style
A Simple T-Shirt No More
Remember when a t-shirt was the simplest item in your wardrobe? Not anymore. The t-shirt has become a fashion mainstay. It can send a message, cause a movement, create an income. Check out these websites and designers committed to taking the plain white tee to a whole new level.
1. N-Spired
Maybe social change is as simple as the clothes on your back. The online community of N-Spired picks a true personal story submitted to the site. An artist then interprets the story on a t-shirt, and using a percentage of the sales, performs a social act based on it. These are some truly inspirational cotton-tees.
2. Friend or Foe
Riding the resurgence of old rock t-shirts in everyone’s closet, the creators of Friend or Foe aim to toss in a little jazz. Using iconic imagery from bebop, blues and soul albums they are create t-shirts featuring those other legends of modern music. So ditch the Def Leppard and throw on some John Coltrane and Miles Davis.
3. Threadless
Have you got a great idea or graphic design skills? Threadless.com combines the online art and graphics community with the beauty of e-commerce. If you have an awesome idea for a t-shirt, submit it to Threadless and if the community likes it, you get some sweet cash, plus residuals if your shirt’s a best-seller. Your inner nerd or ironic point of view could make you a lot of money.
4. Imaginary Foundation
This clandestine Swiss think tank (which sounds so Jason Bourne, right?) is dedicated to experimental research “ on new ways of thinking and the power of the imagination.” Even better, they bring their ideas to the masses through the power of a simple tee. Strangely inventive, Imaginary Foundation is where art, science and imagination converge on cotton.
5. Last Exit to Nowhere
Ever need an “Abe Froman, Sausage King of Chicago” shirt? Maybe if you’re not a Ferris Bueller fan you don’t, but this company of film geeks and great graphic designers is the place to find one. Covering every film genre, Last Exit to Nowhere pays clever homage to your favorite films.
Claudia Maittlen-Harris is a writer and comedian based in Los Angeles. She is the co-creator of the how-not-to dating/relationship blog, The Zeros Before the One.
Image: [ Roberto Bouza ]
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