To put it in speedier terms, I got a tracking number last Friday and got the shirt on Monday. Your mileage may, of course, vary, but it's likely that you're not going to be waiting long for your new threads. They ship, like so many, in a mailer you can see through the front of, but while you can see inside, I was still pretty surprised by the "customer care package" I found with my tee. So besides a t-shirt that pleasantly surprised me, I received the following:

~A postcard with a print of another Full Metal Tee.

~Two pins: One of the company logo, and one with art from my shirt. These were attached to my shirt's tag.

~A FMT sticker.

~Two business cards: one was a reprise of the sticker art on the front, and a propaganda-style "vote" message on the back. The other was a gold-embossed "thank you,"
which is nice of them.

~A dollar bill folded into a t-shirt. Which I find to be somewhat trivial compared to just saving a dollar, but will convert into a taco quite wonderfully.

All this was nestled into a black envelope, sealed with actual sealing wax with one more iteration of the Full Metal T-shirt logo imprinted into it. Which all in all is a pretty nice haul of extras for you, and some smart promoting for them. I imagine the pins and postcards are randomized... it is entirely possible the whole package might differ slightly from customer to customer... but just having it sets them apart in a very saturated market. It's the little touches that really made it clear to me that the guys over at FMT are in it to win it, so to speak. I hope they're able to stick around and really show what they're made of.

Wanted: Dead and Alive

There are a lot of t-shirt sites out there that lie about their content. Shirt.woot rarely causes you to make the titular exclamation. Uneetee most certainly sells more than one tee (this very blog has a similar lie within it). Up until now, Threadless was bar-none the biggest offender, as I own many of their tees, and I promise, there are numerous threads in each one. Still, while there are many areas a new site can never hope to compete with the big boys in Chicago on, they've met their rival when it comes to untruth in marketing: Full Metal T-Shirt. More like full cloth t-shirt. What a waste of a possible gimmick.

In all seriousness, though, FMT are fairly new to the tee world, and like all new sites, not everything can be perfect. Right now, though, they seem to have some excellent balances in place. Their prize payout is low, but they offer huge profit-per-shirt returns to offset it. Their print method is Direct-to-Garment, a process more often associated with print-on-demand sites, but they put enough care in to make one think twice about their preconceived notions. And while their tees are definitely a bit pricier than one would presume, you can save 10% with our special code, singularitee10. Oh, I see what I did there. Clever.

If you're the sort who can't say no to a sale, even one that isn't going to expire, my hands-down favorite tee in their catalog is Hector Mansilla's "Schrödinger's Fish." And that's not just because it's a former Contest Watch design. It's a smart design, which is something I can always appreciate. It takes on the old Schrödinger's Cat paradox, something that has perturbed sensible people since 1935. But while Erwin's hypothetical tabby cannot literally be both alive and dead at once, Hector's fish is, and is illustrated beautifully as such. The piece shows a definite familiarity with the concept, but appreciating it does not require as such. The fish, shown through three frames, has some charming character to its illustration, and the idea that the one leaking frame would also drain the life from the fish itself not only offers a beautiful juxtaposition of the life-and-death scenario of the inspiration, but it speaks to the truth of what a fish is... without water, it will die. Of course, one should never underestimate the colors, either... they're often the first thing to draw me into a piece, and here, the gold frames on black and the wonderful shade of blue are just perfect for my taste. And while this is one of my true favorites of the designer's, it'd also make a great companion piece to the his "Color Bleeding," up for support on Cameesa (and no, I will not stop pimping that shirt until more of you realize how awesome it is. Only $10, guys!).

Tomorrow, I'll be posting up a print review of these guys, so watch for that. Seeing the shirt in my hands definitely changed my mind about the site, so if you don't trust my word, hopefully my archaic camera will be enough to sway you.

Ac-Tee-Vism

We humans enjoy acting charitable when it doesn't inconvenience us. It's sad that we need a day set aside to care about the state of our world's affairs, but that's pretty much the best way to give people a good kick in the pants about it. And so it goes with Earth Day, which is today. Conveniently enough for this blog, the savvy tee buyer can be a hero without needing to do anything too heroic. Our top suggestion? Go buy something at Threadless this week. Not only are all their new tees for the week "green" or "nature" themed, and not only is the winner of their "Threadless Loves Green" contest announced, but Threadless will be donating $1 per order all week to PlantABillion, a donation that will equate to about a tree per order. Not half bad, really, for getting a shirt you'd have bought anyway.

Today's also a great day to talk up a little site called GoodJoe. It's one of a growing number of sites cropping up hoping to spread social change through its products, and though new, it's the one I've got the best vibes about the future of so far. While it's questionable how far change can be spread just by clothing, it is certainly true that a quick glance at something can get it in your head for the rest of the day. Helping them along is Boots, who also got a nod yesterday, and her design "Today Is My Day," which is one of two $10 presale designs this week. It suffers a bit from one-day-wearability, but you can hardly ask for a better, more whimsical design for that one day. With the sad icons of holidays past sulking in the background, Earth takes center stage... the concept is clever enough that for the more hardcore environmentalist, this certainly could get a bit more play. I also appreciate the less blatantly obvious color scheme... everything is deep blue and shades of green when the environment is called into play, so it's nice to see something a bit different in the mix. Of course, if that's not your cup of tea, maybe something else in their catalog is? I'd also encourage any designers who might want to try their hand at their contest to do so... it's a site concept that could go far, so more choice for printing can only push them further into success.

Let Them Eat Fish

So it's Lent. The Christian season of not eating meat for God. It's a tradition I've never understood, because in today's culture it is fish that is the luxury, at least in America. Still, growing up under that belief system, I figure I may toss in a couple "seasonal" bits and bobs over the next 40 days. Art and religion have always lived in harmony, after all. Personally, I'm just excited for the resurgence of fast food fish sandwiches.

Perhaps your wardrobe is a bit too meaty? Try out Endangered Species. As a joke tee, you simply can't go wrong... the art is skilled but simple enough to let the punchline shine. The concept is a winner, pairing the ever-growing popularity of sushi with the convenience we strive for. The composition is well thought out, with a successful color palette, and a layout that helps add visual interest that wouldn't be there with the fish alone. When it comes right down to it, it's exactly what you'd expect from Glennz Tees.

What's that? You don't know what to expect from Glennz Tees? Glennz (that's Glen-N-Z officially, but I sure as hell don't pronounce it like that) is only one of the people who made Threadless what it is today! He's known for knowing just the right line between art and concept, making simple yet skillful designs with some of the strongest visual jokes in the business. When you're done browsing his personal shop, check his goods over there... he's got a lot, and many are sold out, just waiting on a reprint. Definitely a designer to be familiar with, and vicariously, definitely a shop to keep tabs on.

When Words Fail Music Speaks

BadAsHell Clothing have gone for a double header... the small retailer is still very new in the shirt world, but they keep bringing something fresh to the table, and right now they have two excellent shirts available for presale. The first, we spoke of a bit ago. The most recent, however, makes me want to snag both ASAP.

The design is Taper Matter, by Muro. I have no clue what the hell that means, but I have a strong guess that it has to do with cassettes. Possibly being eaten. It has a great indie/punk feel to it, as it has the offbeat nostalgia of the former and the bad-ass aesthetic of the latter. The design creates a lot of motion out of inanimate objects and a disembodied mouth. Some of the cassettes are spelling the title out. Some seem to be running for their lives. A number of them are in a heap of obsolescence. I like the clutter and the different style of cassettes, and I love that the style fits the scene that the theme was born of. I can't wait to see this one off the mock-up and on a real shirt, and I'm very tempted to put the order in quick to find out in person.

Why I Otter...

With a week of unexpected bigness, such as this one, I'm glad to be able to squeeze in some smaller peeps as well. To me, it makes a big week even bigger... biggerer? Biggerest? Regardless, for those unfamiliar, I'd love to introduce you to Rethink Clothing.

Rethink is a site I quite respect the concept of. The main point of intrigue that sets it apart: it's dedicated to college artists. I can see nothing wrong with that... what demographic is more likely to need the extra funds? They've got a fair payout (with potential for growth) , and a fresh outlook... even if you're not sold on the "Rethink" part of the brand, keeping prints college-based means plenty of potential for pieces that bring a youthful mindset into the game, along with the boundary-pushing aesthetics that the new blood tends to bring to its art movements.

Problem was, while I really liked their promise, both in ideology and in their catalog, I wanted something to really hit me before I brought them to you guys. It perhaps says something about me that I found that in their latest print, Otter-tude. The design is brought to us by Sam Larson, who clearly knows how to make the otherwise adorable bad-ass. This otter will headbutt you without thinking twice, and has the helmet to prove it. He smokes cigars in front of the Surgeon General, BECAUSE HE CAN! This simply wriggles into that niche of complete offbeat work that is difficult for me to say no to. The colors are a bit trippy, which is actually a positive given the image, and while I'm usually tepid on photo-collage work, I enjoy this because of what the final product creates. It's well-arranged, and brings the man-about-town by day/tough guy by night otter to life. This could be the print that puts the spurs to Rethink's success, and from what I've seen since they first came on my radar, they're only getting better. Grab one of these, confuse your friends, and be able to say "I bought from those guys when they were tiny."

Crypto-teeology

A couple days ago, I noticed that Flying Mouse, creator of a number of Threadless classics (previous write-up "I Love Sushi," for example), has started his own store. This is always exciting to me, because it means there's another outlet for great shirts, and with a solid designer at the helm, we know that there will be no shortage of quality shirts.

Of the launch shirts, my favorite is Mother of the Sea, primarily for the concept. The idea of the mermaid defender bringing fishermen to their demise for assaulting her children is the stuff of sailor legend and sometimes cheesy horror movies, and the way this is executed really pulls it all together. The mermaid is beautiful yet vengeful, even a titch magical. The dead pile up around her, making the piece darker. I love the look of the bones and rods, some still bobbing, others crumpled in a heap, with the warm-to-black fade from top to bottom. I also am quite impressed with how well this concept works despite being on anything but a water-representative blank. Lastly, the placement is great. You can tell the mermaid is about to pull her next victim down below with her, but with the fishing line extending up to the collar, it gives the idea that the wearer might be that victim. And really, there could be worse ways to die. Needless to say, this will be a store to watch, especially as the site's "collaborative" pieces start emerging.

Give a Hoot pt. 2

Perhaps your love of owls goes even further than all that, though. Maybe one good owl shirt isn't enough for you. This is something I'd anticipated, thankfully. It involves a little shop I've wanted to talk up for quite a while now... welcome to Owl Movement.

Owl Movement has plenty of owls for your owly pleasure. "Oh Really" you ask? Ya, really. There's a whole series of shirts based off owls, as well as owl pillows and stickers. It's enough to make you oscillate your head 180 degrees in any direction! What I really love about OM, though, is their overall feel. The rest of their non-owl shirts tend to be bright and bold and generally happier colours than I am used to feeling. I think that is what does it for me... their palettes and designs often evoke this blissful bright world that is foreign to me.

My personal favorite of their shirts, one I picked up long before this blog started, is Scuba Platypus. Again, it's bright green and cute. I am not a bright green and cute person. I am, however, a platypus person (this sadly makes the third one I've written about in the last month or two, I believe). I'm also a fan of people who can do a lot with only a few colours. The ongoing wallpaper pattern motif really adds a lot to the proceedings, giving the mammal-that-should-not-be a very pop/retro feel. It also helps break up what would otherwise be a rather big chunk of ink. I love the size, though, especially the way the waves are placed up at the top of the shirt, so it almost looks like you're a platypus tank or something. The fish are even welcome, especially the transparent ones across the tail, and the one poking at the top of the water line. It, as much as anything, evokes Owl Movement's apparent carefree and sunny philosophy.

As a side note, OM appears to be having a winter sale. Their news section insists it ended with 2008, but their cart is still taking 15% off all orders. This may be an extremely limited glitch, but I'm sure they won't mind the slight hit to get you into some awesome shirts. It's worth checking on, for sure.

Animal Weekend!

Checking Ink-Hound tonight, I decided maybe this weekend should be thematic... thus, I bring you Animal Weekend. Today we bring you birds, normally a less-than-favorite theme of mine. What makes jecrt's Avian Crown different, however, is the use of pattern. This flighty mandala features some repetition, but sticking with the basics helps pull off the cycle-of-life motif that the artist went for. Either way, the style he chose works quite well, with the almost bored adult bird, the inquisitive child, and the eggish eggs in the nest smack dab in the middle. The colors also make this work, sticking with very subdued primaries, which makes for a simple, attractive design. Into every life some bird shirt must fall... you could certainly do much worse than this one.

Pardon My Double-Posting

A couple hours ago, I lauded the print of Timberland at Threadless. What I failed to notice at the time was that another Contest Watch favorite is now available for pre-order: ...Excuse Me, by blog-favorite Edgar R. McHerly. This one, picked up by Bad As Hell, is a full-on dark humor piece, in contrast to Timberland's artful whimsy. Not to say the art is any less skilled, but the focus is the pop of the white on the character's head, not the details of his body (though the joke itself is still the most subtle part). It took long enough, as far as I'm concerned, but I'm stoked to finally see it available, even if it is one more entry into the tshirt industry's evil plan to force me to buy more khaki. It's also one more entry into the Bad As Hell catalog, which I quite think has more potential than pretty much any site of similar age and size. Now, if they'd consider my second fav. submission (Warholbot's Reincarnation), BAHC would be my best buddy. Until then, they're still an awesome site worth checking out, if only to snag yourself an Edgar (though you really should browse through the rest as well. Solid stuff, I promise).

I'm pretty fired-up about the rapid-fire updates lately... the next one is the big 10th, and I am very excited to find out who it will be, and where. Is it too much to ask for Croc N' Roll tonight, DBH?

Tweet deal

Hello. Allow me to introduce you to one of the coolest shirts I've seen in a while. It comes from a place called Random Objects, which is appropriate because it is a random object, and also because it is allegedly shipped with a random object. It's appropriately named Origami Pigeon, and it's exceedingly meta. Admittedly this is why I love it... the origami could have likely made a cool tee on its own, but I really love the superimposed pigeon photo atop it. Even more so, I'm quite digging how the folds are defined nice and thick, turning the origami form into a set of frames for the photo itself. It's an interesting and attractive layout that even makes me forgive the branding at the bottom (appropriately in pigeon-dropping range?)... I just can't begrudge such a thing when the graphic itself appeals to me so much. Definitely something to keep in the consideration bank.

Tee-cember: The Shirts Off Your Back

Thanks to Pop Culture Tees for the lead on this'un, which might be one of the more interesting things to follow in 2009.

Do you know this guy? After this year, you might be very well acquainted. His name is Jason, the mind behind IWearYourShirt.com. The concept is what it sounds like... Jason (shown left in his last shirt of 2008) is selling his body out as advertising. Each day in 2009, he will be sporting a new set of threads from a new sponsor. Most of them seem to be corporate... there are some web design companies and charities and even a winery in the first month, but there are some shirt companies scattered throughout as well, and a number of unspecified but sold days, which could throw in an intriguing wild card. Ustream is the first sponsor, getting the coveted $1 spot, with each successive spot costing as much as the day's value (ie: December 31st, the final day of the year, would cost $365). The whole to-do intrigues me for its novel approach to both marketing and generating income, and while I've received enough free promotional shirts to know that most suck pretty hard, I'm interested to see how the year goes for the site. Most of the later dates are still available for purchase if you've got a decent advertising budget and a shirt for Jason to wear. I personally hope to see this ingenious little idea pay off both for its mastermind and those of us tuning in for a unique blog experience and maybe even some swanky tees.

Tee-cember: Then, One Rainy Christmas Eve

We always go down to my grandparents' place for Christmas Eve. It's an Italian thing, La Vigilia... the vigil, for laymen. It's a religious tradition, the vigil being for the baby Jesus, but the only thing I really know about it is that we eat a lot of fish. We used to have all manner of things, but as time has gone on, and I've become more of a seafood fan, everyone else down that way grew up not being a huge fan. Still, we get the fried salt-cod and scallops and shrimp and my favorite, the pasta with the fish sauce. I presume it's sort of like the Lent fish thing... I don't really know. I'm not really up on my religious tradition.

Point is, when I was younger, my family insisted we could see Rudolph from my grandparents' picture window. We sat by the window, and holy fuck! I totally saw his nose blink! How convenient that there was a radio tower within view of the house... not that I was about to figure that out, but even as I started piecing things together, I'd still check for "Rudolph," and without fail, he'd always be in the area, just waiting for us to get home and go to bed. It was one of those images that always makes me think of the real magic of this season.

It's with this in mind that I chat up Springleap this last day before the day. The boys down in South Africa have finally got their printing back on track, it seems, so for those of you who might be wary of those seemingly lengthy spans of time between pre-orders, pretty much anything you order that's out now should be in stock and ready to ship within the next month. Personally, I've already spent some of my holiday cash before getting it. My sights are on Warholbot's Rein Dance, My Deer, September's big winner. There seem to be a lot of layers to this one... there's the rain dance itself, and the reindeer, but how it combines is interesting. The deer itself is entangled in the rain and clouds, so it could just be a play off the words, but with it clad in gold bands and a crown, it feels there could be a deeper undertone... maybe the deer is a rain god. More attractively, it might be an interplay between how important both the rain and the deer would be to the dancers below... the deer is accented in gold because that is how respected both elements must be for the sustenance they provided. And of course, the art ain't shabby either... it's powerful where the designer is more often odd, but that allows him to show his skill with details and texturing... the deer looks almost glossy under his pen, and otherworldly against the rest of the scene. It's a distinctly wintry deer, but with a palette making it suitable for any day, which makes this shirt perfect both to write up now, and to buy up for later.

Tomorrow, I -should- be around to toss together a Contest Watch, but as you might not be around to read it, I hope whatever you do on your holidays is awesome. This last week of December should be replete with daily posts as well, so definitely check back, because there WILL be post-holiday sales to report, and I, for one, cannot wait.

Tee-cember: The Bleakest of Midwinters

Christmas is a time to remember the good times. Y'know, like those times when you got good gifts instead of inevitable boxes of socks or rolls of stamps. Remember when your aunt would get you something awesome instead of a tub of popcorn? Yeah, those were good times. But it's also a time to be happy for what we still have. Consider this sad little dude to your left. All his friends are dead. Makes your shit seem trivial, don't it?

Want to make his holiday happier? Take him home! You can find him at Big Stone Head, a small humor shirt purveyor which, if nothing else, takes home the prize for awesome site names. They also seem to have a couple somewhat fresh jokes, which is not only rare but appreciated. This particular shirt attracted me less for the joke (lol dinos are extinct lol) but more for the awkward and confused look of the dinosaur itself. It doesn't seem to know how to react to the news. The simple style is ideal also... you don't want to over-reach with this sort of idea. More than that, though, I enjoy the cute little guy juxtaposed with a morbid message. The store has other dead friend shirts, which makes one wonder why the poor guys don't get together for coffee and become their own buddies, but this one is the best by a country mile. I do, however, recommend checking out and perhaps picking up their book on the subject. Sometimes we just don't know how good we have it.

Tee-cember; God Rest Ye, Limited T-Shirt Deals

A couple limited-time only deals to discuss today. For starters, Uneetee is starting the back-half of the third sale they've had this season, based on the 12 days of Christmas. Today's deal offers all tees at $13, and $2 flat shipping on all orders for US/Canada, but it'll be worth checking back daily, both for new deals and for their $10 Insanitees (today's being Pick Up the Peace, tailor made for any classic rocker who's a fan of The Who).

Definitely head over to Teefury today as well and check out Edgar R. McHerly's "Stream of Consciousness" (shown left), a thought-provoking and evocative piece. It combines his cartoony and artistic sides in one design. This is the sort of thing that makes this particular designer so exciting... he's not afraid to go hyper-artistic on us, and his unique style and distinct frame of mind give us a glimpse into a totally different world. It's good to finally see more of his signature work printing, as his successes often come from his least distinctive pieces. Even if you're not into the shirt, at least stop by for the beautiful but macabre poem included in his sidebar portfolio. And don't forget, as with all TeeFury shirts, this one is gone-zo forever at midnight tomorrow (EST).

Finally, in the world of apparel the tshirt is king, but over at Inkhound, they're polygamous. Inkhound's new-ish, and actually combine a little bit of both the sites above: they feature one shirt a week (or so), like Uneetee, after which the shirt is no longer available through them, much like Teefury. Also like TF, the rights remain with the designers, so they can market their shirts themselves or anywhere that will take a slightly used design. The difference? Along side each shirt is a hat, with the same sale time and same rights-retention. The current one is from Compete-Tee-Tion's MJ. It's based off an old shirt design, Professor Von Platypus, and while I'd much rather have the monocle wearing, mustache sporting bizarro mammal on a shirt, the contract means it's ever possible, and the hat looks incredibly swank for so limited... the image is embroidered on, for starters, so it's going to look as high quality as your buddy's Local Sports Team lid, but it'll be a lot more fun, loads more distinctive, and start far fewer pissing contests among fans of other animals. With all this going on, surely something out there might strike you today.

Tee-cember: Carving the Roast Beast

I'd like to thank the fine folks at Cottonable for leading me to today's feature, because it is one of my new favorite things ever.

The store is called Family Dinner For One. The name has nothing to do with shirts, unless you are perhaps a moth, but the store definitely is about them. It's a do-it-yourself operation out of the Boston area, making them pretty local and all the more worth writing about here. The shirts are hand-screened, which certainly is a nice personal touch, but better yet is the sense of tripped-out humour evident in each of their shirts. It's not a huge selection, but there are a number of winners. To me, the standout is the Pizza Or Die trilogy, which I am hoping to see in theaters this summer. You'll note two of the designs at the side; the third involves nunchaku. Awesome? Sure. But not as awesome as a shark and a bass guitar. This should give you a bit of an idea as to what sort of thing you're going to see here; if you're the sort of person who needs your shirts to "make sense," you are incredibly the wrong sort of person for FDF1. For the rest of us, there's something incredibly charming about the juxtaposition of the baker, looking like he was ripped straight from your local pizzeria's box, presenting not a pie but something totally unrelated. It's like a Monty Python shirt... the humor bends reality in much the same way. And it's awesome.

My only problem? Can I justify two nearly identical shirts in my wardrobe? To that end, if I cannot, how does one choose between a shark and a guitar? Feel free to weigh in on this weighty matter, readers. Your efforts will be appreciated.

Tee-cember: Have a Pricey, Slicey Christmas

I don't know about you, but I don't know anyone offhand who ever got a new car for Christmas. The auto industry can claim whatever they want in their commercials, but it doesn't happen. Maybe the independently wealthy do it, but they're independently wealthy. They're going to get some ludicrously expensive luxury car, not an everyday road warrior. Even for the rest of us, though, Christmas is often a time to splurge a little for our loved ones. Not ridiculously, but to sort of make a dream come true that any other time of year would be out of the question.

For our purposes, it is, as always, shirts. Anyone who has ever browsed a mall knows that clothing can come at a premium, and the web is no different. The biggest offenders are often foreign, in part due to exchange rates. As such, if you're looking for a shirt to end all shirts for your casual clothing companions, a place like Woven Flesh might be ideal. A shirt like Dagger is going to run you a little over $60, to say nothing of the shipping charges (if you're not in the EU, you'll probably want to make a true splurge and get at least two shirts to justify that one). By all appearances, though, it will be worth it. "Dagger" is a unique mix of Clue and nautical elements. Simple and stark color-wise, there's a lot of simple style going on with the piece. There's some bits mythological, some pure nautical, a number of sea creatures (I love the seahorse peeking out from the rope) and even a couple mystery elements. The anteater thingie is admittedly what draws my eye most, but it all comes together brilliantly.

There is still, of course, the question of how much is too much for clothing. To me, it's a matter of what it means to you. Most of us just aren't going to have a full wardrobe this expensive, but might have a couple special items that are worth it... that pair of pants that fits and feels perfect, the classy business jacket that looks amazing on you, and possibly the graphic tee that just calls to you with its graphic. It should be something special and rare, not something you buy on the drop of a dime. Sometimes that's part of the perfect gift, even if you decide that you're the recipient.

Tee-cember: Updates We Have Heard on High

Those of you who follow the shirt world may already be familiar with LoiterInk, most notably home of more Tom Burns designs than you can shake a stick at (it even houses a sequel/remix to his incredibly popular Threadless tee, Communist Party). Which is fine and good, but I'm much more concerned with telling you that shirt.woot Editor's Choice hopeful "Take a Picture" by lunchboxbrain has found its way to print there. It's a great little witty idea, and the camera has a very distinctive style and palette... I'm happy to see it find a home. A definite future purchase for me.

Loiter might be an even better option during the cold winter months, because they offer long sleeved shirts and hoodies along with the standard tees. They even let you pick from a variety of shirt color options, making your tee pretty damn custom. We at SingulariTee are a little wary of custom colors. We tend to believe that an artist picked a tee color for a reason, and for this reason we recommend the lighter options like it's original creme, or else the suggested gold; however, we are also inexplicably drawn to the teal tee option, and may well cave to that whim.

Tee-cember: Ten Clouds a-Killing

Much like yesterday, today's post is in honor of a relative upstart company I've wanted to get around to for a while now. This one is Cameesa, and it is to contests what 7up is to cola. While most contests rely on votes to determine what goes to print, Cameesa believes in "crowdfunding." It is what it sounds like: you put down $20 on a design you like, and when it is "fully funded" (that's $1000 to you and I) you get it shipped to you free. It's a concept that means intriguing things: any design that can gain 50 supporters can be printed, meaning not only can popular submissions score prints just by having 50 devoted fans, but not so great designs can print just by having 50 devoted fans. It's an incredibly unique business model, and one that will be interesting to look at a year from now, when the catalog shapes up.

Of course, it does mean that if you like a shirt up for support, you may have $20 sitting in limbo for quite a while before you finally get that tee you've desired, which certainly has made me iffy on biting on the "support" end. Cameesa long ago tried sweetening the pot by cutting supporters in on the profits... it's no huge margin, but even a couple extra dimes every time someone buys a shirt you support can add up. Just recently, however, they released a new idea: that $20 you put down can support as many designs as you want now. Support one or ten shirts on the same $20, and you'll get the first one that prints, meaning that you don't have to have $100 floating around with no product to show for it. My hope is that this will put more confidence into supporting less likely prints, turning them into more likely prints. My personal recommendation? Monsieur Pimpant's Coq Music, featuring the hippest chicken around. I've been tempted to support it for a while, and knowing I can stretch that support further is making the temptation greater.

But enough about what you can support, and more about what you can buy now. Among the fully supported designs up for sale is The_JCW's "The Day of Bad Rain." It's got a great, creepy feel to it, yet maintains a bit of humor. I'm admittedly a bit of a cephalopod addict... it's one of the few memes I'm susceptible more often than not, largely because octopi and squid are fascinating, especially from a mobility standpoint. It stands to reason that the flow of all those arms would draw the eye in artistically as well, and once again this piece does just that for me. More than that, in this piece, the eyes draw me in... some angry, some inquisitive, all standing out, especially those against the dark shirt background. What I don't really focus on is the guy at the bottom, being rained on and otherwise besieged by the monsterous cloud, nor do I focus on the instruments of doom bearing down on him. These bits certainly help complete the piece, and add to it, but I'm more in love with the motion and the lines. The rest is but a cherry on the sundae.

Tee-cember: It Came Upon an Ocean Clear

I've been meaning to chat up Itself for a while, but have only just now gotten around to doing so. It's in praise of their most recent shirt, OpiFan64's Strange Aquatic. The basic Itself blank is intriguing enough as it is... pre-washed fabric alone is intriguing, as it implies that wonder of wonders, a true-size fit, but I'm also intrigued any time a company actually puts their own shirt blanks together. Couple that with a design like this, and you really should have a winner on your hands. I love the linework and the detail, the way it inhabits the shirt. It's very watery-looking, not just due to the elements but the lines as well. The elements play together skillfully and dreamily, which creates a very nice mood to the illustration, and even the fade from bottom to top is gentle, in direct contrast to the common trend of loud, bold, contrasting gradient fades. Between the design and the site itself, this is one of the shirts I've been keeping my radar trained on closely.