lifeStyle
The Great American
T-SHIRT
WE’VE ASSEMBLED SOME OF OUR FAVORITE SHIRTS FOR SPRING
TO APPEAL TO THE FASHIONISTA AND THE METALHEAD
ALIKE. WEAR THEM WITH PRIDE.
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BY ERIN FLAHERTY
T
he no-brainer uniform of rock stars, hipsters and your dad,
the American T-shirt is indeed the great equalizer. And when
it comes to recession-era fashion, retailers know that cotton
goods have a better chance of selling than, say, a spendy “it”
bag. As Deer Dana designer Dana Veraldi points out, “T-shirts
are recession proof as long as you keep them in an affordable price
bracket.” Of course, the price range still varies: A Deer Dana will set you
back $45, but Lanvin’s highly sought after, pailette-embellished Bette
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PASTEMAGAZINE.COM MAY/JUNE
MAY 09 09
PHOTOS BY GREG SLATER
Davis T-shirt retails for a cool $700-800—a relative bargain compared to
one of the label's $3,265 mini-dresses.
Like that other American fashion staple, blue jeans, the T-shirt has
modest origins for an item that has climbed the ranks all the way to
the elite runways of Paris. Once relegated to underwear status, the tee
evolved into a statement piece as recently as the 1950s, when rebels
like James Dean and Marlon Brando shocked audiences by wearing
them sans overshirts. In the ’60s, casual dressing began to flourish and
1 Mister Mittens’
Big Adventure by
Joe Van Wetering
Threadless.com
$18
2 Origami Pigeon
RandomObjects.net
$20
3 Blouse W
BrooklynIndustries.com
$34
4 Hangers
Momimomi.com
$20
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5 Great Dane
Skeledog.com
$25
6 Protect US
BrandoftheFree.net
$32
7 OWL tee by
Dumpster Funk/
Standard Deluxe
StandardDeluxe.com
$20
5
8 Sailor Stripe by
Yoko Devereaux
SupermarketHQ.com
$19
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tie-dying became trendy. Later, California's
famous Monster Company started slapping
marijuana leaves and the like on T-shirts,
and the materialism of the ’80s ushered in
must-have designer-logo-shirt mania. During
the ’90s, you couldn’t walk through a mall
without bumping into a baby tee (thanks,
Alicia Silverstone). Nowadays, mass-market shirt hawkers like Urban
Outfitters and American Apparel are nearly as ubiquitous as Starbucks.
For all of Dov Charney’s sexual shenanigans, you can’t deny the impact
his high-quality fabric and slender cuts have made on our society. Gone
are the days of Beefy T's: Anything less than a soft, pre-broken-in cotton
blend is unacceptable by today’s standards.
If handbag design is the fashion vocation du jour of celebrity socialites, T-shirt designing now stands as a noble profession for the hipster.
Veraldi, a downtown kind of stylist, turned her hobby of making shirts
for her friends into a profitable business. Dave Denis also started by
making a shirt for a friend, and now collaborates with artists like DFA and photographer Glynnis McDaris to create
a glamorous urban-lifestyle brand out of his subversive
designs. Even some outside the fashion industry are
getting in on the action: Photographers like Mark the
Cobrasnake and Todd Selby (who partners with Urban
Outfitters designer Obesity and Speed) sell T-shirts
online to promote their businesses.
Online social networking also provides the perfect
forum for independent T-shirt designers. Websites like
7 Threadless and Shirt.Woot!’s The Derby make it a democratic
art form with open calls for submissions that are subject to popular vote.
A truly successful shirt design or slogan, no matter how simple in nature,
can alter lives. Just ask Barnaby Harris, the dude who created the whole
“fuck yoga” tee craze. Even though he’s admitted he made it as a joke for
his yoga-devoted ex-wife, after Carrie sported it on Sex and the City, Harris
parlayed his 15 minutes of fame into a line that now includes snowboards
emblazoned with the provocative mantra.
Despite the glut of T-shirt entrepreneurs, Veraldi insists there's plenty
of room for fledgling designers. Her advice for them? “Create what feels
right and don’t be overly concerned with the response,” she says. “If it’s
meant to take off, it will.” Denis disagrees (“it’s overtly saturated”), but
he does acknowledge that the recession will help weed out the “crap.”
One thing’s for certain: Whether you fly on the couture high end or keep
it bargain-basement style, it’s easy to upgrade from your tattered old
Johnny Cash shirt.
ONLINE Visit PasteMagazine.com/May09 to see more of our favorite
T-shirt designs.
MAY/JUNE
MAY 09
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