Happy May 24th, the day the greatest song-writer of all time was born. Today, the amazing Bob Dylan turns 69 years old. Do I really have to go into detailed praise of this man, whom I love so much? Currently I don’t very much feel like needing to prove to you his greatness (if you don’t get it, you are missing out). Let’s skip past all the different musical conversational possibilities when dealing with Dylan, (there need’s to be a Dylan themed ‘Table Topics’ asap); acoustic vs. electric, folk vs. blues, fav live album, fav duet, fav 80s album, Christian Dylan, Jewish Dylan, 2000s Dylan, XM radio Dylan, fav bootleg volume, etc… What I decided to do on this wonderful coffee charged morning, other than listen to his discography in chronological order, is try to find awesome Bob Dylan t-shirts online (that is kind of our specialty). This proved to be a somewhat difficult task. For one, there are way too many cheapster zazzle/cafe press type of shirts out there that makes sifting through the web a pain in the ass… I’d rather make my own t-shirt than waste money on one of these, because despite their cheap quality, I couldn’t even find one that was at least aesthetically pleasing. Finally, I stumbled onto Lucky Brand, quickly remembering a Bob Dylan t-shirt I own from them. It’s not that great, but I am a big vintage concert poster fan. This is the first one I found online, and I think it’s pretty awesome:

It was only I fell in love with this shirt, that I found out that it is a kids size, and out of stock. Don’t you hate it when that happens? However, with the search, Lucky redircted me to this one (get it here):

and this one, you can get here (On sale):

I like both of these. The first with its creative use of the lyrics from Mr. Tambourine Man to create a nice rustic picture (only his shnoz looks a bit Ringo-eque). The second features a faint picture of the later, black shade, afro-sporting, ‘Don’t Look Back’ Dylan. My only beef is that I would rather not see the text of Dylan at the bottom. If you don’t know it’s Dylan, that’s your problem.

I also found this Bob Dylan tee, which I am still unsure of exactly how I feel about, from artiitii.com :

There is also this shirt, from the official Bob Dylan site:

and this one, on which I love the back, but the front completely ruins it (I am really not a fan of that new Dylan ‘eye’ emblem that he uses):

However, the best Dylan tees, in my opinion, are the vintage concert tees, if you want to spend the big bucks, check out some on Ebay . My favorite, having to be:

And so we come to the end of this wonderful Bob Dylan search, and I am still left feeling a bit unsatisfied. I may have missed a cool shirt hiding somewhere on the internet, but in general, the designer iconic rock figure shirt seems to be a rarity, which is really quite a shame. I don’t like my rock shirts to be cheap, sticky prints, that look like they were made in a basement for 20 cents a pop. I feel there’s a lot of creativity that can be infused into making a rock shirt, but I couldn’t find it out there.

Last but not least, I can’t let you go without putting a song up! However, I was unable to put up one of my favorite Bobby songs, Maggie’s Farm live from Newport version (so much better than original, Bloomfield kills it on the guitar!) So, I decided to put up this hilarious clip from the incredible Scorsese documentary, No Direction Home.

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When it comes to abstract art, there are only two schools, and both hate each other (and in a movie they would battle it out in a bicycle, car or ski race, karate match, or surf battle). The one side completely dismisses abstract art as nonsensical, untalented, meaningless and that it basically resembles a drawing hanging on a refrigerator that was done by a 2 year old with his fingers who may have swallowed some paint in the process. While the other side of spectrum praises abstract art because it can bypass literal perception and reach into the otherwise impenetrable world of unconscious emotion. That’s cool. I like to think of myself as respecting both parties for their talents and their beliefs; however, I should note that when I see a modern abstract painting of some random shape selling for ridiculous sums of money, it is a bit disconcerting. Nevertheless, at the end of the day some of these art professors, that may come off as pretentious bullshiters, have been studying their Jackson Pollock and Wassily Kandinsky for a long time, so there has to be something to what they preach. …Anywho, I’m in the business of t-shirts and in that belongs art, randomness and nonsense, and it looks great. So whether this image looks like a weird pirate, a dirty peacock or absolutely nothing, it’s still dope (cause I said it is) and also because the website’s cool enticer “super eye-catcher for the next night out at the club or bar hopping”, how do you say no to that?

From Marc by Marc Jacobs, get it here

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It was just this past weekend when someone, upon seeing my Mickey Mouse watch, commented negatively on it and sparked a small confrontation. It was in this argument with this silly person that I realized that too many people take themselves way too seriously. Now, I have no problem with someone who chooses to not sport cartoon characters on their wrist, but to be so adamantly against somebody else doing is so fickle and frivolous. There’s a lot we as humans can learn from cartoons and if we let our inflated egos and false notions of our ‘mature’ selves blindly lead us, we ignore so many beautiful things. Yes, you have to ‘grow up’ eventually but if we forget the innocence and unadulterated mirth of childhood and let the cynical ideology of being a grown up engulf us, then we lose that idealistic nature of wanting to do things differently, of not wanting to be just another spoke in this life wheel of the drudgery by being an another nobody in the sea of nobodies. Oh, the t-shirt. It’s just amazing. Despite the sick navy stripes which I think are the ‘must-have’ look for this upcoming spring, but the big, bold and sexy image of the pirate Donald Duck on the front, badass.

From JC de Castelbajac S/S 2010 line, get it here

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We picked this shirt up at one of our favorite and one of the most creative thrift experiences, the Bryn Athens Thrift Store (peep what our gal Sammy D found). What I love most about this shirt is that for one, I am unsure if somebody made it themselves, or if this was the brand’s intention; all the labels are so random and haphazardly placed, that it really does a fantastic job to confuse you. Alls I know is that if I was a lifeguard, a big if, but I would definitely rock this over the typical red lifeguard hoodie (how boring). Plus this one has a marine biology tag, so you can be like Art Vandelay and hope no whale comes along to take your fabrications to task.

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We party our fair share. We thought it was about to time to document some of the happenings. Hangin’ out at the ultimate philly hipster party: Bouffant Bangout @ Barbary, and we think it went pretty well… only we don’t really remember. Decide for yourself. And yes, the party bus got booted that night!

Click the picture for the gallery:

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The skull shirt has been around for a while now, brought to fame by the ever-so-talented Alexander McQueen. The problem with the skull tee is that normally, most renditions pretty much suck. The moment I think of a skull t-shirt, I imagine myself in the house of Jersey Shore being sponsored by Ed Hardy with a bunch of meat heads arguing over whose rhinestone studded rose petal is stretched out more around the biceps. This might sound entertaining at first glance, but just about the time they argue about a drunk push-up contest but decide they don’t want to redo their blow-outs before going out to the vocal-trance dance party (which is probably a good idea because head sweat and hair gel can cause blindness when mixed), I realize my problem with where the skull t-shirt has been driven.

Luckily (for the skull shirt phenomenon), just when I was about to write off skull tees for eternity, I stumbled across these two by the grungy, vintage & rock n’ roll inspired designer: Bolongaro Trevor.  What I like about these shirts is that the skull isn’t the main focus.  There is an image exploding off of the shirt, and the first thing you think of, especially when close up, is not skull.  I mean take for example the Philippe Halsman’s In Voluptas Mors inspired “Sexy Skull” (as they call it) on the left.  It’s a big pile of women with black skin and white nipples.  My firsts thought is: where can I find me a woman with white nipples?  Then I pay attention to the synchronized swimming-esque poses these sexy young ladies are making.  Then, and only then, do I realize that their poses are with purpose and create a skull.  And finally, I notice that their feet make for one crooked-ass smile, in need of an emergency visit to the dentist.  Don’t even get me started on the other shirt.  Not only is it yellow, which is a great color you don’t see much anymore in the t-shirt world, but the skull is entirely made up of junk, and I love junk!

And now to bring this thing to a whole new level I would have to bet Bolongaro Trevor never even thought up.  What is it that mostly fills up men’s heads? BITCHES WITH WHITE NIPPLES and ALL KINDS OF JUNK! BAM!! You can call me Emeril cause I just spiced this shit up!  Get the “Sexy Skull” here and the “Junk Skull” here

In postscript, a great movie that happened to come into mind yesterday that includes lots of junk, sweet ass in the form of Demi Moore, and the antics of Chevy Chase, John Candy and Dan Akroyd: Nothing But Trouble . Watch the trailer, then watch the movie.

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You’ve all seen it happen before: drink a red bull, you get wings… and then it gets a bit wild. When your guitar drinks red bull***, the result can be heavenly, as in this vintage tee we found searchin’ through the gutters. This particular result was so powerful, that the store owner, reminiscent of his windmill chord slammin’ ways, put keep on rockin’ on the shirt’s tag!

***Do not start pouring red bull on your guitar. Your guitar must willingly drink the energy drink itself, if you try to force it, chances are you will just trip some wiring and your sweet sounding duck plucker will start sounding a little crazy, and unfortunately they don’t accept guitars in mental institutions (first hand experience).

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Well, when I was a young man and never been kissed, I got to thinkin’ it over, how much I had missed… The problem was that instead of looking for girls, my time was preoccupied with blowing bubbles, and other adolescent joys that one loses as he gets older. This t-shirt captures that unadulterated prepubescent enthusiasm. Also, the bubbles are reminiscent of those trippy 60s liquid lights shows (Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane, Velvet Underground, etc.) The color of the shirt covers a photograph of a young woman, where only her eyes remain, peering out of the t-shirt in an ambiguous glare. The brand, Ardentees, takes the art of the tee (“wearable canvas”) very seriously; “visual exploration of the symbiotic relation between fashion and art”. As a pseudo-historian of t-shirts, I appreciate their enthusiasm, for the print shirt had its genesis in the hands of artists’ artistic expression.

From Ardentees, get it here

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I love guitars regardless of my inability to play one properly. Different guitars and the way their players decorated them have been iconized in the history of rock & roll. From Woody Guthrie’s “this machine kills fascists”, to the psychedelicly painted Jimmy Page’s telecaster and George Harrison’s stratocaster, to Kurt Cobain’s “Vandalism: beautiful as a rock in a cop’s face”.. and so many other notables in between. The guitar on this shirt is in the same badass timeline of grimey rock & roll awesomeness; stickered up, dirty, probably sporting many burn marks, bruises, etc. If the strat on this shirt wasn’t ruthless enough, the back provides an imprint of a gun tucked into your pants. It’s all the attitude of Travis Bickle without the crazy shootout. Not everyone can set their guitar on fire like Hendrix, let alone live that crazy lifestyle. This shirt is the way to do it vicariously. I prefer the former to the later, but to each his own.

From Angelos-Frentzos get it here

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We all know and love the Lacoste alligator. It has been around for a long time and has never been significantly modified—until now. It seems their design department hired a comic book nerd who dreampt up a Bruce Banner-like situation for their peaceful and loving alligator. Now, beefed up, and blowing shit up, the new alligator is one badass dude. The great part about it is that despite his metamorphosis into a ripped-muscled superhero body, he is still sporting a neat Lacoste polo shirt. So he’s a boisterous and ruthless alligator that spends his days on the open green. At least the collar is put down, or we would think he spends his time off playing beer pong in dingy college basements. My great love for Adam West’s movies makes the “BLAM” an especially enjoyable touch. Nevertheless, this shirt is like Samuel L. Jackson in ‘Snakes on a Plane’… a one time deal. Any attempt to recreate or continue in this same fashion would simply ruin the novelty of this isolated and unorthodox occurrence.

From Lacoste (part of the Spring 2010 Red! collection), get it here

and how could I possibly resist:

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Bill Haley – See you Later Alligator

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