Archive for December, 2007
Screen printing seems like a quite recent invention to most of us, but a version of it was used in medieval Japan to create images for the backs of silk robes worn at court.
The first application of it in Europe was in the eighteenth century, when it was used to stencil patterns on to fabric for soft furnishings. It wasn’t until the twentieth century that screen printing became a mechanised process, used to create posters, or packaging and fabrics.
There’s a paradox in the history of screen printing that arises at exactly the point when screen printing becomes sexy (the 1960s) and mass market, it also became something that was used to produce limited edition, highly collectable art called Pop Art – creators such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichenstein turned screen printing into a T-shirt, comic book and even art form. There probably wasn’t a home or chest in the country that didn’t have something screen-printed: a logo, a keep on truckin’ slogan, a lampshade or a poster.
Since then it’s become an ever more sophisticated process. Original limited edition prints can be produced under the direct control of the creator in signed limited numbers, and they might be paintings to hang on a wall or T-shirts to be sold in couture establishments. The immediacy of screen printing, its crisp colours and shapes and ability to work on any material make this the most versatile printing system ever.
hand-printing T-shirts by veganstraightedge
December 28th, 2007
It may have come as a surprise to some, but a British fashion house, famous for its minimalist T-shirts, has designed the V&A’s Christmas tree this year. Boudicca - the first British fashion house ever to be invited to become a guest member of Haute Couture in Paris – is the home of design partners Zowie Broach and Brian Kirby. They chose the bittersweet Hans Christian Andersen story The Little Match Girl as their starting point and made the fairy on top of the tree into the little match girl herself, who received three visions before her final match, and her life, expired. What makes the choice particularly appropriate is that the V&A is currently exhibiting fashion history in the landmark show ‘The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947-1957’.
December 25th, 2007
The 2007 Christmas clothing rush has not materialised – in fact high street retailers have been forced to slash prices earlier than ever before to try to lure shoppers into stores after what has been a really dire start to the Christmas run-up. French Connection has already launched a 50% sale, while Morgan, the fashion chain is offering discounts up to 65% and Faith, the shoe retailers, are giving up to 60 % off. Marks & Spencer has launched a wide-ranging promotion on alcohol to try and encourage shoppers into its stores and this week Laura Ashley, the fashion and furniture retailer, started a 50% off sale.
These promotions vary, some have been planned in advance and others have been thought up on the spur of the moment by worried senior executives, but they all show how difficult trading is this Christmas.
On the other hand, online clothing sales are increasing steadily. While they still only account for less than 10% of the overall market, an increase of 138% is expected between now and 2011, when sales are predicted to reach £2.9bn.
Marks & Spencer store image by ktylerconk
December 21st, 2007
Forget girl power - 2008 will be all about super power. Luella had Batman-inspired mask-and-cape clad models on the spring/summer catwalk and this trend has fed off the recent film blockbusters: X-Men, Spiderman 3 and Fantastic Four and the fact that the powerful Metropolitan Museum of Art will be showing a new exhibition in 2008, entitled Superheroes.
What can we expect in T-shirts? Lots of Bang!Biff!Pow! slogans, and images of everybody from Batman to Swampthing. British superheroes are rare indeed, but the current Dr Who craze could lead to a surge in Dalek and Dr T-shirts – if so, you heard it here first!
Elsewhere, Dolce & Gabbana think men will be showing their softer side, along with the leather jackets, utility zipped shorts, and ripped jeans, their male models hit the catwalk with T-shirts showing the peace symbol … and teddy bears. Pastels came through at Calvin Klein: dusty pink, pale orange and soft creamy shades predominated in T-shirts, and yellow was a key accent for Fendi too.
Batman kiss T-shirt by wili_hybrid
December 18th, 2007
If you’re thinking about giving monogrammed gifts for Christmas, you need to get your orders in fast – there’s barely enough time to get goods back to you in time. Perhaps your preference is for a slogan? Same thing applies, order now if you don’t want to have empty hands on Christmas Day. Some of the most interesting monogrammed items around at present are nappy bags with the monogram of the DAD on them, to tell him that he is equally responsible for those nappy change moments!
If you have elderly friends or relatives who are in hospital, or care homes, why not give them monogrammed clothing? It can always be got back to them through the laundry system as it has their name on, and if they have Alzheimer’s Disease, something with their name clearly printed on it can be a great boon to them, as well as to visitors.
If you want to monogram children’s clothing, bear one thing in mind – initials are best. Strangers can hardly approach a child by reading his or her initials, but they can if you use the full name or nickname on clothing … better to be safe than sorry.
A very popular present is to have a bowling or darts teams shirts monogrammed with the team name – think about this at home, with a ‘window cleaner’ T-shirt for Dad and a ‘Sunday lunch’ one for Mum etc. It’s a lot of fun for very little money. And even the dog can have a monogrammed item …
monogrammed dog by ninjapoodles
December 14th, 2007
We all know that wedding favours are often monogrammed with the happy couple’s initials, but this most ancient of embroidery arts is being brought right up to date this Christmas in a range of ideas that not only make gifts more personal, but more environmentally friendly too. How? Well people are much less likely to throw out anything that has their name or initials embroidered into it, they are less likely to lose it and if they do, it’s more likely to be traceable so it can be returned to them – that means less replacement items are bought for lost towels or T-shirts, and that treasured older clothes don’t become ‘old’ they become ‘vintage’ because they have the wearer’s identity bound into their fabric.If you want to give a monogrammed gift, here are the basic rules:
- A personal monogram is laid out from left to right beginning with the first-name initial, the last-name initial (usually in larger type) and then the middle initial. For the Winnie The Pooh, the monogram would be WTP.
- Things get more complicated when marriage is involved though. For married couples with the same last name, reading from left to right, the woman’s first-name initial, the last-name initial, the man’s first-name initial, so If Cruella De Ville and Winnie The Pooh married their monogram would be CPW.
- For married couples with different names, it’s from left to right, the woman’s last-name initial, the man’s last-name initial. Or, for our couple, VP. Complicated isn’t it?
And how are those monograms being used? I’ll explain it all in my next post …
Monogram image by Jules
December 11th, 2007
The American Civil Liberties Union says it will not, after all take a Vermont school to court over a student who was sent home in September because a senior teacher said her T-shirt violated the school’s dress code. The civil liberties group threatened to sue the Van Etten School District, because the ‘inappropriate’ nature of the girl’s clothing related to the slogan on the shirt which said ‘Gay? Fine by me’.
The ACLU says that the school’s subsequent actions: apologising to the student and holding an assembly to remind all students of their freedom of speech rights, has resolved the issue.
T-shirts have been used by the police and trading standards officers in Brighton to catch out people selling alcohol to underage purchasers. The two T-shirt wearing mystery shoppers (one male, one female) were actually police cadets aged seventeen and sixteen respectively. The young woman wore a T-shirt saying bearing the logo ‘Sweet Sixteen – challenge me’ while the young man’s carried the slogan ‘Underage – challenge me’. Nineteen shops were visited and in eight of them, the staff were willing to sell alcohol, despite the obvious youth of the purchaser and the clearly signposted age on the T-shirt they wore! Local businesses are now receiving extra training and information to ensure all staff are aware of the law. More mystery shops may be undertaken according to the local council.
And David Beckham has increased the sales of LA Galaxy soccer tops and T-shirts by 700%’s since arriving in America to play for the side. Los Angeles Galaxy say they have sold more than 300,000 jerseys emblazoned with Beckham’s name alone.
Beckham by wave-rider, used under a creative commons attribution licence
