T-Shirt Reviews Blog

The Mystery of Hipstery (and FREE Coupon!)

Posted: 29 Sep 2009 09:03 AM PDT

First off here’s a limited time discount code “buymoretees” - enter it at the checkout for 10% off from the 29/09/2009 to 15/10/2009. Right, here’s a tricky one, a t-shirt brand review that’s built its appeal on mystery, in practicality that means their customers buy blind, they have no idea what they’re about to receive through the post, and who knows it might just work. I remember life before the Internet, it was full of mystery then, or rather ignorance, it took ages to research anything, be it the library, or enquiries on the phone or via snail mail. Luckily things have moved on and by the magic of the WWW I can show you a few items that Hipstery have sold, so at least this review won’t be totally blind. However when it comes to your order, I have no idea what you’ll receive, and so to put your mind at rest, here’s something about the mindset at the mystery label Hipstery.

First off I received an email from Willem Von Tinkel (who possesses a remarkable resemblance to Sacha Baron Cohen), one of four guys behind the label who proceeded to direct me towards their manifesto. Boiling it down their mission statement essentially cites Hipstery as a group of people on a crusade to rediscover mystery and all that that entails, a leap into the dark that relies on the idea that the inevitable boredom of most consumers, faced by the same retail experience, the same hype, the same range of products will take a leap into the dark with them and let illogical passions rule the day. I can see the sense in that, and as far as I can tell Hipstery are already making waves in the t-shirt market. They’ve got a few interviews under their belt already including t-shirt review blogs Hide Your Arms and Loving This Tee, so if you want to know more about their thoughts, machinations and vision for the future they are your best bet. I’m going to take a more objective line on this, essentially I believe what I see and so I’ll be featuring what evidence I can of what to expect from their wares.

When you hand over your €16 for any size t-shirt for either men or women your details are passed through a ‘fashion algorithm’ which essentially involves a series of questions when you first order from Hipstery. Those questions include an option on your fave colours (or rather an omission of your most hated), a few psychological questions like “Do you own a gun?” and even an ink blot test, basically the same kind of questioning you might receive when being considered for a mental home, no I’m joking, but some of this information might be as useful for finding recruits for a revolution as picking a t-shirt. Who knows, the Hipstery revolution may just be around the corner?

Joking asides it’s a fascinating project, circumventing the usual t-shirt brand hype and genuinely attempting to engage on a far deeper level with their customer base, I still need convincing, it would have been nice if they’d let me have a trial run, I could’ve asked the questions and they could’ve sent me a pic of the t-shirt they’d chosen, but then again that wouldn’t have been very ‘mysterious’. One thing I’ve found out is that a lot of their t-shirts are very very rare, you might not know what you’ll be getting, but if you tick the right option you can be assured that very few others will receive the same tee. Anyway here’s some concrete proof of exactly what Hipstery do…

Yellowbird’s Mystery T-Shirt

$Yellowbird\'s Mystery Tee From Hipstery$

Looks like there are a few nice freebies that came along with this tee personally chosen and screen printed for Yellowbird at her blog Die Besten Graphic T-Shirts. It’s nice, it appears to be a tribute to I Was A Teenage Werewolf but that could be down to the heavy shadowing of the arm and hand which rather resembles fur. The antique photo is of a group of Germans eating sausages, not sure if that’s a reference to the t-shirt’s slogan ‘Rumble’, perhaps in the stomach anyway. 3D glasses are always fun.

Mystery Tees At Ruhrpottcast

Phil and his GF offered up pics and information on their order at RuhrPottcast.Blogspot.com and I have to say I’m rather impressed by the first one, Vikea is a very funny tee, not sure about the second but Phil seems pleased with it. Love the assembly details for the viking longboat, and top marks for drawing style for both. I admit I haven’t seen either of these before, so rarity still seems to be a strong plus point for the label.

Here’s another I found at DailyBooth.com

I know I can’t see this one very well either, I think it might be a skull.

Anyway, here’s a run down of just some of the labels working with Hipstery.com:-

Plenty of great labels on offer there, all of which we’ve reviewed before, I asked Willem a few questions about Hipstery and here’s the (mini) interview with Willem :-

1) How, where and why did hipstery come into being.
How - Sweat, Determination and pipe smoke
Where - The idea evolved during a bicycle ride between myself (Willem) and my co-conspirator of chaos Budge Becher as we headed to a bad hangout to sample intoxicating liquor in one fine city in the former socialist heart of East Germany.
Why - The love of creation, titillation, frustration, damnation, gyration, bus station.

2) How do the selected artists feel about your approach.

We tend to work with a lot of smaller labels and brands, more one-man-big-cartel type of sites. They really appreciate the exposure the Hipstery gives them, particularly as we are in Europe and so outside of their usual customer base. Remember that every sale receipt that accompanies a t-shirt out from our secret bunker, comes with a paragraph, url and logo and that store. So its very easy for the receiver to learn more about their new Hipstery shirt and we so all the sites have greeted us and our concept enthusiastically. To date not one t-shirt label that we’ve approached has said no to working with us.

3) What percentage of returns do you receive on your orders and are they recompensed?

So far, 2%. Yes they are compensated, we have a full 2000% satisfaction guarantee. Not one asked for a refund yet though. Instead they get a replacement and sometimes they give us a little more hints, sometimes we just tweak our fashion algorithm, and bingo a perfect match, second time lucky.

4) What is the future for hipstery, other apparel?

Hipstery is about the preservation of mystery and willingness to leap into the unknown. It’s not apparel, it’s an ideology. Through hard work and more than a little indoctrination we will begin a movement that will sweep the world as we revert back to simpler times that don’t result in your weeping softly in the corner of your local Supermarket, bamboozled by a choice between 114 types of Baked Bean.

—–

Not too much to get your teeth into there, although it’s good to see that their customer service is top notch. Seeing as their are lot of other t-shirt communities and brands that offer a subscription service such as T-Post, Social-T, and the Threadless 12 Month Club, I can’t see why this can’t work. If you fancy taking a dip, a lucky dip that is, try your luck at Hipstery.com today! Do make sure to check out their rather hilarious blog too if you have the time.

Lifestyle World

Tuesday, 29 September 2009