About an hour before I left for France (about three weeks ago) the post turned up, and luckily for me there was a fresh tee from the guys (and gals, I’m not sure) at innerTee, which I promptly shoved into my already bursting suitcase and then kept forgetting to write about it, which is probably due to some designer based bashfulness. Because this tee is the first item on HYA that I actually designed myself… now don’t groan, I’m not trying to get you to buy something I designed, in fact I doubt that the tee will even be available when innerTee launch (date TBA).

If you aren’t familiar with innerTee, check out my preview from early October, then you will understand why innerTee is a bit different to most of the clothing sites I’ve reviewed.

Since I designed it, there’s not much point me describing what I think is good and bad, it was largely made up just to test the system, in terms of quality, colour, and placement, but the basic deal is that I wanted some kind of bird swooping in to land on a tree, and then I put a moose on the back for good measure.

The quality is absolutely top notch, with all the graphics having very sharp edges, even the tree with it’s detailed branches(which I added into my design as a test of the printing) and strong, bright colours. As you would imagine, the placement is exactly as I designed on the innerTee beta website (even Beta’s work sometimes!), I don’t know if that’s because computer’s are involved or because they’re just really careful when hand-crafting the tee, but I get the feeling it’s the latter.

One of the cooler aspects of the tee (if my design skills haven’t blown you away) is that innerTee have custom printing in the ‘tag area’ of the tee, which rather originally has the size of the tee incorporated into their logo. The printed labels are a nice touch, it lends credibility to a fledgling brand, and it’s pretty much the only way that they can put their logo on the tee without infringing on the user creativity that they’re trying very hard to preserve.

Costiness=$various (based upon use of elements on tee) URL

Close-up pics after the jump (why’s it called a jump anyway?)

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For those of you that liked the skeleton hoodie from Waffo’s that was mentioned in July, but needed something a bit more gory/alive looking, then Karmaloop Kazbah newcomers (well, they’re pretty much all newcomers, aren’t they?) Rockett have got made a hoodie with guts.

I’ll be honest, I’m not a doctor, so I can’t really tell you how accurate the design is, though I’m pretty sure my intestines don’t have ‘get organized’ written on them, but the design is still cool, even though I’m not too sure about the horizontal stripes that run out at the sides.

Costiness=$60 URL (yet again, if you want 10/20% off your order, my affiliate code is AS7594)

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*Hey, it finally got sunny here in France so we got to take the boat out for a spin, good times!*

Can you believe I haven’t written anything about Karmaloop’s Kazbah yet? It seems like a great way for small companies and new designers to get their name out to a much wider audience, without relinquishing control to a corporate overlord.

So I was happy to see that the guys from Bean Dip had got themselves on board and joined the prestigious roster of Kazbah brands, because they’ve ‘friends of HYA’ (also a prestigious club) for many months and they were the first people to send me a sample to review, which actually carried the same design as the hoodie I’m recommending today, so yes, I am recommending the same thing twice, but I freakin’ love rhe design, and this one’s different…. uhhh… it’s red. They’ve also added in a logo pattern onto the hood, which is a pretty subtle, so it shouldn’t annoy the logo-haters too much.

Costiness=$50 URL (not sure if my code works with the Kazbah, but try entering AS7594 to receive up to 20% off your order)

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You know the drill, I tell you that everything at Threadless is $10 (except for Select tees which are down to $20), you get Thread-lust, you buy lots of tees.

So go on, fill that virtual shopping cart!

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I wouldn’t normally do this, but everyone’s best friend (google) isn’t helping me and I thought that you guys would probably know more about buying sneakers online than I do.

I’m trying to find a pair of Vans XL2’s (they might have Rowley and/or Slims in the name) in navy, grey & white, in a UK size 10 or 11 (which is US size 11 or 12). I wouldn’t usually buy the same pair of shoes, but I really like these ones (my current pair are worn through to the foam, so I can’t wear them anywhere that might be damp) and they’re really comfortable too, and I have dodgy ankles so comfort is a major factor to me.

So if anyone knows where I find a pair that would be awesome. Also, if you want to enlighten me and suggest some sites that have some good sneakers on them, comment away.

*Aha! The reason why I can’t find them is because the XLIII version is out… These ones look pretty much like what I have now, but I’d still love to get some feedback about good online shoe stores*

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When I came out to France for this job my family moved out about a week before the rest of the workers (because me and my Dad had to drive the van down, and I wanted a couple of days relaxation in Marseille), so I told the guys that if any mail came for me then could they please bring it out with them on the plane (though it is illegal to carry someone else’s mail without declaring it), and when the lads arrived I was greeted with a few presents. A European health card, a motor insurance form, and…. a tee from Spitefuls!

Marla from Spitefuls (who is actually very pleasant) sent me over a little package (with hand-drawn graphics on the
envelope), containing a super fresh tee, which is so new it isn’t even for sale yet, and some pink/black buttons with the depressing phrases I’ve come to expect from Spitefuls.

The tees are printed onto AA (this one is a ringer tee, really shows off the guns!) and the printing feels nice and soft, and I get the feeling it will be pretty durable. There’s print on both sides of the tee (text front, image back), and I must say I’m impressed by both sides, she’s picked a cool cowboy-movie inspired font for the front, and kept it fairly simple on the back with the streams of rain running down onto the umbrella (with the logo incorporated into the clouds for a little bit of branding).

I guess I should disclose that Spitefuls is an advertiser with the site, but that didn’t effect this review (I promise!).

Costiness=$18 (presumably, since the rest of the tees are that price) URL

More pics after the jump.

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It would seem that I just can’t keep away from blogging, since I’m writing this from France (hurrah for the client I’m working for having wifi).

It’s my own fault really, I told Alan from Burnswell that I would write about his tee site if sitting down at my laptop became more enticing than sitting on a beach. Then it started raining and hasn’t stopped since (I haven’t even taken the speed boat for a spin, yes, life is tough!)…

Burnswell employs employs the by-now familiar Threadless-esque model of design submission, except it isn’t a popularity contest, I think the Burnswell crew pick the design to their taste.

And what taste, their designs are top-notch, with their being a healthy mix between the comic and the thought-provoking, with the Batman and Robin design being several strokes of genius.

Since they’re the new kid on the block you can get 10% off your order by using the coupon code BRNS_OPEN.

Costiness=$15 URL

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This hoodie is one for ‘the birds’ (geddit? Because I’m English and that’s what we call women sometimes when we’re down the pub supping warm ale), and the store owner can describe this waaaay more enthusiastically than I can:

You won’t know how you ever lived without this hoodie! Amazingly soft fleece hoodie with hand screen printed birds and bird cage. Both front and back are equally cute and irresistable!

Costiness=$50 URL

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I can’t think of much to say about this hoodie other than that I like it, so enjoy some blurb:

A great new custom zip-up hood from Scifen, with a good strong color palette running thru them. The front features a ‘Scifen Aiight’ graphic done as a combination of felt appliques and chainstitch embroidery. Complimented nicely by the matching striped ribbing on the wrists and waist. Oversized hood. Zippers on the front pockets. Raglan cut sleeves. Tonal embroidered Scifen logo at the back under the hood.

Costiness=$75.00 URL

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You could be mistaken for thinking that this blazer was almost business-like, with it’s clean tailoring and the fact that it’s called ‘The Victory’ (now that’s what I call empowerment!). But that would be foolish, because on the back there’s some kick-ass silver decoration (with skulls) and some patches with Spanish writing on that I’m not even going to pretend I can translate.

Costiness=$89.99 URL (like I said all last week, use the code AS7594 for up 20% off your order)

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