by Travis on April 27, 2012
Welcome to Notorietees, a new column here at Hide Your Arms that will chronicle “problem” shirts that fall a bit further afield from the general programming you’ve grown accustomed to. Tees in the news, tees making waves, tees raising hackles, tees giving pause, tees with an edge — all are fodder for discussion (and snarky commentary).
Our first controversy conteeversy (groan…) wrestles with the sticky nature of identity and authenticity. NYC & Company, “the official marketing, tourism and partnership organization for the City of New York,” has partnered with Aéropostale on a product range that celebrates city agencies such as the NYPD (sample embedded below).
Home is where the art is.
The program’s goal are moderately laudable; a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the T-shirt collection “will benefit the New York City Police Foundation and the FDNY Foundation,” but as critics have noted there’s one glaring problem: the tees are manufactured and screened in, gasp, Central America. Embarrassing… [Link]
Embedded below is a bootlegged design of noted curmudgeon Jim Leyland puffing on a cancer stick. Leyland, the manager of the Detroit Tigers (American hardball), has been reported to sneak a cig in the dugout between innings, much to the dismay of Major League Baseball and its image conscious handlers. [Link]
Drag Bunt
UK-retailer Topman posted a pair of dodgy slogans last month only to later remove them in the wake of a wicked (if predictable) backlash. [Link]
Doggone
Glimpsed on a television broadcast earlier this month at a Toronto Blue Jays game: a pair of enthusiastic fans and their randy puns that riff on baseball verbiage (and proposition the team’s studly catcher, J.P. Arencibia). [Link]
[click to continue…]
by Andy on April 24, 2012
I don’t know how to feel about Mitt Romney, he looks like he should be President, which means people will probably vote for him, and yet everything he says and does makes me feel as if his Presidency would be a complete catastrophe and I’m amazed that he has the balls to call Obama privileged and elitist.
Costiness=$19 Buy it at Print Liberation
by Chris_S on April 19, 2012
I don’t want to alarm you or anything, but the three words “cool wrestling t-shirts” can in fact be used in the same sentence without the world exploding. Seriously, it’s not a contradiction in terms. Admittedly, professional wrestling hasn’t been cool since about 1997, but that almost doesn’t matter. I haven’t watched wrestling since I was 16 – these things called girls got in the way – but I can still appreciate the smart, snarky designs which are a mile away from the stuff the WWE (apparently the WWF had to change their name after the World Wildlife Fund sued them) produce.
Barber Shop Window has a simple motto: “to create shirts that wrestling fans enjoy, would want to own, and wouldn’t be embarassed to wear to the bar.” I’d argue they go further. These things can be worn by non- or lapsed wrestling fans like me.
They take an increasingly standard model of selling. Shirts are available for a limited time period and on a short print run, before being taken off-sale. Any leftovers (usually in odd sizes) can be picked up for about $25 (first-run shirts usually run $20). The shirt stock’s good, the printing lasts and is clear. I’m currently wearing the ‘Monsoon-Heenan 2012′ shirt pictured above; it combines my favourite commentary team from my formative years with my love of American politics (fuelled by The West Wing). I wish I had the Fuji Vice t-shirt, based on this…unique vignette from the 1980s. If you’re nerdy like me, the chances are you’ll find something here for you.
by Andy on April 13, 2012
Altru Apparel make some really nice shirts, the sample I have is one of my most worn tees because the tee and the print are just gorgeous. It’s one of those perfect prints that you can barely tell is there even though it’s pretty big. It’s good for me to know that Altru make good shirts, because I know I can rest easy when it comes to recommending them, the whole judgement comes down to whether you like the design and there’s no worry that the tee will look terrible after a couple of washes.
When they let me know that they had some political tees I wasn’t sure if I was going to be happy with what I saw, shirts with a political message tend to be polarising, and that’s usually their aim, but taking the retro angle as they have done here makes for a rather less controversial subject and some pretty neat tees.
by Umang on March 27, 2012
Some of you t-shirt junkies have probably already heard about this t-shirt but for those that have not, this one is ploitically whimsical. As you know, some folks within the Republican Party suggested that President Obama was not a natural born citizen of the United States, hence not being allowed to serve as the President of the United States. After toying around with them, he eventually shared his birth certificate with the world and now it’s reflected on a t-shirt for you to share.
Who would have guessed that President Obama would join the t-shirt game? His clout managed to solicit the help of various celebrities and fashion designers. Okay he doesn’t sell t-shirts but if you make a “donation” you can score a t-shirt of your choice, off his website, Obama for America. There is a bit of cotroversy about the act of selling or calling it a donation but at least they are made in the USA. Something tells me that Michelle Obama had a hand in the selection of designers, especially since some of the designers, designed some clothes for her like Prabal Gurung.
With an all start cast, unfortunately this design has digressed from the high design of Shepard Fairey. Ironically Shepard is nowhere to be found on the site and replaced by folks like Beyoncé & Tina Knowles!? President Obama’s 2008 campaign was about cool. This t-shirt is old school (in a bad way) politics. Boring and cheap but gets a C+ for content. With all the resources for cutting edge design, maybe Michelle should have browsed HYA?
Made In The USA T-Shirt (literally)– Monetary Damage Donation $30.00 USD
by Andy on February 17, 2012
You’re not going to be able to wear this shirt on President’s day this year, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pick it up in time for next years celebrations. I suppose that in theory you could wear it at other times of the year, and possibly even if you’re not American, but only if you can handle the stares and judging looks of people seeing you wearing a shirt with US Presidents on it on a day that isn’t the 3rd Monday in February.
Pick up this shirt for $23 at Chop Shop.
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