T-shirt Review Blog

Captcha T-shirt from Rizzo Tees

Brad — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:30:46 +0000

I hate captchas. Half the time you can’t read what they say; then the other half of the time you’re trying to figure out if what you’re typing is really a word. I understand the point, proving you’re a human and not a bot, but come on. With all the smart people out there working on software, on security, this is the best we can come up with? Seriously guys, this is the best way to tell a person from 472 lines of code? I’m not saying I have the answer, but I do miss the time when things like captchas weren’t necessary.

Anyways, the above rant should serve to illustrate how funny I found this shirt from Rizzo Tees. “WTF does that say?” echoes the thought process exactly! Ever notice how captchas have gotten harder and harder over the past few years? I understand they need to make captchas harder to outsmart the latest um, captcha-reading software, but dammit, they’re starting to outsmart me. This just reinforces that we are (or at least I certainly am) dumber than a computer, and that the machine/robot apocalypse is coming to assure the destruction of humankind as we know it. Or something like that, anyways.

I honestly don’t know what that says on the shirt. Windolph Gossh? Windolph, Gossln? Stupid Human? Eh, I don’t know. the “Gotcha, this is not legible” bit in the corner is brilliant too, it looks so natural I’m willing to bet some people will miss it when they see you wearing this shirt. You know, probably the same people that can’t solve captchas.

While there’s not an image of a person wearing it posted on the site yet (maybe uploading photos to Rizzo Tees requires a captcha?), Chris from Rizzo Tees tells me it’s 10″ wide and chest-centered. Perfect! This shirt is awesome and has universal appeal, since we all have to deal with this crap online everyday.

Zip over to Rizzo Tees and grab Captcha for $14. You can’t go wrong at that price.

See the rest of the Rizzo Tees collection, complete with a chick not wearing pants and a shirt making fun of Detroit

Brand Profile: Chop Shop

Brad — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:22:46 +0000

The Chop Shop is a relatively new find for me, and it hasn’t been featured here on T-Shirt Review Blog before. Chop Shop is actually a spinoff of The Chopping Block, a graphic design studio from New York. I have a hard time categorizing their tees, but there are consistent design elements that grab my eye.

Right off the bat, I notice the incredible attention to detail. Many designs include dozens and dozens of small silhouettes of pop culture elements. Shirts featuring 28 classic rock stars, 55 film and TV vehicles, and 50 film and TV aliens invite you to play “how many can you recognize?” over and over. The ones you can’t get will drive you mad. It’s a really clever idea, and it’d be interesting to see what they come up with next to explore this style of design.

There are also strong overtures to robots throughout the site. The collection is quite impressive really, and anyone into sci-fi would find several shirts that suit them. There’s a small handful of shirts that seem a bit out of place topically, and that makes it difficult at times to determine where the site is going as far as voice and theme are concerned. The science fiction tees on almost every page serve as a redirect though to enforce the idea that this is the Chop Shop’s strong suit.

That said, it’s worth mentioning that the site makes extensive use of Flash to tasteful ends. There are numerous easter eggs scattered around that are lost on the casual observer, but are gems to those willing to explore with their mouse. I usually am not a fan of Flash sites, but the Chop Shop experience pleasantly urges me to reconsider.

I recommend checking out what Chop Shop has to offer and seeing if there isn’t something there to tickle your fancy, especially if you’re into science fiction or robots. I think this could be the go-to place in the future for robot t-shirts if they choose to pursue that. The aforementioned “how many can you name?” t-shirts can’t be forgotten either. Those are particularly clever, and I’d like to see where they go with those tees.

Check out some of the awesome tees at the Chop Shop. Seriously. Do it now.

Ballon Boy T-shirts Already

Brad — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:39:45 +0000

You may have heard that authorities in Colorado spent the better part of the day tracking down a 6 year old boy they thought floated away in a homemade hot air balloon that looked like a flying saucer. I can’t make this stuff up, folks. After rescue teams tethered the balloon to the ground and pitchforked it like a…uh, like a thing you stab with a pitchfork, they opened the hatch to find (gasp!) no boy inside.

Eventually they locate the boy in the house at home, safe and sound. At least there’s a happy ending. People wasted no time drafting up t-shirts, so I just thought I’d point them out. Found via Mashable.

Read the Mashable article on Balloon Boy tees and stuff
Make yourself cooler than everyone by being first on the meme bandwagon for once

USB Port T-Shirt on Conan

Brad — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:16:19 +0000

Conan O’Brien recently talked with the co-creator of the USB port on The Tonight Show. It’s a hilarious interview and Ajay Bhatt is a great sport through the whole thing. There’s a t-shirt in the final minute of the video that had me cracking up. I wonder how long until we see this one online?

The Odds of Owning T-Shirts

Brad — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:35:18 +0000

As a reader here there is little doubt that you own at the very least, a single t-shirt. It sort of goes without saying, really…as common as our classic tee has become. How many people out there don’t own a t-shirt though? I mean not even one; not even a plain white tee? There’s an answer for that (and thousands of other probability questions) at Book of Odds.

Book of Odds is a really interesting read and is probably an insurance estimator’s dream. As I starting fumbling around the site, I of course thought I’d see what came up for “t-shirt.” Hmmm…nothing. This isn’t very promising. A search for “shirt” yields what I’m looking for though! Have a peek:

See the little icon at the right of each odds statement, that looks like a little list? It turns out that you can hover over that and have any odds statement printed on a t-shirt through Zazzle. Pretty sweet! The tees have the Book of Odds logo on the left breast and your odds statement of choice on the back. If you’re a trivia nut (I know I am) you’ll probably find some pretty interesting nuggets on this site.

Check out the Book of Odds search results for “shirt”
Have a peek at the rest of Book of Odds

Brand Profile: Busted Tees

Brad — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:00:46 +0000

People love to Google for “funny t-shirts” it seems. When asked personally for a suggestion on where to find said “funny t-shirts” Busted Tees is usually one of the first places I cite. Busted Tees isn’t going to win any cerebral design awards, but then again, that’s not what they’re aiming for. Busted Tees makes funny shirts, period.

The designs are usually fairly simple, and the ideas behind them range from puns to pop culture references. The artwork is almost always under 4 colors, and does not center on a specific theme. New shirts are added every week. Busted Tees is one of the few t-shirt shops to promise that and continually deliver.

Busted Tees has weekly sales, which are awesome. Every week, 12 different tees are on sale for $12 each. New shirts are 15% off in their first week as well. Other tees are regularly seen on sale for as low as 8 bucks. That’s less than half of what most shirts run these days.

Detail pages for shirts have a sweet inventory graph showing you how much is in stock of each size, so you know how much time you have to procrastinate before biting the bullet on a tee that you find. The site is laid out and categorized well, which is always a plus and the importance of which cannot be underestimated.

As if you didn’t have enough reasons to check out Busted Tees already, they also sell hoodies, kids apparel, posters and other stuff. They’ve even got a sub-brand, Defunker, which is slightly less funny and more cerebral.

Busted Tees is certainly worth your perusal if you like funny t-shirts. Whether it’s something to wear to the bar, something as a gift for a friend or just expanding your collection with something you found hilarious, Busted Tees should be able to help.

Check out Busted Tees for funny t-shirts

AV by Olly Moss at Threadless

Brad — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:46:00 +0000

The other day I wrote about the classics sale at Threadless and this is one of my favorites that’s featured this week. Artistic? not really. Clever? most definitely. It’s a nice change of pace really with most of the print on the back too. Though I’m a huge AV and home theater nut, I know someone much better suited for this shirt than me, and I plan to pick it up as a Christmas gift before the sale expires at the end of the week.

AV is normally 18 bucks but you can snag it up for $12 before Friday as part of the classics sale at Threadless.

Check out AV ($12) at Threadless (hurry, sale ends 10/9)

T-Shirt Link Tuesday 10/06/09

Brad — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:34:14 +0000

It’s been forever since there’s been a t-shirt link tuesday! Let’s fix that right now. T-Shirt Link Tuesday is all about giving recognition to the other great t-shirt blogs out there and the awesome things that they come across. Check these guys out!

The Big Fifth Eye (Troundup.com)

Colin over at Troundup wrote about this eye-catching (oh man! cheesy pun of the day!) t-shirt from the folks at Resist Today. There’s so much weird in this shirt, you can’t look away. It’s like a train wreck….but a good train wreck. I can’t say that I know what it means or what it’s supposed to say, but that’s alright. The detail is great and the shirt is unique!

Check out Colin’s original post
Have a look at The Big Fifth Eye ($24) at Resist Today

Gorilla Cop (Hide Your Arms)

Andy at Hide Your Arms posted this interesting tee from 57Thirtythree the other day. The one color design reminds me a little bit of Toxic from Van Rockn. The placement is unique and it reminds me of Planet of the Apes. Charlton Heston FTW!

Check out Andy’s original post
Snag Gorilla Cop ($32) from 57Thirtythree

Protect The Skin You’re In (Fat Seagull)

What can I say about this…naked women on t-shirts. It’s done fairly tastefully. Well, tastefully in a not cartoon-barbie redneck-trash sort of way, anyways. Prominent celebrities and fashion icons adorn this line of tees, and all proceeds go towards cancer research. The shirt seems to only be available offline from Marc Jacobs stores for $35.

See the original post for more details

The Struggle (Coty Gonzales)

How cool is this tee?! I really like the powerful message of perseverance. It’s a very iconic design I think. It’s almost like our hero needs to reach the other side of the wall at any cost and without regard for what may await him.

Check out Coty’s original post
Check out The Struggle ($22) at Miles to Go

Threadless Classics Sale

Brad — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:53:54 +0000

What a great Monday this is! (I honestly never thought I’d say something like that)

Threadless has a ton of their best tees on sale for (get this) 12 bucks! That’s right, they’ve got 30 t-shirts for just 12 bones each. If you’re at all familiar with Threadless, you know that the quality of their shirts is second to none.

All of these shirts have been a huge hit for Threadless, so if you were on the fence about picking one of these up, now is the time. At $12 it’s hard to go wrong, it’s a steal. If you’re new to Threadless, this is your chance to dip your toes in the pool. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

The sale only lasts until this Friday (October 9) at 10 AM Central though, so you’ve gotta be fast. Like, Quick Draw McGraw fast!

Head over to Threadless and check out their Classics Sale

Thread Notes Episode 1 – Bytelove

Brad — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:35:35 +0000

In this episode of Thread Notes I review a couple shirts that Bytelove sent all the way from Europe! Bytelove is packed to the gills with geeky t-shirts, so I tried to hit both ends of the spectrum here: sorta geeky and super geeky! One tee, everyone will get and the other almost nobody will. You can find this video here and on blip.tv. Excuse the video quality issues…I’m still working out all the kinks.

Any comments or feedback are appreciated, I’m sure the format of the show is bound to evolve over time. If you’d like your t-shirt featured in a future episode of Thread Notes, check out my submit a t-shirt page.

In This Episode

Resembles Pacman – Bytelove.com (t-shirt details – photos) – Price: 22 Euros

This tee combines one of the least boring things I can think of (Pacman) and one of the most boring things I can think of (pie charts. mmmm pie…wait, where were we?) It’s also one of the softest and most comfortable t-shirts I’ve tried on in a while. Turkish cotton…I swear!

Create Web Concept – Bytelove.com (t-shirt details – photos) – Price: 22 Euros

I think my inner web-developer smiles every time I see this shirt. I’ve seriously never seen so many buzzwords packed onto one shirt. It’s like Mad Libs, Web 2.0 edition! At least 6,591 new internet startups could result from this tee. 59,049 if you use two tech hype (is that like a triple word score?) like the examples on the shirt. It’s that powerful, check it out!

Edit: Bytelove’s US-based store is open, you can check it out at http://www.bytelove.us.