Graphic Tease

Jacqueminot from Wardrobe_Remix on Flickr rocks her t-shirt with a scarf and straight skirt.

I've been admiring the above look, for its breezy formality. Fitted skirt with a tee, graphic or otherwise.

Only thing is... I typically despise printed tees, especially those with one-liners. Firstly, the design usually warps in an unsightly fashion around my otherwise sightly jubblies; secondly, I feel anything I need to say, sartorially, can be expressed adequately enough through a well-chosen accessory or well put-together ensemble.

But, ever one to expand my repertoire, I've decided to hunt down the perfect graphic tee, which would be pretty and tuck-in-able or attitudinous but not bratty or baiting.

Pretty and Tuck-in-able

Idylle "Moon Lovers" tee from www.80spurple.com. They have so many hot tees, it's radick!!

Gorgeous! Romantic! Vaguely steampunk! I might widen the neck a bit to play on the romanticness. This shirt screams for a light pink or light blue skirt.

Idylle "Leota" tee from www.80spurple.com.

Maybe not with a skirt, but with wide-legged, highwaisted trousers and red accessories. Or black skinny jeans and red Minnetonka kilty mocs.

"Renaissance" tee by Heintz Sebastian at www.threadless.com.

This Threadless tee is fresh this week and reminds me of a beautiful summer evening in Paris. The electric blue is so striking and an excellent foil to the otherwise "old school" sketch-style graphic. Le sigh!

Sublimination "Kaleidoscope" tee at www.urbanoutfitters.com.

I've been seeing a lot of this printing technique this spring, wherein the graphic is printed over a shirt that has not been laid flat beforehand. This is probably the best application of the technique I've seen so far, subtle and very pretty with a keyhole back! Added bonus: the longer length and elasticized waist, making it perfect for either the skirt combo I have in mind (tuck it in up to that waist), or with pants/leggings/what have you on a day with a less buttoned-up mood.

"Paper Cranes" top at www.modcloth.com.

Bird themes just never get old for me! This top is gorgeous and has an open back that ties closed. The perfect, non "Hanes Beefy T" neckline, gorgeous fluttery sleeves and a fabulous sketch print with that highliy desirable longer length for tucking or for not tucking. Less a t-shirt and more a blouse and therefore more my speed. May certainly be worth the $50 price tag.

Bridging the Gap

MaMa sailor-collar tee from www.80spurple.com.

This tee "bridges the gap" between pretty and attitudinal. I love trompe l'oeil which is about as close to a one-liner tee as I'll get. Sailor themes are usually not my favorite, but in black and white this print seems more artistic than kitschy. My favorite feature? The back of the shirt features a print of the classic sailor "bib" collar with "U.S.S. MAMA" printed on the back! Attitudinal!! This top calls for tucking in to a skirt, a low cut jumper or suspenders. And when it gets old, plain old black jeans and Converse.

"Earl Bacon Tee" by Frank Kozik at www.kidrobot.com.

Holy crap! This tee is unwearably wearable. I love food themes, but tend not to buy them on account of the "super kawaii" factor that doesn't really fit my aesthetic (but suits me fine for kitchenware!) I love how what you first see is pretty ribbons of color, then the realization that it's bacon, then that the bacon is "smorkin'", and that the bacon has a crude 'tude. I would love to mix this into a lady-like Sixties-inspired get-up, complete with little day-glo hat.

Attitudinous but Not Bratty

Sixpack France vs Clark Magazine at www.cremedelacreme.fr.

Uh, please excuse the douche. There are so many graphic tees with prints of girls on them (I would feel like the Icee dog holding the Icee cup with yet another Icee dog on it). With the exception of Biggy or Scarface, not too many dudes grace t-shirts. And far fewer tees feature awesome, dangerous, mysterious hot French-looking dudes in trench coats!

This is the perfect "throw it on" tee with a vest of any length, really. There is the questionable screen print of a gun in the back placed so that it looks as though the gun is housed in your back pocket, but I would patch it over with a felt applique or screenprint of sunglasses or a giant eye. Hot.

Whitehorse via www.80spurple.com.

Now that I think of it, this one is pretty tuck-in-able too, but I like the lax-ness of letting it hang freely, maybe even as a swimsuit cover-up. I also like the idea of it being half-tucked into some aged, low slung jeans and subtle Western-type footwear. The lips thing treads the line of being too tart-y, but the 3/4 view, giant sparkle and dusky color make it different and attitudinous in the third degree!


And now, the last and least of my Six Quirks: I do not own a TV. When I did have one, I didn't watch it enough to justify buying cable, and when I did watch it, there was nothing on because I didn't have cable. So I sold it a few years ago and have been happily without one since-- but thank goodness for friends and neighbors who have one!

'Til next post, keep steppin'!