The T-Shirt Blog

Unbeknown to me, the site was down for two weeks, until I finally figured out there was a problem yesterday. Thanks to a helpful stranger I was able to sort it out.

Now, on to more important things: the Tourette Tote is available from Print Liberation, one of the best t-shirt shops I’ve never blogged about.

XOXO,

Alex

It’s totally okay to wear this t-shirt if you are a childcare worker. From T-ShirtHell, who else.

The Passion 4 Christ Movement website is distributing a collection of t-shirts aimed at kicking bad habits with slogans such as Ex-Masturbator, Ex-Homosexual, and Ex-Hypcorite. Other sin-denoucing tees are Ex-Diva, Ex-Slave, Ex-Fornicator, Ex-Atheist, Ex-Porn Addict, Ex-Narcissist, and Ex-Huster. One sin anyone at PC4M couldn’t possibly be accused of is Greed — the shirts are only $10 each. Suck it, TenBills! No word of any combo discount for anyone who needs the whole collection. [via Kiss Me I'm Queer and College OTR]

A part of me says this can’t be true - maybe it’s a publicity stunt, or that the tidal wave of positive e-mails urging T-Shirt Hell to stay open will change his mind.

That was my ’say it ain’t so’ moment I had while writing the ‘T-Shirt Hell is closing‘ post one week ago. I really did believe that T-Shirt Hell was going out of business, and I’m not sure I can blame myself for taking the bait. Their eccentric owner is clearly capable of doing things on a whim, like legally changing his name to Sunshine Megatron, for example. He also closed down his spinoff t-shirt store Torso Pants late last year. Besides, I figured that if T-Shirt Hell really wanted to pull a hoax like this, they would have already done it years ago, at a time when their tees were at the height of contraversy.

I guess I got played for a fool, after all. So, the moral of the story is that, If you are planning on having children in the future, you’ll still have to worry about some douchebag wearing one of these god-damn t-shirts in front of your kids.

UPDATE: T-Shirt Hell tricked us all, and the company is NOT going out of business.

It’s a sad, sad time in the world of t-shirts. One of the longest running and highest profile t-shirt sites is closing shop on Tuesday, February 8, and it’s not the bad economy or the unusually cold winter that’s to blame.  Sunshine Megatron, founder of T-Shirt Hell, is simply tired of being misunderstood.

I started this company in June of 2001, nearly 8 years ago, with the intention of producing the best satirical, the most controversial, the funniest t-shirts on the internet. Generally speaking, I feel I’ve accomplished that and am satisfied with what we’ve put out…

Unfortunately, as a concern for the safety of my employees, we don’t push the envelope as much anymore…and I can’t say I feel good about having caved in…

Anyway, rather than cater to the masses, I’m just going to stop making shirts. It’s not enjoyable anymore and I have enough money to move on to something more rewarding.

A part of me says this can’t be true - maybe it’s a publicity stunt, or that the tidal wave of positive e-mails urging T-Shirt Hell to stay open will change his mind.  Deep down inside I know that all things come to end and maybe it’s time.  Say what you will about the inherent negativity found in their offensive t-shirts, but nobody else has been able to match their wit, design, and prolificness inside the genre.

Here’s to you, T-Shirt Hell, you definitely showed us how it’s done:

On a scale of 1 to 10, how badly will you miss T-Shirt Hell? 1 - I cuddle with bunnies. That means you probably WON'T miss it. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 - I *will* survive. This means you would have been gravely stricken by T-Shirt Hell's closing. View Results  Loading ...

A part of me believes that anyone who triviliazes the sacred institution of democracy by making a political t-shirt that satirizes, idolizes or takes advantage of a presidential candidacy is going straight to hell. So if I’m going to make one now, it might as well be the douchiest most offensive thing possible, right?

In case you aren’t aware, Ashley Todd filed a false police report claiming to have been a victim of a racially and politically motivated attack.

Recently, one of my readers left a comment asking if anyone’s ever heard of dnrstyle.com, and whether they are to be trusted.  After a quick look at the site I’m left wondering the same thing - what with the amateurish design and abundant colloquialisms.  One the other hand, I can’t help but admire the enthusiasm of the site’s creators.  Seems like a bunch of lads from the ‘hood’ got together and made it happen - a few t-shirt designs, a printing press, a website and a shopping cart, and free shipping doesn’t hurt either.  I still wouldn’t trust them with my credit card…

Remember the days when T-shirt Hell used to be really offensive, got itself into numerous lawsuits and all sorts of controversy?  Kotaku, a gaming blog, even got a C & D letter because they posted a T-Shirt Hell tee! 

Well it ain’t your grandma’s T-Shirt Hell anymore.  I’m not saying you won’t find a bunch of seriously offensive tees on their website, but some of the newer designs are funny in an almost wholesome sort of way!

Most online t-shirt shops stick to printed tees as their chief production medium. Presumably this is due to their popularity, and the relative ubiquity and low cost of screen printing over, say embroidering. Threadpit.com however, managed to take the classic Polo logo and turn it on it’s head in a clever parody. It comes in four classic colors, and it’s price is Old Navyesque $21.95. In fact, there are more polos available, all too x-rated to show.  Watch out Abercrombie Moose!

P.S. How cool is it of Threadpit to leave a comment section under each tee. I wish more shops would encourage that kind of feedback.

I am not going to post the YouTube link to ‘Kramer’s’ racist tirade at a Las-Vegas nightclub. You can find it yourself if you’d like. Needless to say the outburst was so outrageous that no apology can make up for it — he might as well have been wearing the “arrest black babies before they become criminals” tee from T-Shirt Hell. What I find interesting is how quickly T-Shirt Hell came out with a t-shirt about the whole thing. The story surfaced on Monday the 20th, and by Wednesday evening the shirt was featured on their front page. The illustration isn’t super amazing or anything, but 2 days is at least how long it took me to write this post.

In fact, T-Shirt Hell has been staying on top of recent events, as they continue to churn out their brand of edgy and irreverent tees:

And while you’re over there, check out “International Age of Consent Tour“. I’m sure you know someone who deserves to own that tee.

Some t-shirt sites make their living selling offensive t-shirts. The Worse Than Hell section of T-Shirt Hell, for example, makes light of some of humanity’s greatest tragedies. Personally, I’m not someone who is easily offended, in fact I sometimes laugh at things that probably shouldn’t be funny. However, the more offensive a joke is, the more clever or funnier it needs to be to balance out the crassness. Especially if you’re going to put it in on a shirt. Here are some examples of tees that fail at this balance, starting with an awful reference to Steve Irwin:

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