I’m starting to get into text shirts at the moment, and this one speaks to me for some reason. To me, this tee kind is poking fun at message tees that are supposed to be poignant and thought-provoking, by having a poignant and thought-provoking message. Genius!

Costiness=€14.95 (this price includes a €5 discount that will end on Friday) Link

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Tags » books • funny • Mens • message • shirtcity • T-shirts • text • white • Womens

Tees with a positive message have usually seemed a bit lame to me, but this one from Print Liberation has forced me to re-evaluate my position on t-shirts that. I guess it isn’t actually a positive message, its more of a lemons/lemonade kinda deal, but still. I really like the way that they’ve thrown the type all over the tee, and put the arrows some of the letters to reinforce the message of how different decisions can change your life.Costiness=$22 Link

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Tags » American Apparel • Mens • message • print liberation • T-shirts • text • white • Womens

HYAs latest advertiser, Social T, sent a couple of tees over recently, which is great because it gave me a chance to make sure that I was still advertising a quality product, because I want you guys to trust the people that I let advertise on this site. I think it says a lot about Social T that even though they’ve already sent me a sample in the past that they wanted me to check out more of their limited edition tees.

For those of you that are unaware, Social T is a company that runs on the subscription model that is increasing in popularity. Basically, you can pay each month, or a prepaid plan (2, 3, 6, or 12 months) and a new tee will arrive on your doorstep around the 15th of each month. Social T will only print as many tees as they have subscribers for that month, so these tees are pretty limited edition, if you’re into that kind of thing. Of course, you do have to make a leap of faith with services like these since you don’t know what will be inside the envelope each month. I quite like being surprised when I receive a tee (I make a point of never picking a certain design when offered a sample), but I guess its different when you’re actually paying for the clothing. Luckily, Social T do have a style that they don’t deviate from too dramatically, so you can judge from their back catalogue of ‘issues‘ whether your style fits with theirs, and hopefully you won’t be disappointed at what you pull out of the package each month.

I know I said that the house style at Social T doesn’t deviate very much, but that doesn’t mean that they’re sticking to a certain type of design, I just think that if you like one of their tees, its fairly likely that you’re going to like most of them. Social T aren’t just making tees that look good (hey, they’re called ‘Social’ for a reason), they’re also meant to help spread the message about social issues and spark up a conversation, and they manage to do it in a way that isn’t preachy. For example, today’s shirt (Issue 15, January 2008) is a bit on the lighter side and has “I resolve to be a better human being” written on it, a lot, obviously as a reference to people making New Year’s resolutions, which isn’t exactly a hard hitting social issue, and as such doesn’t serve as a very good example for what I was trying to say, but I would imagine it could have been a pretty decent pick-me-up if I’d got this in the mail in mid-January just as I was starting to lose track of my resolutions and think that “one doughnut isn’t going to matter.”
Quality is impressive (shocking, I know). The stock tee is provided by American Apparel, so the vast majority of readers know what you’re getting there (soft cotton, sweatshop-free, made in Los Angeles, slim fit, hipster friendly), and the printing is good too. You can feel the print, but it certainly is not rough. I can also attest to the print on Social T’s goods being long-lasting too, since issue 13 is still looking good in my wardrobe with a distinct lack of fading. Instead of a custom tag or the standard AA tag, Social T have printed a tag inside the shirt which has all the expected details on it, plus a mysterious ‘rn#103255′, which I guess might be some kind of print number, so that you know its limited edition, but I could easily be wrong, it has happened before… once.Costiness=$32 per month (some prepaid deals are cheaper per month) Link

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Tags » green • Mens • message • olive • review • Reviews • social • social T • Subscription • T-shirts • Womens

The Ambush S/S Tee features a mal-intentioned punk equipped with a Shmack spiked bat in the bushes ready to ambush! The back of the tee features text reading “running and hunting and slashing and crushing and searching and seeing and bashing and stashing and thrashing and smashing and burning and destroying,”

So… this dude’s like, kind of angry and stuff, right?

Costiness=$39 Link (be a frugal angry punk by getting up to 20% off your order by using the rep code AS7594 on your order at Karmaloop)

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Tags » Karmaloop • message • punk • schmack • white

I quite like letting the companies do the describing for me sometimes, and not just because I’m lazy, I’m just not as good at talking like a PR guy as designers are. Observe.

302designs, established in December 2004, is run and managed by four unique individuals. Each partner brings their own differentiated interests, skills, and backgrounds to the company.

Each design is a symbolic representation of an individual’s feelings. Some of the recurring themes are emphasizing the importance of listening to one’s own internal passion, promoting individuality, and maintaining strength from within.

302 considers itself a socially conscious establishment. Keeping with this theme, we refuse to contribute to sweatshop conditions of any type. Each shirt is printed on material from American Apparel, out of L.A. They support fair wages and benefits for all their employees.

But I guess that since 302designs describes itself as a company that creates ‘poetic t-shirts’, you’re going to get descriptive language, and this theme runs through into their t-shirt designs. All the tees marry life-affirming and inspiring text with intricate and detailed graphics. It’s one of the strongest line-ups of inventory that I’ve seen for quite a while, if I were to choose one I’d really struggle, I only picked the one in the picture (Imagination) because I prefer brighter colours in the summer.

There is also a full girls section, including one or two designs that aren’t available for the guys.

All the items seem well priced, running between $20-$27, and considering how great I think these tees look, well worth the price.

302designs

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Tags » 302designs • aqua • blue • inspiration • Mens • message • paint • splatter • t-shirt • text • Womens