Tee-Cember: Threadless Teas (Sale pt. 2)

For reasons I cannot even pretend to understand, Threadless is spacing their new releases out this week. Six came Monday, and six more (three new, three reprints) came today. Our sources state that there are still more new and reprinted tees to come, but the best of them came this round, with gumbolimbo's "Stop! Tea Time!" These proper English gentlemen charm through this fun graphic oddity, which for me cannot be unlinked from "Stop! Hammertime!" And really, that makes for a shirt you can't touch in and of itself. The style of the characters and the always fun mint blank, however, help step it up to being 2 legit 2 quit.

Threadless, of course, is in the midst of their holiday sale, and this week they've upped the ante. Not only are all tees $12, but they're offering free shipping on all orders over $50. They're promising new perks every week, but with stocks dwindling after Friday's huge discounts, we cannot do better than advise you repeatedly: buy in stages. You don't want to miss out on some super savings, but you also don't want to miss out on the tees you want.

Tee-Cember: It Begins!

OK. Let's get this out of the way right nownownownownow, so you can buy it. Christmas is now 24 days away. Now is as good a time as any to get gifts if you want them to get to their destination on time. So I figure, why not talk up the most likely tee to be a hot, unique gift piece early?

I'll never understand the power of memes, but I can appreciate that now and then, someone can take something tired and turn it on its head. So it is surprising to me that I have not seen today's tee concept, courtesy of Demighty, anywhere else, because it seems like the pinnacle of zombie parody. The graphic is the sort of crisp character piece that has always been classic for a tee, and while the idea of other sorts of zombies making their demands is not new (the vegan zombie demanding Grains, for example), taking it with a 100% reversal of roles made me honestly laugh in a way zombie jokes simply do not do. Your favorite zombie obsessed meme-nerd probably will get 14 copies of the Zombie Survival Guide, and likely already owns the Evil Dead movies. What they probably DON'T have is a good or original t-shirt (I've seen where they shop. It's probably true!) so while it won't stop your best buddy from his continual ranting about the zombie uprising which will never happen because we live in the real world, picking up Zombies will certainly up anyone on your list's fashion quotient (I especially like how it looks on the blue, shown), while still making them positively re-animated when they open their gift. You don't really want to see them pull out the ol' "This is not the shirt you are looking for" tee again, do you?

None More Black (A Roundup)

We've been talking a lot about Black Friday Sales (and really, so has everyone... your favorite tee shop probably has something going on right now, so don't be afraid to check). Now that the day is here, we have some things we'd like to discuss with you.

Firstly, Threadless is, as we speak, in the throes of a one-day-only $9 blowout. If you've read this blog at all, you should know how awesome this is. Threadless is pretty much the gold standard for tee site awesomeness, so if you can't find something worth $9 to you, you got there too late and it's sold out. It's the sort of deal that makes one want to link every word in the blog so you can't possibly miss it. Seriously, check it out. You'll be glad you did... their last $9 sale decimated stock across the board.

As for other sales? Pretty much any blog out there will have some to talk about, and we highly recommend you check around, but we've got some we think are worthy of chatting up, too, from some places we'll almost certainly talk up elsewhere this season:

~The Good: Goodjoe, the most positive shirt contest on the web, is promising deals as low as $7 on their tees for one day only, starting at Midnight Pacific (3am Eastern). I would expect and fear seeing my own piece in that bargain bin, but if you like positive messages and feel-good apparel, all price points will be browse-worthy.

~The Bad: BadAsHell Clothing, one of our favorite Tinytowne-sized indie shops, has been holding a sale since last night. We're presuming it's gone when Friday ends, but it doesn't hurt to check later, especially if it means picking up a rockin' classic looking tee like Our Women are Bad.

~The Awesome: Made With Awesome, the awesomest collaboration-based line out there, is offering 15% off everything for, again, one day only. Coupon code BLACKFRIDAY is the somewhat obvious key to the sale, which is thankfully much easier than finding the key to your unicorn.

Contest Watch: Week of November 19

We at SingulariTee hope three things today. First, we hope that you don't mind the severe pretension of the Royal "We". Second, we hope you all had a wonderful and filling Thanksgiving (or if you're not American, a wonderful and filling Late November Dinner Of Your Choice). And of course third, we hope these wonderful shirts are brought to life somewhere down the line. Before we get to that, though, I'm sure TOSOMB would be thankful if you'd go score his resub of an old Contest Watch piece, Two Novels Collide. Aside from that, enjoy the new crop.

Shirt.woot's latest derby bandage is an expanded fog, which so far hasn't proven to be very worthwhile at all, being that their biggest problems are lack of quality control, rampant vote-fraud, and inconsistency, all of which are simply hidden more and longer in the new system. Of course, it helps less to know that, even with nine blocks in the fog, the best stuff seems destined to never find favor. Take La Corvid Nostra, by Taninniver. While not perfect (some of the roughness around the "spotlight" area just seems off to me), the meat of the matter here is really attractive. The gray-scale illustration really takes the "family" theme seriously, with the idea of both a family (all the birds being of the same biological one) and the idea of "the family" in Mafia terms. These are some brutal birds, and portraying them as mobsters makes this quite smart outside of thematic elements as well as a smart way to portray the theme. I like the noir style on the birds themselves especially, characterizing them perfectly... it's a Rookery destined for Murder. Bird humor, there. I think this has a lot of potential elsewhere... obviously woot only likes the large black birds when they're awfully done.

Another rougher piece comes from Threadless, which you should DEFINITELY check out starting at Midnight Central (more on that and other Black Friday specials around that time tonight). The first of the pieces from there this week is The Rabbits, by shuyi. There's something loveable about a smart one-color print... something classic and crisp and always in style. This is a perfectly lovely illustration, too, even if it has the sort of imperfection I love in a piece... the feeling that it was quite truly made to reflect one's own drawing style, not to be a flawless vector. This piece truly benefits from that, because it makes the stunning optical illusion all the more impressive. It's a mind trip for sure, but the execution is just too perfect, with the contours of the rabbits melding into the animals themselves. It works so well that it is easy to have your eyes fooled at first that the creatures are fully formed, and then on next glance the jumble takes over. It's a smart piece, and would be a definite conversation starter, if you happen to like smart conversations. Or, potentially, confused ones. Either way, this looks like it'd make a great tee. We can only hope Threadless agrees.

Much more in the Threadless vein is Chengui's "Water Louvre." The concept is a little blurred... is the shark visiting a human museum to marvel at the wondrous art inspired by his sea home, or is this an underwater collection of the greatest oceanic art known to man and fish? The man in the background certainly suggests the former (as does the sharks air tank, and really, the fact that the paintings aren't soggy), but I like that the palette allows the other option to infiltrate and boost the dreamlike nature of the piece. Having both concepts evoked makes this feel all the stronger, to me, though simply having the shark, the lone color in the scene, come so far to gaze upon Poseidon is a pretty wearable payoff to me. It's attractive and creative, and it speaks to the lengths people will go to to experience true, passionate art. Which for me, is always a nice thing to remember.

Of course, it can't all be classy, intellectual concepts... Raid71 proves that the opposite isn't so bad, though, in his A Walrus is a Vampire Seal. Many of you probably already know I'm biased for this with the black-on-red scheme. SingulariTee Bingo Players, mark your card... Drinking Gamers, take a shot. Hell, maybe take a second for that catch-all category of "absurd humor." With all the current vampire hype, it's nice to see them taken down a peg in this, whether intentional or not. One cannot take this walrus seriously in his cape, with that super-dour expression on his face. The skulls beneath him, and bats by the side, make this even harder to not laugh at, as overwrought as the imagery is. This is the pinniped that seriously does not get that he looks ridiculous. He's the goth kid at Sea Mammal University, and his morose and macabre getup and demeanor are simply not as mysterious or threatening as he thinks. Which says a lot for a 2000 pound critter if it still can't manage threatening. The whole situation simply smacks of ridiculous, and it makes me incredibly happy to see things this bizarre, especially since it is indeed rooted in real-life imagery. I heartily laughed at the concept, I love the one-color design, and I like that there's nothing out there like this. Go Team Walrus!

Finally, back to woot, for more proof that a big fog just makes for more disappointment: there's really not much excuse at all to see Walmazan's "There's Nothing Like Family" anywhere BUT in the top 9, yet here it is (I generally eschew selections from the fog, as that seems like an unfair print advantage, but with the new system this may fall by the wayside eventually). Anyway, back to the piece, and all it has going for it. It's ostensibly cute, as the designer's style tends to be (and as always, the "cute" voters left this in the dust... go figure). The colors feel retro, and look gorgeous together. But the thing that slams this out of the park is just how SAD it is. It's beautifully so, because it takes the viewer time to really get it. At first glance, it's all about the funny, and how couldn't it be with the characterization of each of the octo's imaginary friends (especially the Groucho glasses)? We see the protagonist just smiling away at her meal, and give it no thought. And then it hits us how lonely she must be, and it becomes an aching portrait of that. There's so much hidden pathos that elevates this from simply being a cute, cartoony joke shirt. Not that it is bad as that... not at all. Just that it's one of those perfect storm designs that should have blazed the charts. We tend to find a lot of those at Contest Watch. We can only hope that someone else out there will see the same. And also own a shirt site to do something about it. More sites with integrity of quality? That would be something to be thankful for.

Yet More Sales: DBH Edition

Obviously in order to keep me on my toes in prep for the busy blogging month I have ahead of me, the big guns have arranged for one sale to be announced per day. Today's announcement: Design By Humans, who are probably among the best sites to peruse on a sale, and who will be having their sale until Monday. It's not that they have the best sales, so much as they seem to have some of the rarest, and the quality tees to be had make it an event to mark on the calendar. And it doesn't hurt that you can save an extra 10% even on the sale prices with discount code 7BX737.

For me, DBH's "Perfect Tees" are my second favorite blank, so anything that's been printed or reprinted in 2009 is almost guaranteed to be awesome. I'm sure I've said that before, and I'm sure you guys have taken me up on the recommendation now and then, so conveniently DBH procured a print right before this sale that you probably HAVEN'T snagged yet: saltyshadow's Dark Side of the Firework. I see it more of a rainbow getting sucked into a black hole than really being fireworks, but that's pretty much why I like the design. The black is smoky and spacey, which gives it a lot of body and has a great flow, while the colors, while streaked along in a watercolor presentation, is bright, yet has that gauzy feel that rainbows can have in the light. I don't know if I can explain that better, so hopefully we're on the same page. Got it? Good. Anyway, I love me some white-on-black contrast, but it's doubly awesome with this much bold color in the mix, breaking through the dark cloud and fading out into the light tee. Just in time to brighten up a dreary winter, and just in time to get on sale. Can't go wrong with that!

Tilteed: The Holiday Sale

$12 is a magic number this week: not only is it Threadless' price point du jour for their holiday sale, but this week, Tilteed is getting in on the $12 action with a sale of their own... from now til December (or basically, until they pick a new weekly tee), everything in their catalog is $12. Personally, I think it's a great deal from what is easily the best new site I've come across this year. While this week's new one is from the ever-reliable RecycledWax, I'd say the real deals this week are in the highly browseable back catalog. We've written up a number of their pieces, but if you're looking for yet another suggestion, how about early print "So Hot Yet So Cold" by TangYauHoong? I've got this one and quite love it... it's got some serious style and powerful imagery. But really, I digress... just browse the catalog. You'll find something.

Prelude to Tee-Cember: Threadless Holiday Sale pt. 1

Like sands through the hourglass, so too are the days of our tees, and once again we're fast approaching the holiday season. We're planning another Tee-cember celebration this year, with daily posts on some of the places we don't get to touch on as often, the latest and greatest sales and print updates, and of course, our insanely awesome (don't laugh, they are) weekly updates. We hope you will not miss it, because we hate wasting our breath if you're gonna be ingrates about it.

First off, though, Threadless has sneaked in with their annual holiday sale a week early. Like last year, there seems to be a theme of increasing and changing bargains, so as always with their sales, we at SingulariTee suggest getting the essentials now, and checking back weekly, to get the best combination of deals without having your favorites sell out on you. The starting deal is certainly solid enough: $12 tees. Everything in the catalog, that is, so we're talking half-price selects especially. Personally, I wish the first sale roll-out was stronger, but it came with a personal present: polynothing's Attack of Literacy, reprinted and ready to buy. This is majorly on my list, so I'm excited to get a chance. It's the pulp feel, largely... it takes the zombie apocalypse feel and makes it, er, literate. Half the fun is mulling over who is participating in this attack... Shakespeare and Poe are well represented right up front, but I've been slowly mulling over the other antagonists since I saw it print originally. We like to think that if you're a frequent reader, you probably also are the ideal audience for a shirt about literacy, or know someone for whom this would be a perfect gift. We like to think lots of crazy things over here. Definitely the pick of the week here, though, both for my own chest and for your future gift giving.

FM365: Week the Second

If you were to ask me (and technically, you did, by coming to the blog) I would say that this second week of the Flying Mouse 365 project is better than the first. The pieces seem to be far smarter, and even the (in my eyes) questionable Pac Man piece intrigues me simply for the bold use of the full shirt (and makes me wonder what the finished piece will look like). But in fairness, if last week we gave you pigs, we should follow up with cows. Milking Out is certainly a sweet tee to focus on anyway... again, we have the glorious "things are not what they appear" juxtaposition that is such a Flying Mouse hallmark... a simple scene with a clean illustration, but a strong, creative payoff. The cow is little more than a milk-tank in this image, the white of its pelt decreasing as the milk is drawn from it. I think the outline of the cow would be far more noticeable on the green it was originally presented on when I first saw it at Threadless, but the dark grey certainly lets the white of the cow and the milk-draining concept pop. A worthy selection in a week that could easily lead to a volume discount.

Boiling it Down

As Shirt.woot continues its inevitable slide into obsolescence with a derby that has no discernible standards or rules, we here at SingulariTee continue to wish for a mighty turn-around. As horrible as the derbies are, and as wishy-washy as the staff seems to be about making meaningful change at the expense of their broken system, they do occasionally prove where they stand, even if they won't say it. Printing Spaghetti during their recent spate of Editor's Choice picks is proof of this, to us. A shirt that twice was unable to garner very significant votes, on a hard-sell color, put up for purchase. It almost screams everything I see as so vital for woot to embrace. It has real charm and style, as opposed to the hacky facsimiles that usually get that praise. The colors are rich and perfect. The flow is inviting and enjoyable. The overall content is unique. It's a shirt I cannot stop praising, because it's a shirt deserving of non-stop praise for simply doing everything right. That it was chosen by the site itself is telling of what the site itself values, and in lieu of any change actually being taken by them (or less likely, by the voters), all we can do is support great work from solid designers. Like all woot-based posts here, I don't overly expect this piece to last longer than it's guaranteed week, but give this the love it deserves anyway. Prints like this simply don't happen often enough.

Contest Watch: Week of November 12

Good evening, folks. We'll be getting to the contest watching in just a second, but first, we'd like to note that Chris Risse's awesome "Icecream From Spaaaaace!" is currently up for votes at Teextile. Those are some super colors on a solid concept, and we'd love to finally see it come to life.

While we're at Teextile, we can always chat about Cibasnide, who has garnered most of the recent Contest Watch praise from over there with his weird little characters and his often twisty linework. His latest, Me and My Friends, seems to refine some of this. The piece is less ornamental than some of his others... there's actually action, and the characters exist in a bit of a vignette. The style is sharper, and the detail seems a lot slicker... instead of the more tube-like linework in other pieces, this feels more like a gust, given the delicate wisps of lines inside the chunky ink swatch running diagonally up to the sleeve. It looks great, even if that description isn't the most articulate. The placement here is the real winner (hopefully Teextile will be printing it as shown if they select it), and the colors all work fine, but one of the nicest touches is how the "friends" in the piece all help break up that ink swatch, making it way more breathable and, in turn, wearable. They're fun characters that also serve a functional purpose.

We travel next to Threadless, and their "Threadless Loves Travel 2" contest. It's admittedly had a lot of very solid pieces so far, and among the most charming is The Suitcase Stories, by Ben Chen. The storytelling here is just lovely, with the old suitcase telling the younger ones of all his travels. Each vignette gives its own sense of place, so the overall piece gives a feeling of all the great stories experience can bring you, not of the tedious "when I was your age" clichés. It also has a few other layers... first off, the idea of a suitcase being just as well traveled as its owner is a nice one, but then, the stickers all over it indicating the places it has been are an interesting correlation to how many people view tattoos. This one represents my time in China, that one reminds me of when I visited the Sphinx... it's a personal attachment that Old Man Suitcase has a permanent reminder of. As for final touches, I think the palette is smart for the "old timey" nature of the memory-keeper, and the scenery in his mental photos loses none of its charm or recognizable bits, but the choice of suitcase styles really is a subtle and perfect touch... after all, who really uses those old suitcases these days? It helps set the character in a way most of us would simply pass over, and that makes it a wonderful, wise addition.

At Tilteed this week, we get even more endearing with a freaking bunny. Yeah, I went there. But Thunderpeel's Stormy Nightmares is far more than the sum of its elements. It is exceedingly clean, legitimately cute, and well composed... descriptors which most designs with similar endearment potential rarely seem to care about. The shape is attractive... every bit of the piece is composed with respect to the shape, and it creates a wonderful finished product. The colors are perfect... the simply black and white is offset brilliantly by the orange of the foxes. I have to presume that when people find some shirt graphics too cumbersome for a shirt, they're thinking of something like this as what belongs there instead. This really does fit the bill for a classic style graphic tee.

Less classic, but just as classy, is Threadless Travel piece Flight of the Elephants, by Igo2Cairo. For me, the style is the pure winner here. Sure, there's some humor in watching the ponderous animals float nonchalantly across the plains, but too much time in the trenches has made flightless-things-in-balloons less magical through constant repetition. Still, the elephants are charming due to style... everything here feels hand drawn and then colored... this could be canvas work, not digital, and that roughness that is so often lost these days is part of what gives art the ability to intrigue. The colors are just as smart as the technique, conveying a circus-y feel to the pachyderm procession, and a rural landscape familiar to anyone who has flown over the heartland. I actually far prefer the "dijon" colorway shown in the sub itself (if you're not getting it's inclusion here, for some reason, definitely check that out and I think all will be obvious), but any way you slice it, the work here is top-notch and worthy of praise.

If you've made it this far and are wanting something that isn't charming or sweet, we'll end with a reward: Metal on Metal by aziritt, up for voting at Design by Humans. What I love about this is that it is exactly what it promises, while still being extremely wearable. It's not over the top. It's not gaudy or generic. It's not so brutal as to be laughable. But it's undeniably evoking the musical genre it attempts to pay homage to. The colors here are pure win, with the contrast of the magenta against the black linework and eventually fading into the inky cloud about the guitarist's head, and that very cloud makes the placement on this killer as well. This would be perfect printed, and would easily become a favorite concert tee of mine, even un-metal as I am. If we gave starred reviews, this would be one. It's simply that sweet.