Preshrunk

It looks like the folks at Found Item Clothing aren't the only people in the t-shirt recreation business. Rad Racing may only do one tee, but it's probably one of the best ones that I've ever laid eyes on. If you couldn't figure it out by now, it's Cru's tee from 1986's BMX classic "Rad". For some, the term "classic" is a bit of a dubious one. But it's the only movie to ever feature bike dancing, which has to count for something.

So break out your Haro, load Real Life's "Send Me An Angel" onto your mp3 player and rock Cru's shirt. Maybe you'll luck out and find yourself a Lori Loughlin look alike before she goes and gets her meathooks into an Uncle Jessie. One can only hope...

$15.95 | PayPal | URL

I know I'm going to sound like a broken record, but I don't like a lot of hacker tees for the exact same reason that I don't like a lot of Lovecraft insipred tees. Namely, most of it looks like it was done by a mildly retarded 4 year old with a copy of MS Paint.

But my inner h4x0r is chuckling and taking a sip of Rockstar after peeping this hoodie from Little Gamers. It may be because I have a soft spot for zipper hoodies, but it's more likely that it's because it's just really well done.

$39.95 | PayPal | URL

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."

In all the time I've spent surfing around the internet, I've never been able to find a Lovecraft inspired tee which I could say that I honestly like. Some tend to look either second rate or a bit amateur while others have great designs that suffer from poor implementation.

Then along comes Mike Napoli, who was nice enough to send us a link to Kthulhu Kitsch. While every other design of theirs sums up everything that I don't like about H.P. Lovecraft shirts, Arkham Aquarium does a nice job of shutting me the fuck up. Technically, it isn't even really a Lovecraft related shirt. I mean, it's not so much a Cthulhu tee as it is a squid tee, really. But since we already ran a squid related shirt this month, it'd be great if you could grant us a bit of a liberal license. I mean, it's a really nice shirt that I don't want to wait til March to post. Even if March is roughly two days away...

$15.95 | PayPal | URL

Even though I'm a hoplessly goofy cracker, I still love the hell out of hip hop. There's just something about it that moves me in a way that other types of music never could. The swagger and bravado of Jay-Z... The gritty reality of NWA... The politics of Public Enemy... The tragedy of Tupac and Biggie...

I may have grown up on punk rock, and I may lift my spirits with techno, but hip hop is my gospel. Even if I do come from a middle class suburban household, I still hear the message. Everyone, except for maybe the ultra rich, wants to rise above where they're at. It's Manifest Destiny. The roots of hip hop are instilled with that vibe. Even if the current wave of artists are less concerned about the message and more concerned about record sales, its spirit is out there. Let's just hope someone remebers what to do with it when it's rediscovered.

Global Roots was made by the fine folks over at 0rigin in conjunction with Jeff Chang to help promote his book "Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation". It's a quality shirt, and the book looks like a quality read. I'll have to burn some of the credits I've earned at Amazon and pick it up.

P.S. Props to numlok for the heads up.

$25.00 | PayPal | URL

Sorry about all the quiet, but I spent most of my free time yesterday redesigning the site. It's something I'd been meaning to do since WordPress version 1.5 went and made Kubrick the default template.

I decided to keep things nice and simple by using a 3 column layout. Most of the really vital stuff now sits happily above the fold, which is where it should have been in the first place. I also got tired of the ads cluttering up the navigation, so I moved them into their own little space on the far right. They are a bit more prominent now, but they do a good job of covering our hosting costs.

Anyhow, kick the tires and let us know if you find anything that's broken. Cheers!

+ Speaking of R2-D2, Benn Neufeld was nice enough to tip us off to Diesel Sweeties new tee, Personal Robot Jesus. It's chock full of pixely Star Wars goodness, so what's not to love?

+ Jon Dossey dropped us a line to let us know that the folks at ThreadPit are selling a Paris Hilton shirt too. It may not be as great as the Glarkware one, but it's still worth a mention.

Gordon McLean is a good chap. You see, he was nice enough to send along a link to UrbanMedium. Actually, I've had them bookmarked since BoingBoing posted a link to their [now sold out] Chetrooper design.

This tee features a delightfully cheeky b-boy take on R2-D2. He's rollin' hard with a can of spray paint and a ginormous jam box that's surely got LL Cool J in the deck. R2 don't front and he's prepared to show the Empire that he means business. So, uh, w0rd.

Christ. I'm such a stupid white boy sometimes...

$20.00 | PayPal | URL

If you weren't already aware, rock landmark CBGB may be forced to close due to a rent increase when their lease is up in August. Open since 1973, CBGB has played host to the likes of The Ramones, The Velvet Underground, Blondie, The Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, The Dead Boys, Social Distorion and The Damned. I could go on and on with all the influential bands that have passed thru their doors, but my carpal tunnel is begging me to keep it brief.

Since it seems to be topical t-shirt week here on Preshrunk, reader Chris McKenna pointed us at this classic CBGB's tee. For all y'all in the crowd who want to exude a little Bowery pride, this is the perfect little number. What's more, since we're pointing directly at CBGB's store, they're getting the maximum ammount of profit per sale. And with their rent allegedly creeping to $40,000 after Augugst, they're going to need all the money they can get...

$20.99 | Credit | URL

+ It would seem that the CafePress version of the Creative Commies shirt showed up in Maxim. Sure, it was in a roundabout sort of way, but still. [via]

+ Our pals at Found Item Clothing have added three awesome reproductions to their lineup. 72 Degrees and Praise the Pill from cult classic "Brain Candy" and Murdock's Napoleon tee from the first episode of "The A-Team". All three shirts are great examples of Found Item's wonderful eye for detail.

The old school gamer inside me is in love with this tee from Mintmango. I can only assume it's inspired by the outstanding Space Invaders public art project. Especially since the design has more of a mosiac feel than the classic pixely goodness.

10 Points.

£20.00 | PayPal | URL