I don’t remember the last time Threadless had a weekly release this strong. I like practically every piece in Monday’s newest tees, and that’s saying something.
It’s been a while since Threadless came out with any belt printed tees, so I was surprised to see the quirky “Tipi Man“ in the lineup. It’s not something I would ever wear, but I can definitely appreciate the amount of attention put into its creation. The color scheme — dark and light green on lilac — is unusual, but works. The background design is chock-full of detail, yet subtle enough to not overpower the simple central illustration. The pattern also extends to the back of the shirt, for those of you who complain about that common all-over print problem over at DBH.
“X-MENAGERIE” is a great follow-up to the Comic Con hype. The illustration is full of color, power, and excitement, especially near the top where the fire glow reflects off all the characters. The crisp linework and watercolor textures are just gorgeous, and furthermore they printed exceptionally well. This design is also available on an American Apparel Flex Fleece hoodie, which excites me — I own a blank Flex Fleece hoodie and it’s pretty much the most comfortable sweatshirt, ever.
“Swan Song” by Ross Zietz is a very simple, straightforward design. I actually find it to be a bit too simplistic for my liking — it doesn’t fill the shirt all that well thanks to its slender composition — but that isn’t to say it doesn’t work. Plus, as depicted above, it’s the first Threadless design to be offered on a new type of wide-neck American Apparel tee for girls.
“Color Theorists” is cute and clever. It combines adorable animal cartoons with a little artist in-joke. I love the slightly abstract/vintage style and the creative use of spot color. The artist actually cites Shutterstock as inspiration for his design, where he spotted the “search by color” icon. Not quite sure how that led into animals with cameras, monocles, and pipes, but I know from experience how winding the creative process is!
“When Mermaids Cry” is the second shirt of the week to have a traditional media look. The concept, composition and color are all lovely, but I find that the way the mermaids’ faces are drawn is not quite up to snuff, particularly that of the mermaid on the bottom. Artistic nitpicking aside, this is a beautiful idea and is sure to be a hit with Threadless’ female patrons.
Your eyes are immediately drawn to the bright lime tee used in “Fragmented Beauty”, another surprisingly artistic tee from this week’s offerings. I’m not quite sure what is happening in this design, but I can’t say I particularly care; the surreal, abstract style is just incredible, especially with the way it’s printed huge on the shirt. On the downside, the print seems to be cut off on the girls sizes, which doesn’t do any favors for the design.
The special comic tees are still available at the package price of $70, though it’s clear that it’s running low on stock in almost all sizes. I didn’t have the time to do so last week when it first launched, so I just want to take the time to acknowledge the genius of “Every Night I Have the Same Dream, Issue 2, Vol 1″ (whew, what a mouthful!). Out of all the shirts in this series, this shirt makes the biggest nod to comics and comic art. From the high-contrast artwork to the dramatic angle, to the speech bubbles, to the panels on the back of the shirt, this design is just a tremendous tribute to a classic cultural mainstay. Its loud presentation definitely isn’t for everyone, but there’s no doubt that this is just a superbly designed tee.
Buy Them: $18-20 at Threadless.com
