I hate generic nonsense. For the purposes of getting this site going I am making a few short lists of places I recommend for some cool gear.
I have no intention of making this the norm for the blog, what's innovative about a glorified favourites list?
Anyway, these sites are pretty damn cool and I will provide an example of the damn-coolness with each one. No particular order to the list, enjoy.
1. Bountee - www.bountee.com
There are 2 reasons this has to be on the list. Number one, they use a brilliant printing process for their designs called DTG. This means the ink is bled into the fabric, making it last for ages, look awesome and you can have as many colours as you like in the design. The quality of the t-shirts and the strict voting system for designs on the site adds to this. The second reason is because Rough Edge uses the website for its own t-shirts because it has so much faith in the technology. What more could you ask for?
2. Design By Humans - www.designbyhumans.com
This is another user driven site where competitions are run to have t-shirts made and sold. However, this site really seems to care about making their products truly special. Take the 3D lightning storm shirt for example,
They came up with a method to print the image perfectly so that when you wear 3D glasses (those things with the red and blue plastic bits), the whole design pops out. I bought this T-Shirt along with another, the "Is Nothing Sacred" T-shirt. I got a customs charge upon arrival, not their fault but regardless a pain in the ass - most sites try and do something sneaky so customers don't get an extra charge. The quality of the t-shirts is pretty good, but thinner than the Bountee shirts. However, these are so much cheaper that it works out a great deal anyway.
3. Imaginary Foundation - www.imaginaryfoundation.com/
These guys are really something else. Totally surreal, something out of Dali's wet dreams and plenty of colour and originality. This piece is one of many examples I could show, my only big issue is that shipping is $25 for the first order if you don't live in the USA. That is a real pain and I seriously doubt a site like this pays that sort of money per international order. If you are looking for exclusivity though, this site is great as a lot of the t-shirts are only made in small runs.
4. Unetee - www.unetee.com/
Unetee is, you guessed it, another user driven site. This whole community thing seems to catch on pretty damn well doesn't it? (Hint, keep watching Rough Edge to see how its really done!).
They have a nice selection of shirts, and the whole idea of making a new one every day should keep you watching their site. The photos are meant to show off the shirts, but mostly its a bunch of hippies prancing around trying to look ironic which can put me off at times. Good prices and a decent method of showing how many are in stock too. Check this shirt out below,
4.5. I was going to recommend www.teetonic.com because it is Scottish and everything, the designs aren't bad either. The only problem is they arent blowing me away, I know its Scotland so the market is tiny compared to all these American sites but its just not hitting the spot. So sorry teetonic! Thats enough of an ad for them so you can at least have a look for yourselves.
5. Resist Today - www.resisttoday.com
I am cheating again here, this site has some great t-shirts, but its their overall objective I love. I am all for seeing Topman burn to the ground and I think these guys would be up for it too. They promote independent artists yet the site has a very focused overall feel to it. The wallets and bags are great and will give me a run for my money once I have my accessory range in full swing. These guys need to bulk up the catalogue and try to add a bit more charisma to the site, but the products themselves are brilliant. Check out this design for a girls shirt below:
So thats my top 5 (or 5.5 if you include Teetonic). Some will notice I left out sites such as threadless, bustedtees etc. Although I am all for these sites, I feel that you would benefit more from finding some of these hidden gems rather than the same old sites so many people currently use. Stay tuned for a post showing an extensive list of t-shirt and other cool clothing retailers!
2. Design By Humans - www.designbyhumans.comThis is another user driven site where competitions are run to have t-shirts made and sold. However, this site really seems to care about making their products truly special. Take the 3D lightning storm shirt for example,
They came up with a method to print the image perfectly so that when you wear 3D glasses (those things with the red and blue plastic bits), the whole design pops out. I bought this T-Shirt along with another, the "Is Nothing Sacred" T-shirt. I got a customs charge upon arrival, not their fault but regardless a pain in the ass - most sites try and do something sneaky so customers don't get an extra charge. The quality of the t-shirts is pretty good, but thinner than the Bountee shirts. However, these are so much cheaper that it works out a great deal anyway.
3. Imaginary Foundation - www.imaginaryfoundation.com/
These guys are really something else. Totally surreal, something out of Dali's wet dreams and plenty of colour and originality. This piece is one of many examples I could show, my only big issue is that shipping is $25 for the first order if you don't live in the USA. That is a real pain and I seriously doubt a site like this pays that sort of money per international order. If you are looking for exclusivity though, this site is great as a lot of the t-shirts are only made in small runs.
4. Unetee - www.unetee.com/
Unetee is, you guessed it, another user driven site. This whole community thing seems to catch on pretty damn well doesn't it? (Hint, keep watching Rough Edge to see how its really done!).
They have a nice selection of shirts, and the whole idea of making a new one every day should keep you watching their site. The photos are meant to show off the shirts, but mostly its a bunch of hippies prancing around trying to look ironic which can put me off at times. Good prices and a decent method of showing how many are in stock too. Check this shirt out below,
4.5. I was going to recommend www.teetonic.com because it is Scottish and everything, the designs aren't bad either. The only problem is they arent blowing me away, I know its Scotland so the market is tiny compared to all these American sites but its just not hitting the spot. So sorry teetonic! Thats enough of an ad for them so you can at least have a look for yourselves.
5. Resist Today - www.resisttoday.com
I am cheating again here, this site has some great t-shirts, but its their overall objective I love. I am all for seeing Topman burn to the ground and I think these guys would be up for it too. They promote independent artists yet the site has a very focused overall feel to it. The wallets and bags are great and will give me a run for my money once I have my accessory range in full swing. These guys need to bulk up the catalogue and try to add a bit more charisma to the site, but the products themselves are brilliant. Check out this design for a girls shirt below:
So thats my top 5 (or 5.5 if you include Teetonic). Some will notice I left out sites such as threadless, bustedtees etc. Although I am all for these sites, I feel that you would benefit more from finding some of these hidden gems rather than the same old sites so many people currently use. Stay tuned for a post showing an extensive list of t-shirt and other cool clothing retailers!