Online T-Shirt Communities – Taking Our Wardrobe Back
https://shopgallerydept.com/ A fairly recent, and growing phenomenon, has been the online t-shirt community, like the photocopied zines that some of us were so fond of making, it bears the hallmark of the idea that if you have the idea, we can print it.
King of these communities – in the business sense at least, is the site Threadless, their model has gone from a one-man and his PC operation to a thriving, and successful business model of alternative t-shirts that has gained mainstream attention. And this company’s range of cutting-edge apparel is not decided in a board meeting, but online in users’ bedrooms, or home offices, and now on the bus or the train, with the rise of internet phones.
Newer t-shirt community models have emerged though, that put more decision power, and potentially more money in the user’s hands. The artist can choose which of their pieces get printed, as they are printed to order. Among the most well-known of these are Spread shirts, where artwork goes into a collective pool for people to use to populate their stores, the artist gets a fee per item sold that uses their work. Almost as famous is Cafepress, where the artist alone uses their work for their own store, the artwork can be used on not just t-shirts, but hats, hoodies, mugs, prints, cards, pet bowls, and even a brand of digital video camera!
Collision:
https://vloneclothing.net/new-drop/ Arguably the best of the bunch, but unfortunately less well-known (at least it was when I joined), is the merchandise community, Zazzle. More of a community than the rest, with forums, fan clubs, and the ability to add comments to each other’s stores, and individual items. More remarkable is Zazzle’s model of making the items for sale fully customizable. A design you see on a t-shirt, for example, could also be used on a mug for example. There are exceptions however, artwork created for shoes, would not be suited for skateboards, and designs meant for stamps (yes, they are real, and have to be approved by the US postal office) should stay on stamps.
Boys’ T-Shirts – A Smart Choice
When it comes to getting boys to dress for an occasion unless it’s particularly dressy and can be justified as ‘special’ many boys prefer to wear a t-shirt and jeans to a function. Birthday parties, BBQs, visits to relatives or school trips that don’t require school uniform are occasions when a t-shirt and jeans are perfectly acceptable. T-shirts are wonderful garments; their simple shape means they can be ironed and spruced up with a quick whisk over in no time at all.
T-shirts tend to be made of cotton or cotton mixes more often than not and can be plain or patterned, white or coloured, round-necked or V-necked, short or long-sleeved and therefore incredibly versatile. They can be worn on their own, under a sweat top or a hoody, with a waistcoat, layered, tucked in or left out over the top of a waistband and still look marvellous as long as they are clean and fresh, which is very easy to do.
In many stores, they have mannequins with T-shirts showing how to create a particular look and different ways of wearing the garment. Quite often T-shirts come in double or even triple packs in coordinating or contrasting colours to create a capsule wardrobe, with a well-fitting pair of jeans or shorts, for any boy. At the moment the trend is for slightly over-size, rather than close fitting, T-shirts with roomy sleeves that reach to the elbow.
