Deep Dive: Collection #5 (SOLEIL)
HOLY SMACK folks, can you believe it’s already been a month since my last update? What a lame blogger I am. Well, enough self-pity. I’m pretty excited about this month’s collection of garments, so let’s dive right in:
OK so this shirt is obviously all about context, and if you don’t follow hip hop culture at all, or if say you are reading this 20 years from now, it’s not going to make any sense. This is Kendrick Lamar, a very famous and acclaimed rapper. And what you have here is a shirt called Vegan Brownies . Kendrick never wore the shirt: I Photoshopped it onto him (nod bad huh?). So anyway Mr. Lamar here was recently involved in some pretty serious rap-type “beef” (i.e. disagreement) with another very famous rapper, that being a certain cuddly Canadian popster named Aubrey Drake, and well that particular beef got just a little heated. In fact that beef was basically burned to a crisp by the time “K-Dot” (Kendrick) had released his third track, and Drake (aka Champagne Papi, aka Drizzie, aka Six God) was left holding an ice bag to his head and reeling towards the exit. It was so nasty I could only listen to those Kendrick tracks once, and I’m not even a Drake fan in the first place (cringe by osmosis). Now about this shirt? The print actually dates from about 3 years ago. At that time I cooked up the new OVVL logo you might have noticed, which is pretty much just 3 Qs (from the ZBQ “block” logo) arranged to look like an owl’s face. I wrestled for some time over whether or not to use the logo, because the aforementioned Monsieur Drake has had a clothing line for many years now which he calls OVO, and its main logo and image is of a cute li’l owl bird. But I thought my li’l owl was cuter. So this print pretty much sums up how I decided to run with that decision. Vegan brownies? You’ll need to ask Anthony Fantano about that one.
In 2018 I made a bunch of Dripp shirts, and this is one of them . I was really into dyeing fabric at the time, and came up with some really cool colors (this one’s sort of a vibrant hunter orange). I’m hoping to do some dyeing this summer, for the first time in about 5 years, so I can cook up some more colors that are very hard to find elsewhere. Did you know that it’s basically impossible to find mustard colored blank t-shirts? There’s some kind of conspiracy involved there, I’m sure of it, because who doesn’t like mustard?
New shirt alert! This small “The Master” crop sleeved tee is also, as it turns out, custom dyed. One thing I tried to do a lot during my dyeing binge was make cool transitions between 2 colors, and this is an example of one that turned out quite well. Soft water-based ink. The model is virtual, so don’t worry about sweat stains. Just sayin.
Oooh, I just realized that this AI model looks a lot like a woman I dated a long time ago. She was a little unhinged, and it didn’t end well. In fact, I could see her in a wrestling ring just like this one, ready to gouge my eyes out. You know what’s great about this shirt, besides the fact that the print is a completely one-of-a-kind heat press composition that won’t be reproduced again? It’s that this is a concept shirt that can be completely customized to your desired size, style and color scheme. Not only that, but it’s available in every ladies’ size up to an XL and even mens’ small and medium. How about that? I’m sorry baby, whatever it is I did, I’m sorry.
Speaking of heat press compositions (I also sometimes call them “mash-ups”), this “Keyed-Up” print mashes an existing print with some patented ZBQ inanity, never to be produced again. This one is also available in every ladies’ size as well as men’s small and medium, and is 100% customizable (well go on, try it out ).
The most exciting new piece of the month for me by far has to be this Extra Large Spiraling Undebs crewneck sweater . This thing took several days to make and is an example of some of the patchwork stuff I was putting together last year. I made quite a few very large patchworks from existing scraps and so far only a couple of them have been turned into garments: this was one of the first ones, and it turned out really cool if I say so myself. Most definitely one of one: don’t think I could reproduce this one even if I tried.
The only new kids’ shirt for this month is this Boomboxx youth large ringer tee . Youth large fits most kids in the 12-14 age range. The print is one of my favorites and dates right back to 2004 when I was first getting my hands dirty with screen printing. The box in the image is a cheap Sears special and I had the exact same one back in the early 80s.
Hmmm, another “The Master” print (thanks to Brain Trust for that one) on another custom-dyed color transition. I wanted to make this AI model look like a fairy or pixie or something but it wasn’t really doing pointed ears so well. Anyway it’s a large shirt, the print is made with super soft water based ink and the sleeves are re-porpoised. Yes, that’s right, I stole them from a dolphin.
Here’s another cool concept shirt: a Man Up long sleeved , also featuring a nice soft water-based print. Ducks, what’s not to love? This artwork is actually from a really old set of clip art from the 90s. I tried to track down who the original artist was, but where it was clip art there’s a good chance he or she was never even credited in the first place. The “Man Up” slogan came from a batch of old acetates I inherited from a screen printing shop I bought out in 2019. If life gives you ducks, make duck soup .
This medium ladies Transition baseball shirt is one of the oldest shirts we still have in our inventory: the print dates back to around 2014 and it was sewn not long after that. It’s actually a combination of a soft all-over discharge print with a custom dyed piece of fabric. Pretty gear. You could do worse, you know what I mean? You could do worse.
The print on this Don’t Do It medium men’s ringer is another strange one I inherited from that print shop. No idea of the original context for it: I suspect perhaps a vague anti-drug message. I like things that don’t necessarily make sense. Become comfortable with being uncomfortable. Lean into it.
Out of all the AI images I generated for model shots last year, this one is my favorite. But now that I think of it, this virtual person also looks a lot like that disturbed ex. Weird dude. Anyway, this Mask One ladies long sleeved shirt is also a concept item, this one available in every size right up to a men’s XL if you so desire. Just to to clarify something about the concept shirts: all of the prints shown are already on the fabric, ready for action. So when you order one of these, it’s just a matter of sewing it together for you. That generally only takes an hour or two, and then we ship it out to you ASAP. Everything is made right here in Lower Wedgeport Nova Scotia, home of the world-famous Tuna Tournament (once attended by Ernest Hemingway I might add). This print is based on art created by our old friend James Kirkpatrick .
That’s it for this month folks. But I promise not to let another month go by before I write again. I’ve got a huge amount of new stuff to tell you about: been very busy with the new appliques, which are incredibly time-consuming but also incredibly cool. And on and on. We don’t stop, and we don’t quit. Talk soon amigos.
