Yes, it took some doing, but here’s our list of our favorite shirts of 2007. Since most shirts don’t come with an official release date we can check anywhere, if any of these didn’t actually street in 2007, well, you’ll get over it. We found out about them in 2007, which is good enough for us.
Credit must be given to the guys at Fantastic Blognanza, who inspired me to do my own list after reading theirs. You can check out theirs here: Greg’s (link dead), Joe’s and John’s. (Sadly, their site is gone.) There’s only one shirt here that overlaps, so feel free to go over there for alternate opinions.
10. Winchester Tavern by Last Exit to Nowhere.
We originally mentioned this here and yeah, we’re suckers for zombie-related material, as any long or even short-time reader could tell you. But we love the hell out of Shaun of the Dead. I’ve already lobbied for this to be provided on a black tee. And for dogs to be able to look up.
9. Dons & Capos by FUCT.
Weird. They have the shirt available now with a different image. Maybe they snagged it from the actual Godfather film and got smacked for it? No idea. Regardless, I like the original version with the cat and I reiterate my call (in the original Colors Are Overrated post I’ve linked up there) that we need the equivalent shirt for Blofeld. Or, sorry, a “non-specific spy mastermind leader of a non-specific terrorist/espionage organization.”
8. Animated Pong Shirt by ThinkGeek.
Well, we never said the list would be for practical shirts, did we? I don’t know that I would ever wear this. Maybe it there was an animated Smash TV game shirt, then we could talk. I guess I’m just amused by the sheer useless geekery of this. And perhaps it’s good for confusing people who don’t know what Pong is. But please, folks, never wear something like this to a job interview. Just a tip from us to you, because we care. Originally posted back in March.
7. Thriller Was a Documentary by Seibei.
Again with the zombies, but this has the added bonus of being not just any zombie reference, but a George Romero reference. Mashed up with Michael Jackson from his non-freakish Thriller days. This is a pop culture win right here. Originally posted in October on Colors Are Overrated.
What I appreciate most about this is that because Adult Swim and Cartoon Network appear to have their heads up their asses about merchandise, fans are taking matters into their own hands and created some great stuff: lunchboxes, stickers, magnets, and even fake Underoos. So it’s the sheer amount of fandom it takes to do something like this that catapults this entry to #6. The auction where these originated may be long gone, but it’s the thought that remains.
5. Keep Calm and Carry On by Yes No Maybe
It’s the sentiment of this one that sells it for me and the story behind it: apparently an unused tagline for Brits during World War II, to keep their heads about them even though they were getting the everloving bejesus shelled out of them. These days we need it more than ever, whether you’re getting worked up about terrorism, the environment, drinking from the information firehose, or Spider-Man’s satanic divorce. Keep on keeping on. Words of wisdom those. Originally posted in October on Colors Are Overrated.
Not offered online, and only at the Asian Art Museum in San Fran, this shirt was marvelous in that the hologram switched back and forth from an external view of Astro Boy to an internal view of his mechanical innards. If I remember correctly, it’s not washer safe. And it was $60. But damn, a shirt that changes as you look at it? And it’s black? My God, I could almost talk myself into it.
3. Improv Everywhere Blueshirt by Neighborhoodies.
Yes, Best Buy, humorless maniacs that they are, shut them down. Which was one thing. Then they sent out C&D letters to people for even talking about the shirts or linking to people talking about the shirts. Which is another altogether. And freaking stupid. So for giving thousands of people reasons not to shop at Best Buy, the fact that it was harmless mayhem while it lasted, and the fact that we liked the shirt even before it became infamously C&D’ed, this ranks high.
Again, we appreciate controversy. Especially when it’s for something ridiculous. An initial misunderstanding just spiraled completely out of control and inspired many to mock Boston. Which we would never dream of taking part in. So out of mockery comes…well, a dude with a Lite Brite on his chest, granted, but more people probably got interested in tinkering with LEDs after that madness than had taken up the hobby the entire year previous.
1. Abe Lincoln, Zombie Hunter by Enclothe.
There’s very little I can say about this here that I didn’t already say when we originally posted this tee back in December. I think the fact that it has an entire alternate history backstory to go along with it is extremely impressive. I could write an entire novel based on this shirt. And hey, zombies. But you know that by now.
One Honorable Mention That Never Got Printed: The Velocirapture from Threadless.
