Something unusual has been happening to my taste in graphic t-shirts lately: I have been into text graphics.
Usually, these annoy the crap out of me. I don’t want to read your t-shirt! I don’t want to identify you by the words you purchased in t-shirt form to wear on your person! But for some reason, I’ve been coming across shirts that don’t really bother me that much.
In fact, I like them. (I have a cold, could this be responsible?)
So, Graphic Tee Club will be full of literal x’s and o’s today, but probably more o’s.
Ten Sixty Sherman “Life’s Too Short” Tee, $24 at Nordstrom
See? The shirt’s not wrong! Boring clothes are so Zzzzzzzzz. I’m not sure that this shirt is the solution – it’s Courier on white, for goodness sake! – but it would definitely be cute peeking out underneath a cool jacket or crew neck cardigan.
J. Crew Tout a Bien Tee, was $45 now $24.99 at J. Crew
Just so you don’t end up like those people with the bad Kanji tattoos – tout va bien is French for “all is well.” A pretty easy statement to wear, I think! This shirt is linen, too, so all is definitely well if you want a moderately luxurious fabric to lounge around in.
Volcom Feathered Rad Lose Your Mind Tee, $22 at Nordstrom
I’ve always had a soft spot for hand-drawn fonts (graphic design nerds, you feel me!), and something about this almost-perfect typography really got me. It’s more picture than text, in a lot of ways.
Rebel Marilyn Mugshot Tee, $24.50 at Macy’s
I’m not obsessed with Marilyn, but I can’t resist this mugshot t-shirt. The “Rebel” text is just obscured enough that I don’t feel like an extra in an Alloy catalogue (read: 14 years old) but I love the uneven lines and, of course, the fake army ID for Marilyn Monroe!
GUESS Cap-Sleeve Outlaw Tee, $24.50 at Macy’s
This shirt is almost a bit too cheesy, even for me! But I love a badass babe (my Tumblr is pretty much exclusively badass babes) and a little country western rebellion is no exception…
Lucky Brand Golden Luck Trading Company Tee, was $39.50 now $19.99 at Macy’s
For something a little less “text in your face” and a bit more abstract, Lucky offers us this Japanese-inspired graphic. I dig the watercolor style and the – surprise – faded, handwritten typography.
Ralph Lauren Tiger Head Baseball, was $39.50 now $24.99 at Ralph Lauren
Here you go, militant typography-tee haters: your text-free graphic tee. I guess I must have a thing for tiger heads? This is not only a baseball tee, but the vintage-style graphic is really wearable. I think adding all that weird jewelry is unnecessary, but the tee is awesome on its own, or dressed up… in a different way. No offense, model. We know it wasn’t your choice.
I am thinking of clearing out some room in my graphic t-shirt shelf to make some room for new material, so if you find a great one, please send it my way!