Steve at Anyfolk.com sent me this awesome tee a while back, and has been super patient with me getting the review out. Anyfolk’s got a real clever approach to self expression that I’ve just got to share with you. Any t-shirt tells you a little something about the person wearing it, but Anyfolk definitely takes this to the next level.

Every shirt at Anyfolk follows the same basic framework, which is best illustrated with this image from their site.

You pick something that interests you, or something that describes who you are or what’s important to you, and you’ll get a tee that fits you perfectly (pun intended). The “O” in Folk is always a picture describing the variable word on the shirt. Though all the shirts are pre-designed, it really felt like a semi-custom experience picking out a tee.

I picked Irish Folk for a few reasons. First, Anyfolk’s website compells you to pick out something that really describes who you are, and I had a lot of fun trying to figure out what best described who I was was. It was an exercise in introspection to decide between Irish Folk and Guitar Folk. St. Patrick’s Day was on the way, and I really wanted a unique shirt, so that sort of pushed me over the edge. On top of that, the clover was really close to an “O” shape, which would make sure people understood the tee.

A small anyfolk.com logo is neatly and quietly centered on the back. While I’m not usually a fan of that sort of thing, I think the anyfolk idea is so cool I want to make sure people know where I got the tee. Hopefully someone will see it and discover they can pick out anything they’d like.

They don’t do custom phrases, but I can understand why. The logistics of managing user-uploaded images and whatnot could really cut into the quality, which I should mention is top-notch. If you don’t see something you like, I’m sure you could email them with your suggestions. They’re adding new tees all the time and you’re bound to find something you like.

Thanks again to Steve at Anyfolk for the shirt!

You can pick out your own Anyfolk shirt for $18 at Anyfolk.com.

It’s hard to pull off a collage. Alright, maybe it’s not hard for you, but I couldn’t do it. Blending several elements into a cohesive design can be difficult enough as it is. Try pulling those elements from seemingly unrelated sources now, and throw in a splash of color.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve got no idea what the designer was trying to convey with this shirt. Maybe though, that’s the point. The shirt is called “Imagine” after all. Maybe we’re each supposed to take away what we want to see in it. The part of me that’s a slave to logic tries to weave a thread through all the images, but I always come up empty handed, and maybe that’s a good thing.

Imagine is $19 from Design By Humans.

EDIT: I actually wrote this post last week, but I saw the other day that Imagine won shirt of the week and was featured just the other day. Check it out while it’s still around.

 I thought this shirt was pretty unique. Like anything at Beautiful Decay, it’s more like a work of art than a t-shirt, and the design would look as much at home on the wall as on your chest. I’m not a big fan of large colored areas like the brown hair in this design usually, just because it’s sometimes a heavier feeling shirt. I can’t attest to their printing methods, but keep that in mind if you’re considering this tee. There’s a bunch of interesting shirts in the same vein as this one, check ‘em out.

Snow White is available for $29.95 from Beautiful Decay.

Neighborhoodies has a really unique idea for semi-custom shirts. They call them concept tees, which is pretty fitting actually (no pun intended). There’s essentially a series of dropdown menus, where you can choose from dozens of styles, animals, and colors. You can also choose something for your animal to say, but again, it’s all pre-defined in a dropdown menu.

It’s possible to come up with some pretty absurd combinations (like a chicken saying “moo”) even though it’s possible to choose the “correct” combination (like a cow saying “moo”). That aspect reminds me a little bit of mad libs. You all DO remember mad libs, right?

There are literally millions of combinations, and it’s actually fairly difficult to describe. You’d be best off to check it out. I think this is pretty neat because you still get a unique shirt without having to doctor something up yourself through CafePress or CustomInk or something.

Animal Farm shirts are $24.99 at Neighborhoodies.