Preshrunk

I'm not sure who hepped us to Cryin Tiger, but I'd like to thank them for sending along a link to one of the sweetest little t-shirt companies we've come across in a while.

What's with all the gushing? Well, it could be the fact that most of Cryin Tiger's line reminds me of the shirts that I see young asian tourists sporting while they wander around Los Angeles. And those are exactly the type of tees that I dig - mildly goofy and a bit offbeat. It also doesn't hurt that they manage to do a really good job without going too overboard.

Take their Angry Tornado shirt for example. It's a wonderfully basic design that has an enormous tornado ripping thru an otherwise desolate town. Instead of a four color cacophony of buildings, people and other bullshit, CT gets in and out with one color. Which is honestly all they should need for something like that.

I don't know about you, but I really appreciate the folks that keep it simple... *shrug*

$24.00 | Credit | URL

• Threadless Submission Of The Week: We're hoping that Elliot's New Friend will make up for the fact that we totally spaced on doing a TSOTW last week. Sorry about that.
• Attention Designers: Engadget's giving away a sweet, unlocked Sony Ericsson W800 Walkman phone to the person who designs a t-shirt for them. We're just letting y'all know in the hopes that someone will make one that actually looks sexy. *shrug*

This time around it's not really the shirt that's the draw, it's the company. Sure there are more places that offer customization than I care to count, but Oneoff Clothing has really set themselves apart by offering a dizzying number of possible graphic, silkscreen color and shirt color combinations. All of those options makes my mind reel, seriously.

They're also one of the only custom houses that I've seen who offer blank American Apparel gear at a few dollars above wholesale cost. I'd much rather pay $24.00 for a blank track jacket than shell out $50.00 for the exact same one directly from the manufacturer, wouldn't you?

What's more, if you don't dig any of their designs, it seems as if Oneoff would be more than happy to do custom runs for you. Since they're not charging any setup fees and $12.00 a color, a single screen tee with your artwork will run you about $20.00. And I'm sure you could haggle them down on the rate if you want to do a bigger run.

Take that CafePress!

$17.00 | PayPal | URL

Before anyone says anything I swear that I'm not trying to do an aquatic theme week... Honest injun'.

But when my girlfriend said that this design from B1 Originals is "so adorable that it hurts," I put aside the shirt I was going to run in favor of this one. But don't think I'm running it because she lets me touch her boobs. No sir, I actually think she's on to something. So while it may be a bit too cutesy for some of y'all the art - which sort of smacks of nicely done graffiti - is just too damn nice for me to ignore.

Of course, if the whale's not your thing, they've got plenty of other designs that are still worth checking out. And as your attorney, we totally advise you to do just that...

$16.00 | PayPal | URL

Preshrunk reader Matt Forsythe just sent a wonderful question our way, which we felt compelled to run...

Does anyone have any tips for getting rid of the awful 'logo-on-the-shoulder' that so many dickheads feel it necessary to print?

Also: a note to T-shirt designers, it's bad form to advertise your company on a shirt someone's just paid $20 for. It's becoming more rampant in the age of the internet, because buyers can't check the whole shirt out before purchase.

Someone said using nail-polish remover would cut through the unwanted silkscreen, but I'm not gonna try that on my new T-shirt.

Yeah, we hate that shit too... What's more, we've often wondered if there were any good fixes. So if anyone out there has an idea or a for sure method, do chime in on in the forum.

Fuck. Jay over at White Frog sure as hell knows how to tug at my heart strings. His newest tee is a grand example of everything I'm a sucker for at the moment...

Squids? Check.
Pirates? Check.
Awesome artwork? Check.

Man, it's shirts like these that make me exceedingly glad that we're in this little renaissance period. That the people who can't sit by and be complacent with the options that are out there and are doing their own thing. Seriously, everything that all of these tiny indie shops have been turning out really gives me hope for the future.

$14.00 | Credit | URL

• Threadless Submission Of The Week: This week, we're head over heels in love with Digilouge. Maybe it's too soon to get an "I [heart] Digilouge" tattoo, but let's just say that one is being considered...
• American Apparel Watch: In These Times' Ari Paul regales us with a tale of how his participation in United Students Against Sweatshops may have cost him a job at AA's Wicker Park store.
• Paul Frank Is Your Friend: And sometimes it takes a friend to tell you when you're being a dumbass.

Oh. Hell. Yes.

We begged you guys to stuff the ballot box for this one over at Threadless. And lucky us... it's been printed! You have no idea how full of glee we are over this.

So let's just say that we're so happy that we could shit.

Actually, we just did. Hrm. That's not good. Come to think of it, we could use some fiber...

$15.00 | Credit | URL

Laugh if you want, but most of the disagreements between Preshrunk staffers are normally settled by a brisk "best 3 out of 5" Rock Paper Scissors match. No, really. We live and die by Roshambo.

Since we spend most of our time communicating via AIM it can be a bit hard to do, but we manage. Please don't ask how. We assume some of you would be entertained by our explanation while others might be downright disturbed. Besides, can't some things just be left to the imagination?

Anyhow, this tee from Mr. Chips really warms our cockles. And while a lot of their other stuff is sort of disposable and mere minutes away from being found in an Urban Outfitters, it's still worth mentioning for our ironic tee loving hipster friends. So hey, if that's your thing then please go and enjoy it...

$18.99 | Credit | URL

This nameless, faceless bureaucrat tee from Red Labor deserves more of a post than I'm going to give it. But I just spent the past two days frantically fixing my precious iBook and I'm too burnt out to be clever. Still, anyone with an Agent Smith fetish should find this one mildly appealing.

Sorry about phoning this one in. Hopefully I'll be back up to par tomorrow...

$14.00 | PayPal | URL