T-shirts and other streetwear staples

[Brian SD]

I agree that there are often threads on casual wear -- though topics on pure "streetwear" seem to be few and far between except for discussion on jeans (for instance, we rarely see discussions on t-shirts).

So true. At least a few of us probably swear by stylish t-shirts in your closet, so let's get it out there. Who do you like? What do you like about it? I'll start it off with a few words - this is not my expertise (truly I have none) but it would probably the closest thing to it. *Guys, please, if you want to look good, get a t-shirt that is genuine. Faux-vintage shirts that say "1974 Abercrombie Swim Team" don't count. Only get vintage shirts that really are vintage, or God forbid, wear your own shirts enough so that they age into the perfect rag, right before your eyes. *"I <3 NY" shirts look lame on women, and you can bet that they look 100 times worse on you. *Wear them the right size. Loose or fitted are acceptable, or overly baggy if you're a rapper, but please do not wear them skin-tight. This really looks good on no one. Wear your own size. Wear it like a uniform, and the true qualities of your dress will really stand out. *Layering is cool (at least for the moment). Wear a couple t-shirts at a time. Two is great, three is overdoing it unless they're thin and you can only see a tiny piece of the first shirt you put on. My favorite printed t-shirts for several reasons are Yoko Devereaux (whose t-shirt lines are actually collaboration projects). 1) The fit is perfect. The sleeve length, the tapering of the waist, the collar size, and the length are all ideal for me (they may not be the best for you, but whose posting this thread anyway?)

2) The printings are really cool, they are graphic in nature, often funny, and often have a political or social message in mind as well. 3) The detailings on the shirts are really cool as well. The stitching around the shoulders is woven to look like chain-links of thread, and the sleeve-ends have two rows of stitching. The collar rests really nicely and the band of the collar is a nice thickness as well. 4) The fabrics are nice - I would say they are equal quality to American Apparel, soft, with a nice looking finish, but never looking faux-vintage. They also are pretty durable. 5) The uniqueness factor.. How many of these do you see on the street? So few. 6) The price. $48 is very manageable. That was a bit longer than I expected. If you've got an opinion on the matter, let's hear it folks.

 

[LA Guy]

I like Yoko Devereaux tshirts as well, but I find that the price ~$50, is more than I'm willing to pay for a tee.  Expensive jeans I can take, and even sneakers, but I think that t-shirts should be cheap enough that I can bang them up for a couple of years and chuch them without regret.  I usually get my tees from obscure brands I find at random stores.  The closest I got to a &quot;designer&quot; brand was a Modern Amusement tee.  I've got a bunch of Threadless tees, because, well, they are really cheap, and while the majority of the designs are Urban Outfitters shite, some are actually pretty cool.  And I got a couple of tees on sale from Aloha Rag from a brand called &quot;The Cast&quot;.  I've never heard of the company, but the designs were pretty cool.  Occasionally, I'll get a tee from fabric8.

And I agree with Brian about fit. I prefer fitted, but definitely not skintight, t-shirts. Super baggy is fine if you are into hiphop styles. Skintight is only okay if you are a skanky German gay clubber. Even then, it's pretty repulsive, like a mesh tee.

Jeans - I prefer Paper Denim, obviously.  But the decreasing quality of the denim they use is making me seriously consider other companies for staples.  Haven't found anything I really like yet though.  As I've stated before, I may just go back to APC for a while.

 

[shoreman1782]

Good thread, you two guys seem to have the most to say on these subjects. I think you need titles. No coincidence you're both California-tied, eh? My favorite t's right now are threadless or band shirts, which have made a comeback for me in the past 6 mths, before which I hadn't bought a band tshirt since high school. I'm almost universally a large. My problem with fit tends to be the length of standard tees, which is generally too long. Any advice for a guy whose got a size L girth but a size M height (5'10", 175)? My current favorite is this one. I also have a Tipperary hurling tshirt from pride.ie that sees a lot of use, a Hartford whalers t shirt, and a Beulah tshirt featuring a mexican wrestler smashing a guitar. I'm short on genuine vintage tshirts, they never seem to fit right for me. Those Yoko Devereauxs look great, SD. Not a lot of outlets for those around DC, unfortunately. All the talk of hoodies lately has made me review my collection and decide I need more. I'm looking at a Carhartt hoodie, but they tend to be baggy. My budget won't accomodate, I don't think, any cashmere hoodies. The most important thing for me when wearing jeans and a tshirt is not overdoing it. Like, if I'm wearing jeans with finishing, I wouldn't want to wear a tshirt with a huge graphic, bright sneakers and a ribbon belt. Just me, I couldn't pull it off.

 

[Eric]

I like to wear white V-necks, I used to get made fun of for wearing them: &quot;Eric you look like my grandad&quot;, but now they are catching on.

I have an Old Navy hoody which I cut off the word &quot;Navy&quot;, now I own an &quot;Old&quot; hoody, as far as I know, its one of a kind and one of my favorites to wear when I'm dressing down.

I agree, fake vintage and cocky remark T-shirts are kinda lame.  I do have a few funny T-shirts though.  Like a Paul Frank with a picture of an Otter saying &quot;I'm not a beaver, I'm an Otter&quot;, Hilarious.

You will catch me often with lightly blasted, slim fitting Express jeans with a pair of Stacy Adams cardovan dress shoes on my casual days.

And Newsboys caps are a must, lots of compliments when I'm sporting one.

I also have started to get into wearing sunglasses (mostly due to my new poker hobby) and have a few to choose from but my favorite is my Elvis style gold glasses.

I can also be seen in a blazer nearly every day, mostly found in thrift stores.

Eric

 

[1Dgaf]

I can't stand people wearing meaningless slogans on t-shirts. It happens all the time here in the UK. &quot;Assbackwards Athletic Club, 1875&quot;, &quot;Royal Elephant Polo Cheerleaders&quot; etc. All the t-shirts I own with obvious logos or slogans on them are things I've done or associate with. Apart from that everything I wear is plain (much like me).

 

[Brian SD]

I think the Yoko Devereaux shirts are a bit expensive, but really what's important is that it's manageable. Other alt-designers are charging $90-150 for their t-shirts. I have three YD (one from last season, two from this season); I'll probably buy two more from Maxfield when the next season comes in. They are the only t-shirts I mind paying more than usual for, which amounts to $96 a season about (fine by me).

 

[LA Guy]

Root of all evil: Taavo. To me, the idea of cheeky saying printed on an inside out vintage tee was cool as a goof. At $88 at Barneys... well, let's just say that you'd fit in well with Kevin Federline's posse.

 

[funkyprez]

aah the yoko t-shirts. Unique, not quite. For a tee, $50 is too steep. H&amp;M has had some knock-offs for $10, and I managed to get it $5. T-shirts are disposable trendy wear for me. I usually have to dress professionally, so they don't get much wear. Therefore, I'll spend less on them.

For some strange reason, I also like the Builty By Wendy tees. They came out of left field when everyone was doing those faux-ironic tees. Alas, I only buy if on discount.

 

[LA Guy]

For some strange reason, I also like the Builty By Wendy tees. They came out of left field when everyone was doing those faux-ironic tees. Alas, I only buy if on discount.

I like everything else by Built by Wendy (especially their new Wrangler collaboration, and excepting the dumb looking model on the website this season - dude, you may be a fun employee, but serious, don't be volunteering for the job) but am not actually a huge fan of her tee shirts. And have you noticed that the Built by Wendy stuff is priced very strangely? I mean, a Wrangler 47 sportsjacket is only $154, but a corduroy shirt is $99? It's like everything costs about the same, no matter what it is.

 

[funkyprez]

Who wouldn't want Boo Radley or Willy Wonkaon their chest? Actually I thought it was so stupid at first, but then again, it is so stupid, it's fresh.

I just checked the Wendy site right now. I don't like the Verte line, just the B&amp;W prints.

The FTS monogrammed shirt from a few years ago is one of my all-time favorite shirts.

 

[demeis]

As for tee's i don't like paying more than 20-30 for a tee. Personally i really like hitting up vintage stores and finding tees that are already worn in and you know no one else will have and for 2-3 bucks they are well worth it in my opinion. As for H&amp;M i feel like they try to hard to be trendy but some of their stuff isn't to bad. I love their basic tees that run around 6 bucks. I have been buying tees from &quot;Dex&quot; which is some canadian company when i go to Quebec which i really like they aren't priced to bad i think about 20-25 american. I can also agree that the abercrombie humor tees and the like are simply lame. Lately i've been getting american apparel tees and just other cheap tees and decorating them self with bleach and what not to create my own style and originality.

As for jeans and PDC and quality issues i heard Earnest Sewn is a little better quality (anyone confirm) but haven't checked them out lately. I feel like they have just gotten to popular and can't keep up anymore. Have you tried JP Da'Mage? I just picked up a pair and i love them. By far my favorite jeans after my Fillmores.

just my .02

Nik

 

[LA Guy]

I do like J.P. D'amage jeans, but I find that the denim can be sort fo thin and lightweight as well - it depends on the particular style. I like the Ice style, and may goto it instead of to Paper Denim as my new pair of bootcuts. The Earnest sewn jeans are nice too, and while being a little more durable than the Paper Denims, are more brittle, and more prone to catastrophic collapse, if you take my meaning. Actually, the most durable &quot;premium&quot; denim on the market right now are the heavier weight Seven's (12.5 ounces, and very soft). It's a shame that the cuts are mediocre and the washes, with very few exceptions, very boring. I think that I got one of the only interesting washes in their bootcut last week, but man cannot live on one style of jean alone.

 

[demeis]

The JP Da'mage jeans i picked up were the ice wash. I haven't seen any other JP's yet, they don't have them at the only store that sells them by me but hopefully they are like the ones i currently own. As for seven jeans i've never cared for the washes and in my opinion i feel a bit pretentious buying sevens cause everyone knows i paid an exoberant amount on a pair of jeans. They do however fit me surprisingly well.

On a side note how do the 7 boot cut MCG fit and are interms of quality. I found a great deal on them but the store by me doesn't have this particular style anymore.

 

[T4phage]

......Actually, the most durable "premium" denim on the market right now are the heavier weight Seven's  (12.5 ounces, and very soft).  It's a shame that the cuts are mediocre and the washes, with very few exceptions, very boring.  I think that I got one of the only interesting washes in their bootcut last week, but man cannot live on one style of jean alone.

I would hate to disagree with you LA Guy but...... Some tougher denims currently available: Atelier La Durance 14oz unwashed Nudie Jeans Reg. Ralph raw selvedge, 13oz Denime: Type 66 14-15oz (501 fit), Type XX (14 oz), Type WW2, actually, most of Denimes are pretty solid

 

[LA Guy]

Atelier La Durance 14oz unwashed
Nudie Jeans Reg. Ralph raw selvedge, 13oz
Denime: Type 66 14-15oz (501 fit), Type XX (14 oz), Type WW2, actually, most of Denimes are pretty solid

Yes, you are right. I'll have to take your word on the Atelier La Durance, but you are completely correct about Nudie and Denime. My bad.