Retro Rocky Tees from Local Celebrity

I am not a huge fan of Local Celebrity but they do have some very wearable tees. Perhaps I am just pissed off that shipping to Japan is so exorbitant so I won’t consider buying them. Anyway, today I noticed that they have released some pretty sweet Rocky t-shirts. They are officially licensed and very cool. Check them out below.

I admit that I am a fan of the Rocky series. When I was small myself and my brother went to see a couple of the movies in the theater and when we came out we were Rocky, running around punching the air and jumping up on park benches. I watched them again a couple of years back and realized that apart from the first one they are pretty bad movies but enjoyable nonetheless. The new Rocky movie that came  out wasn’t all that bad either.

Review: Bytelove

10% Off at Bytelove until September 27th with code: ruderetro_com

Bytelove is a t-shirt store from the guys who brought you The Pirate Bay, * a website that has been in the news a lot recently due to their file sharing activities. There has been talk of defiance, jail time and multi-million dollar deals, the stuff of Hollywood, so you would really expect their t-shirt store to be more out there. Even if the shirts were simple, the design of the website or the language used should be entertaining but it is not. I guess it may be hard to translate humor across five languages though. Yep, Bytelove is a multilingual site.

The site as well as the t-shirts they peddle are pretty low key. They are clearly not talented illustrators but they do know how to design a wearable t-shirt. The shirts found here are pretty generic and similar tees can be found all over the internet. I even sell a few similar to them myself. Not that I am putting them down. I mean gamers and geeks dig understated as much as the next guy, and I am sure the majority of them don’t want to wear t-shirts that are clearly over the top.

The guys at Bytlelove sent over this pretty cool and yes, understated, space invader t-shirt. I love this type of shirt. It has a simple design and one color. It may be a gamer t-shirt, it may be a retro t-shirt, it may be just something you picked up. It avoids labeling. A lot of t-shirt t-shirts at Bytelove have no real design, just some text but if that’s your thing head on over. There is a huge selection or gamer and geek t-shirts to choose from. There are a few funny illustrated tee too though and below you can check out my two favorites.

The shirts seem to cost around the €19 – €22 mark and at the moment they ship from Germany but they we will start shipping from within the US soon to be able to offer faster delivery, cheaper prizes and better service for their US-customers.

* Correction: “we are a partner of the pirate bay, meaning we are selling shirts and hoodies with their logo and pay them a part of the profit to support them, but we do not belong to them in any way.”

Retro Japanese Batman T-Shirt

I just love this t-shirt that I came across this morning. Sweet n’ Sour Tees is one of the ugliest online t-shirt stores I have seen but they have an awesome collection of retro pop culture tees. For the curious the Japanese text in this t-shirt simply says ‘Batman’.

Giant Mistake

I came across this t-shirt at Local Celebrity the other day. It is a Voltron Defender of the Universe t-shirt. Never heard of Voltron? Me neither but apparently it is an old anime that was even dubbed into English at one point. According to Wikipedia it wasn’t a straight dub as they removed many violent scenes to make it more palatable for the American audience. Seeing as I live in Japan one might expect that I might know quite a bit about manga and anime but I admit that I have little interest in that area. On the other hand I do read a bit of Japanese and that is why I am making this post. No, not to brag about my Japanese ability, it is not that good, but rather to tell you that Local Celebrity are misinforming you about what is written on this t-shirt.

Local Celebrity perhaps made a guess as to what was written on the tee but they were way off. Of course “Defender of the Universe” is much cooler than “Giant Robot” which is what it actually says but I think they should shoot for accuracy.

Apart from that mistake though it is a pretty sweet retro t-shirt and if you join the Local Celebrity A-List, which is free, you can get your hands on it for just $24.

T-Shirts – Batteries Not Included

I have posted about various t-shirts that require batteries (here, here and here) and I have just come across a shop selling tees with a graphic equalizer like function. The designs on these tees react to the sounds around them making the wearer appear to be a total douche bag. They are a bit of fun though. Most of them are spoofs and/or probable copyright infringements but what do I know. Maybe they are legally licensed. Below is a selection from the store. They are all $45 and available from Jetsobox which appears to be based in Asia. you can also check out videos of the various tees reacting to the music.

So when you are going clubbing in one of these babies don’t forget your batteries. Your dignity on the other hand you will leave at home.

Mr. Rude Retro T-Shirt

This t-shirt came up in a search for Rude Retro t-shirt and I was a bit surprised to find that it wasn’t connected to me. Of course this Mr. Rude t-shirt is retro, rather than it being a Rude Retro t-shrit. I do like this shirt though so I thought I would share it. Unfortnately it is sold out. You can find out more about it at Burton.

Back on the Campaign Trail

In a previous post we reviewed some shirts from Retro Campaigns. It was a glowing review simply because the products were flawless. (See previous review.) Retro Campaigns have a special niche and that is politicians and politics of yesteryear. They have recently added about seven new designs to their collection so if you want to be political without being… err… political that is the place to get your shirts. The designs are simple with few and muted colors that just give the impression that the tees were taken from a chest in your parents attic. Except, of course, they are in mint condition with no mothball smells. Quite the opposite in fact. You’ll understand that comment when you get the shirt (or you could check my previous post).

Below are two new shirts featuring the Kennedy brothers. I especially like the JFK shirt as I can really imagine people wearing a shirt like that 40 or 50 years ago. There were no JFK is my homeboy t-shirts back then. (*Light bulb goes on, opens up Photoshop*)

The next two though are my favorite of the new t-shirts. I especially like the first t-shirt. It is a one color design but the detail is great and the message is pretty cool too. I almost thought the draft was going to come back to the US too. The next is a very cool campaign shirt for Lyndon B. Johnson.

If you are looking for an American retro political t-shirt there is no reason to look at any other site. The shirts are designed and printed in the US by US designers and printed on American Apparel. When you are going to buy your cool retro political t-shirts at Retro Campaigns be sure to stick around a little to read about American political history. You might just learn something too.

Review: Original Tees from Crooked Monkey

The first time I came across Crooked Monkey T-Shirts was on TV. Those of you who watch the comedy/drama Weeds may have spotted one of their shirts too. Actually after watching the show I quickly did a search and found their store so when they contacted me and wanted their shirts reviewed I was delighted. They have a great selection of funny and witty t-shirts, most of which have a vintage effect which I really like.

One of the t-shirts we received was the very t-shirt that Silas wore on the show and you can see a screen capture below. It’s a great TV show too and I believe a new season has just started.

I am actually wearing this t-shirt at the moment and it got a few laughs when I wore it last night. I know, I should be wearing a clean t-shirt but that’s how I roll, baby. Both of the t-shirts we received were very light and really do look like they are old. The Im Not a Gardener, I Just Like Hos- T-Shirt was made in Mexico and the Dont Waste my Daytime Minutes- T-Shirt was made in China. I you look closely you can see where the original tag was cut off and the Crooked Monkey tag was sewn on.

The t-shirt is a bit crumpled in that picture because it had just come out of the parcel but it is nice and smooth now. Of course it looks better on Silas. The ladies t-shirt is a nice slim fit which is just how my nice slim fit wife likes them. The problem with this shirt though is that when I try to speak to her she just points at the message on her shirt. Be sure to check out the other awesome t-shirts by Crooked Monkey. Then, if you are lucky, you will be watching TV one day with your friends, and you’ll see your t-shirt being worn by a celeb, and you can say “I have that t-shirt. It’s like totally so yesterday like you know”.

Another thing I should mention is the branding. I don’t like to be a billboard but Crooked Monkey brand is not so famous over here (Japan) that people can recognize it so I don’t mind so much. On the back of the t-shirt there is a little Crooked Monkey and it’s kinda cute. Having a monkey on your back isn’t always bad.

Local Celebrity T-Shirt Sale

Local Celebrity is a pretty cool t-shirt site selling t-shirts with a retro flavor. They have a vry eighties vibe for the most part. From June 30th to July 6th they ar having a July 4th sale. Yeah. Confusing. But the discount is not. 20% off everything. Just use the code Hookmeup when checking out. Below is a small selection of the great shirts that are on offer.

Interview with Retro Campaigns

A short while ago we reviewed some t-shirts from Retro Campaigns and Christine from Retro Campaigns kindly agreed to tell us more about this unique store. Retro Campaigns is not only her first t-shirt business but her first business of any kind she tells us. What a great way to start. The American Dream is alive and well in the form of cool retro political tees.

What made you decide to start a t-shirt store?

Actually, it didn’t actually start out as a business venture. A few years ago I just wanted to own a shirt from an old campaign for myself. I looked everywhere I could think of but I couldn’t find anything. So I thought, “Why not make some myself?” I created a handful of simple designs and got positive responses from friends who encouraged me to think about selling the shirts. I mulled that over for a while and I thought maybe there are people out there like me who would be interested in this kind of thing, so I decided to give it a shot. I knew a great designer who thought it was a cool idea and we were off from there.

I’m a big political history buff, and America has a rich tradition of interesting and colorful politicians. I think the shirts are a fun way to remember them and maybe also shine a light on some of the candidates who lost the race, like Eugene McCarthy, Wendell Willkie, Barry Goldwater, George McGovern, Adlai Stevenson, etc. I think it’s unfortunate that some of them are remembered now only for losing their election(s).

Wendell Willkie for instance made huge contributions after his loss to Roosevelt. He traveled the world in 1942 as Roosevelt’s representative and reported back to the president and to America in frank terms what he saw throughout a world in the grips of war. “A military victory, as such, will not be enough … We must win the peace,” he famously said. He so firmly believed that it is the duty of Americans to debate and question government that the press dubbed him ‘America’s Private Citizen Number One’.

You include information about the politician featured in the designs with every purchase. Are you trying to educate people too?

That’d be a great bonus, yeah. I’d love to think that in some small way I might be helping to keep the memory of these people alive.

How often can we expect to see new products in your store?

We’re aiming for 3-6 new designs every other month.

Which is your favorite design and why?

I really like the Adlai Stevenson “Hole in the Shoe” design. I think it looks great and I love the story behind it. During his 1952 presidential campaign, a photographer caught a picture of Stevenson with a big hole in his shoe. “Better a hole in the shoe than a hole in the head!” he said to the guy, a remark typical of his quick wit. The Stevenson campaign went on to use that as a symbol of Stevenson’s down-to-earth character, work ethic and frugality. Today that image is part of our political history. There’s even a statue based on that photo at the Central Illinois Regional Airport!

What has been your proudest moment?

It was pretty cool the first time we were contacted out of the blue by a television production company asking to use out shirts for their show. But I’d say the first sale we made via the Web site was the best.

The wait for someone to buy the first shirt seemed like an eternity. I kept doing “practice” buys to make sure the site was working! Basically, I was the geek who calls the operator when no one is calling to make sure the line is working. When I got notification of the first sale it was amazing. The first thing I did was make sure it wasn’t someone that either I or my designer knew! But it was an honest-to-goodness sale. Very cool.

Who is your favorite former politician and why?

Robert Kennedy. His adult life was at first dominated by his zeal to stamp out organized crime; even during the first year or so as Attorney General he offered little but lip service to the civil rights movement. But as he saw first hand the reality of what was going on, particularly with regard to educational opportunities in America, so far removed from his prep school upbringing, he came to believe that racial equality was a key to America’s development as a nation. And he would go on to travel the country and see crippling poverty, leading him to promote social programs.

I guess what I’m getting at is he could have led his life quite happily as a criminal attorney, or as an Attorney General or senator focused on crime, or even a presidential nominee on a crime platform. That was an area he could latch on to. Black students trying to attend school in the south was outside his milieu by a long shot. But he sought out knowledge of what was happening and he listened to real people and learned about their experiences and problems. He actively sought to help people and raise awareness nation-wide. Few people, much less politicians, seek out the realities of inequality in the world, and fewer still change their life’s focus based on what they’ve learned. That’s my opinion anyway. He’s a hero to many people, for many different reasons.

There’s a great biography of him called Robert Kennedy: His Life, by Evan Thomas that I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about him.

If Retro Campaigns is still around in 40 years time and I’m sure it will be, which politician do you think will sell the most t-shirts?

I would love it if we were around for 40 years! I think RFK, but I’d love to see the statistics of whose shirts people are buying over a couple of generations like that. I’m a big statistics nerd!

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