TEE TEST: Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction

I like long names. Maybe this is because I have a particularly long name myself - two middle names both with three syllables. Of all my names I like my surname the least, mainly due to the fact that it only has three letters.

Perhaps slightly pre-determined by my fondness for the gratiutously named, I love Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction (despite me being too lazy to type their name in full again - "aita" from here on out). When aita asked if they could send a shirt for review I took two quick looks at their impressive roster and said "I'll take two thanks."

To my joy the impressive nature of aita did not conclude with a lengthy title and a pretty website. The package I received contained the two shirts wrapped in the sexiest tissue paper I have ever seen (hell, I didn't know tissue paper could even be sexy until now) and a plethora of impressive marketing material that they were kind enough to send. Sure, it may seem inconsequential, but I think that a company that can get their marketing looking tight is well on the way to success.

The shirts continued to impress. The guys logo tee is so freaking soft it feels like underwear. Which is a good thing. In fact it's softer than my underwear... The softness comes via an American Apparel 50/25/25 track shirt - and because it's AA you know it's going to fit well. I'm also quite fond of the logo and the way it subtley humanizes the industrial subject. Deep right?

While the guys shirt is subtle, the girls shirt is straight-up crazy. Screenprinted front and back with catastrophic imagery, in an engraved style that you'd expect to see in a 19th century history book. Typhoons, volcanoes, tidal waves and even aliens destroy everything in sight. Sweet. I'm not sure as to the origins of the shirt itself but it's 100% cotton and comes from Peru. Awesome.

My only concern with these shirts was the slight twist in the seem (check the photo) on the girls shirt. I'm told that this is not common and is due to the shirts being "unique and individually printed," and it actually looks kind of cool when the shirt is being worn - although I'm sure it may bug some people.

Aita's other shirts also feature amazing art work and are totally worth checking out. They've just released some new one's too - be the first in town to grab them. A great range from a nice little label that sticks by it's name and produces some great artwork, hand prints their shirts and pays attention to the small details.

RRP: Mens Logo Tee $28 (USD), Womens Catastrophe Tee $36 (USD)
BUY THEM HERE

TEE TEST: Custom Industries

Custom Industries is an interesting label, choosing to stay away from popular trends but instead creating a line that is influenced by artwork from many traditional cultures. The brand's aesthetic "reflects the quest for adventure and discovery of the obscure." And as someone who has been around the world a few times visiting over 45 countries on the way, Custom Industries founder Matt Taylor should be the right person to do the job.

The range from CI includes jackets, hoodies thermals and tank tops for guys and girls, as well as your everyday tshirt. Each is decorated by art from many different countries including China, Indonesia, Egypt and India, to name just a few.

Matt flicked me one of his new Dragon shirts to check out, and I'm happy to say that it gets a big, cheesey DBT thumbs up. The shirt is well made and the grey colour has just the slightest hint of lavender to it - not enough to decrease your masculinity, but just enough to be different. Also the exposed stitching - which I'm not usually a fan of - is really good quality and definitely suits this style, adding to the rugged global traveler feel. The quality of the screenprinting is great, with two tones of red adding depth to the illustration of the bad-ass dragon. (Am I allowed to say bad ass about a dragon?) To pop a cherry on top the material is nice and soft and the fit of this shirt is particularly good.

So if you want to express your love of the orient, wear a mean looking dragon, or pretend to look well travelled to impress a certain someone, then Custom Industries is the place to fulfill your culturally-influenced attire needs.

RRP: $30 (USD)
BUY IT HERE

Want your shirt reviewed? Get free publicity and a link in our tshirt stores section. Email deathbytshirt@gmail.com

TEE TEST: Lamstok

You may have seen Lamstok already if you check out some of the other tshirt blogs. Well they contacted me too, and because I have a big desire to help out Australian designers, and an even bigger desire to own really cool tshirts, I hit 'em up for a tshirt to review. How would this newborn label fair? Well the tshirt, and the results, are in.

What can I say....? Lamstok dominates. They pretty much do everything right. In fact, Lamstok could be used as the manual for how do start a successful label.

1. Cool designs. The designs, such as the banana they sent me, are cool, quirky and unique.

2. Quality. American Apparel tshirt (I'm not necessarily promoting them but they have a good reutation and fit so well), quality printing, swing tag and packaging.

3. Well promoted. Get your stuff out there and if it is cool enough, and you are nice enough, every tshirt blog under the sun will be giving you free promo.

4. Good website. I cannot stress how important this is. The shopping experience should reflect the mood of your brand and be easy to navigate. A good website encourages buyer confidence too, while a bad website makes people think you may be a bit dodgy. Right?

5. Little extras. How sweet is it when you get a badge or a stylin' sticker or something for free? Lamstok packaged this shirt in a pretty nifty printed zip-lock bag. Now my sandwiches look shit-hot too.

Ok ok, so Lamstok gets a tick in every box. This shirt is great. It's original, well made and fits great. I wore it to a party on the weekend where I knew hardly anyone and had 4 random strangers comment on the shirt, which I think is a sign that they've done the job well. The rest of the range is awesome too and each shirt comes in a range of colours. Things are looking good.

RRP: $45 (Australian)
GET IT HERE

Want your shirt reviewed? Get free publicity and a link in our tshirt stores section. Email deathbytshirt@gmail.com

TEE TEST: Chor Bazaar

"Through the act of Chory and appropriation, we initiate a Desi phenomenom." Don't worry, I'm not exactly sure what it means either

This is the mission statement of independent Brooklyn based tshirt label Chor Bazaar. While it may not make a lot of sense to most of us, it refers to the company's aim to create clothing items that are relevant to, and inspired by Desi (south Asian) life.

To be honest, I didn't expect too much when the guys from Chor Bazaar said they were going to send me a shirt for review. Their website seemed a little clumsy, and while graphically some of their designs are ok, there are some that really aren't so great.

However, when the package arrived from the states I was very pleasently surprised. What this company lacks in flashy websites and ground-breaking graphics they more than make up for in quality. Shirt, print and packaging quality are all top notch.

Product presentation and packaging was up to retail store standards - wrapped in plastic and beautifully tagged with printed card and string. Once i ripped the plastic off I noticed a whole bunch of nice little extras including a logo printed on the back of the neck and a sewn label on the bottom front.

The shirt itself is printed on an Alternative Apparel blank which has a great cut to it and is 100% cotton (and made in Honduras if you're interested). The quality of the screen printing could be a bit better, but I've seen heaps worse. My only real problem with the shirt is the sewn on Chor Bazaar logo on the bottom of the shirt - it's a really cool logo but the positioning is all wrong. When I put the shirt on it is almost right in the middle and, well, it just looks weird. It needs to be moved over about 6 inches...

All said and done, this is quite a nice shirt. While Chor Bazaar isn't going to be your first stop for amazing artistic tshirts, they do have a unique and interesting range that is worth checking out, especially if you want to celebrate Desi-ness.

RRP: $25 (US)
BUY IT HERE

If you would like you're tshirt reviewed, drop me an email. You will get some great free exposure right here and get a link in our t-shirt stores section.

TEE TEST: Share Peace Initiative

I've got a bit of a soft spot for companies that combine fresh graphics with a social conscience, whether it be by promoting or donating to worthy causes. The Share Peace Initiative is a new company based in Sydney, who donate 10% of all their t-shirt sales to organisations supporting peace iniatives around the world, inlcluding Kiva, Oxfam and Peace Child to name but a few.

The first offering from The Share Peace Initiative got sent to me for a review, and it is entitled Electro Evolution (available in mens and womens sizes). Apparently it is targeted at electro fans due to the "tremendous popularity of electronic music and the vibrant and quirky fashion sense of its devotees," but it is currently hard to tell if future offerings will follow the same path.

That aside, the design of the shirt is quite striking, and indeed would definitely look in place on the dancefloor at 3am on a sunday morning. The print is large and eyecatching and the juxtaposition of the electronic and organic matter in the design makes for an interesting composition. The typeface could be better but it does the job. The only downside in my opinion is the colour of the print - it is very pink, and unfortunately that will probably turn a lot of guys (and maybe some girls) off. But if you're down with pink, electronic music and helping people out you can't go wrong with this t.

The shirt itself is a midweight 100% cotton shirt, nice and soft and seems to be quite well made. It fits well, slim, but not so slim that you have to be tall and skinny for it to look good - it's just right.

While this shirt won't do it for everyone, it definitely has niche appeal. I'm still not sure why a company promoting peace has ended up promoting dance music, but it will be interesting to see what direction this fledgling label takes. Share Peace will be releasing a new shirt monthly, and I can't wait to see what they come up with next.

RRP $30 (Australian)
BUY IT HERE

PS - if you have any shirts you would like reviewed drop me an email