T-Shirt Reviews Blog

Posted: 08 Nov 2009 08:46 AM PST

Emulsion Apparel run by Dave DiAngelis is located in Boston and deeply rooted in skateboard culture and art school didactic. This is a relatively new label, still finding their way in the t-shirt market. Dave asked me to take a look at the collection so far, and asides the usual logo tees that so many raw brands begin with, there’s a couple of beauts in the form of the Deerd Tee.

I asked Dave all about it and he came up with a rather intriguing explanation which is as follows:-

“I just graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in May before starting up emulsion, I majored in illustration and I did my senior thesis on Moustaches.. I essentially did a whole load of ridiculous research and started coming out with certain images that pinpointed certain types of beards and then followed through by stereotyping the people that might sport one.. More specifically it turned into a conglomerate of what the beard’s kids would look like, What they would hunt (including their bones) and what would be the weapon of choice would be…”

I’m stunned, highly logical madness if you ask me. Still it’s helped Dave turn out his first powerful t-shirt design. He went on to say “It turned into a triptych. You can see the other two finished illustrations at my portfolio site - www.diangelis.net/anatomy.php.”

So let’s take a look at the Deerd Tee, and the psychology of beards!

Deerd Tee

It’s beautifully drawn, but perhaps rather disturbing in some deep down subconscious kind of way. It reminds me of a mixture between the movies The Deer Hunter (if their kids’ continued on the tradition of shooting off at just about anything in the mountains) and Wicker Man (the cool 1970s original), obviously before the human sacrifice got under way. There are those connected with nature who can kill, there are those who aren’t who can still kill, if there weren’t then most omnivore humans on this planet would either have to go out there and slaughter for themselves or turn veggie.

It’s a fascinating tee, I wish I could say more about it, but psychologically it’s a conundrum, the joy of nature, the thrill of hunting, life and death in it’s most raw element. I couldn’t ever kill, I know that, but I’m a hypocrite, I still eat meat, so who am I to criticise, nobody can truly say what is the natural order of things these days, we’ve all screwed it up as it is.

It’s definitely a hypnotic t-shirt illustration, beautiful details in the beard, and the characters seem like they’ve been appropriated from a family Polaroid lost and then retrieved after decades of sitting in the loft. The ominous skull held aloft gives the design a slightly Shamanic feel, really rather a trippy affair altogether. You can get the 5 colour screen printed Deerd tee in sizes S to XL for $20 here.

Deerd Mono Tee

At $5 less you can get the Deerd Mono Tee, a variation on the Deerd Tee in just one colour. To be honest I think the image looks even more powerful as a monoprint, but that’s probably down to personal taste. Get this beautifully drawn bargain tee in all sizes here.

I can see a great future for Emulsion Apparel, Dave promises that plenty more illustrated tees are on the card, including a few zombie shirts (which are nearly always a winner on my part). Take a splash at Emulsion today.

American (Political) Legends T-Shirts

Posted: 08 Nov 2009 07:34 AM PST

Retro Campaigns, an old favourite of the Buy Tees team, have just released three new tees to mark the beginning of a new series of presidential t-shirts, simply titled ‘American Legends’, this collection offers up a little good ol’ political nostalgia featuring none other than Abraham Lincoln himself, as well as Teddy Roosevelt, and someone I’m not familiar with (being a Brit) called William Henry Harrison, who apparently was the first showman in politics.

For those not familiar with RetroCampaigns.com you can read our previous reviews here and here. This makes our third feature on RC, perhaps we should ask for a freebie or two, and see if we can’t hold a contest for you lucky people. We’ll see. In the meantime let’s check out Abe and Teddy, oh and the other one heh…

Abe Lincoln Tee

This snazzy little number is available as a ‘destroyed tee’ in heather for both men and women. It features an original image from Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 ‘Rail-Splitter’ presidential campaign. What I love about Retro Campaigns is the way they give you the full low-down on every t-shirt they produce, and more. If you scroll down this page you’ll see a potted history of Abe’s political career. He got the nickname Rail-Splitter because it was a well known fact at the time that splitting rails was one of his previous jobs. He’d also been a general store clerk, country lawyer, postmaster and surveyor, he was most certainly a man of the people who wasn’t afraid to muck in. I was about to say not afraid to get his hands dirty but that’s probably not an appropriate way to describe a good politician these days. They are far and few between, what’s more most of them out there have probably got their hands dirty, but for all the wrong reasons! Most famous for his objections and eventual dismantling of the cruel practice of slavery during the American Civil War. Buy and wear a tribute to the visionary that was Abe Lincoln for $29.95 in sizes small to XL here.

Teddy Roosevelt Tee

Theodore Roosevelt T-Shirt at RetroCampaigns.com

Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt is another historically highly progressive politician of his time. What’s more he has a rather unique claim to fame, the fact is the ‘teddy bear’ was named after him. He was the 5th cousin to America’s 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This particular tee is from his 1912 campaign, nicknamed the ‘Bull Moose Party’. He was the first man to invite an African American to the Whitehouse, the esteemed Booker T. Washington - an educator, orator, author and a dominant leader of the nation’s African-American community from the 1890s to his death. as a member of the Civil Service Commission and later as New York City Police Commissioner, to root out corruption, promote fairness and eradicate cronyism and patronage. Roosevelt believed each individual deserved a fair chance; with the playing field levelled, each man is responsible for his own success or failure. Get your Bull Moose tee for $29.95 in all sizes for men and women here.

Tippecanoe and Tyler Too Tee

Like I’ve mentioned I know very little about William Henry Harrison, you can read all about him at Retro Campaigns. However I think I get the gist of it, he picked on a few Native Americans, he sang songs about himself, he won a landslide vote and then died of pneumonia a month later. I suppose I’m not a fan for the main reason that there’s just too much self-grandiosing and entertainment value in politics these days. It’s a personality game, with the exception of unelected UK prime minister Gordon Brown who has absolutely no personality, nor soul most likely. I think the political arena is more about distraction technique than solving the country’s problems. Even those with the best intentions can’t manage such a mammoth task. Next time you vote, if your favourite candidate is an all-round showman, they probably haven’t a clue about politics. That’s the plain truth. Get this tee in all sizes for men and women at $29.95 here.

As usual there are plenty more presidential tees on offer in all eras at www.RetroCampaigns.com.

Lifestyle World

Sunday, 8 November 2009