Funny Tees for Those Who Prefer A Little Cushion for the Pushin'

In stark contrast to yesterday's post about the controversial ad campaign for Equinox gyms (people protested feeling the models were far too thin), here's a company whose apparel celebrates those who pack on a few extra pounds- and the people who love them.




Sick of dating girls who order a salad with dressing on the side? Or men whose butt is smaller than your own? Whether a foodie, a fattie, a chubby chaser or just a chubby in training, Dpcted of St. Louis has an adorable and clever line of t-shirts for those who prefer a little meat on them bones.









Along with bulge, beards and booze are a few of their other subjects.




And a few others:



All images courtesy of DPCTED

And yes, sizes available are an appropriate Small up to 5XL.

Beginning yesterday, for one week only, the discounted online design flash sale site, Fab.com, has them on sale. (Fab.com is invite only. Please use the following link to register: http://fab.com/y06r4g)



Fab is not selling all of their tees. For a wider selection, or if you miss the sale, be sure to visit DPCTED's online store here.

Ties That Talk. Introducing The Blake Bradford Line of Silk Panel Ties.

Blake Bradford is a new line of handmade silk panel ties on which individual words are printed. The black or white ties have adjectives such as 'complicated', 'elusive', 'rude', 'mysterious', 'dynamic' and 'dangerous' that represent the brand’s core values of individuality, creativity and philanthropy.




The Blake Bradford philosophy is to break free of the attachment to physical things and focus on experiences, ideas and companionship with others. The emphasis is no longer on the articles of clothing a person wears, but on the people themselves.




The process of making a Blake Bradford woven silk panel tie is as unique and striking as the ties themselves. Traditional neckties are made using a pattern that repeats itself on the loom, but a Blake Bradford requires much more attention.






Each and every Blake Bradford panel tie is handmade in Brooklyn, using the exact location of the design as a guide. Even the slightest error in cutting or folding the woven silk would alter the design’s location and appearance of the tie.



Designer Geoffrey Blake conceived of the Blake Bradford woven silk panel tie as a way to identify and/or express oneself in traditionally conservative environments. The choice is yours: button your jacket to conceal your identity, or transform your environment.

Much of the text in this post has been reprinted from the Blake Bradford web site with their permission.

Shop for them here

Hip Leggings & Sci-Fi Swimsuits From Black Milk.

above: The Helvetica leggings are just one of the many cool pieces of printed stretchy clothes from Black Milk.

Black Milk, a line of trendy fashions by James Lillis has been getting a lot of attention lately thanks to a post on Boing Boing which featured the fabulous Artoo and Threepio swimsuits and has resulted in a four week wait for both of the suits shown below.



But there's a lot more fabulous items in the collection- not just Star Wars-related clothes. While there's other fab space imagery, there's also some wicked rock n' roll, skulls, abstract patterns, union jacks, dollar bills, bones and other hip iconography printed on LYCRA in the form of swimsuits, leggings, shorts, catsuits, jackets and more.

Some of my fave swimsuits:
C Threepio Swimsuit:



Artoo Swimsuit (R2-D2):

Dark Side Swimsuit (Love the combination of the Pink Floyd album cover with Darth):

Galaxy Swimsuit:

Black Ribs Swimsuit:

Resurrection Swimsuit:

Sesame Street Pulp Fiction Swimsuit:

The Great Wave swimsuit (clearly inspired by Hiroshige) and Jaws swimsuit:

Black Skull and White Skull swimsuits:



Some of my fave leggings:

Helvetica Leggings:

Galaxy leggings (shown in black, also available in red):

Dreaming Desire leggings:

Leg Bones leggings:

Newsprint leggings:

Colored Comics leggings:

Black and White comics leggings:

Little Skulls leggings:

Dollar leggings:


Not all of the above suits and leggings are still in production, please check their online store for availability.





In James' own words:
At the beginning of 2009 I walked into a little sewing shop and bought two shiny new sewing machines. It was a slightly unusual sight - a shop full of older women making patchwork quilts for their grandkids... and me.

I didn't mind. It seemed very punk at the time.

My idea was fairly simple - I would teach myself to sew, buy some beautiful stretch fabrics, and make insane leggings. Then I would find girls who would get into them. Girls who wanted leggings that could pack a little more punch than the ones on offer at your average department store.

I made the leggings, found the girls, and so was born Black Milk.

Things were slow initially, but the girls who bought the leggings were always really positive, which was super-encouraging for me in the early days. The turning point came when I decided that I was going to figure out a way to wrap chains around a pair of leggings. It took me a week of drawing, sketching, scheming and failing before I finally figured out how to do it. I called them Cages, and they were a minor cult hit. From that time on, so many girls were ordering Black Milk gear that it became a full time job.

We've come a long way since those early days sewing leggings at midnight on the kitchen table. We've sold thousands of pairs of leggings all over the world. We've been featured in numerous magazines, newspapers and blogs from the local paper to Vogue. Best of all, Black Milk has now got score a reputation as one of the most exciting designer leggings labels in the world.

But a lot is still the same. I still stay up to midnight sewing. I still personally design each piece. I still get a buzz every time a girl emails me a picture and tells me how many people commented when she wore out her Black Milk leggings.

Yeah, it's still fun.

xx
james Lillis


Shop Black Milk here.