The Gamer's T-shirt

Over two weeks ago, I visited friends and family for a weekend in LA. A good friend of mine, Emil, told me he was very conscious of the t-shirts he wore around my boyfriend and me because we always had "such cool and unique shirts." This post is for Emil, but I think some of you out there can find it useful too. Below are my recommendations on where to find the best t-shirts.

My number one choice is Meat Bun. Giant Robot in LA carries their shirts in-store, but you can also find them online at their website. The shirts incredibly soft and made in the USA. They are also the only place you can get Paul Robertson's artwork on a t-shirt. The shirts are still loud in their big designs and use of color, but when referencing a game, the imagery and text are not obvious as to where they come from. My only complaint about them is their complete lack of women's sizes. Though, I like them enough to buy a shirt from them and put the time into altering it so it fits me.

Another shirt company I recommend is Kineda. The shirts are limited run, so I suggest you like them on Facebook or sign up for their mailing list. Keep a look out for their new World Warrior collection which is officially licensed by Capcom. Their interpretations of game characters are simple and Hello Kitty-like. The screen printing on the shirts is absolutely perfect and they use my favourite choice in basic clothing, American Apparel.

One game clothing company I have always admired, but have never been able to afford is King of Games. They carry t-shirts, hoodies, and button down shirts. All of their designs revolve around retro games and their work is incredibly detailed. It even comes packaged in a cool box! Though, the shirts run ¥3500 to ¥6000. The bad news: after overseas shipping, you're pretty much paying BAPE prices on t-shirts. The good news: the chances of running into someone with the same shirt at PAX is slim.

One company I discovered recently is Bitmap'd. Their designs are simple and subtle. Though, I can't speak for the screen print or the t-shirt quality, there's only one way to find out. (They also do not carry women's sizes.)

Here are two places I don't recommend for gaming t-shirts. Shirt.Woot carries limited run designs, which is a good thing. Though, recently they increased their prices and stopped printing on American Apparel shirts. They switched those out for cheaper shirts made in Honduras. I wouldn't have minded the price increase if they stayed with American Apparel, but this move made me stop buying from them completely.

The other place I don't recommend is Threadless. They are a great company with good quality t-shirts, but do not buy their gaming shirts. Why? EVERYONE has my Space Invaders shirt and it's kind of embarrassing. Not only do I see it on at least ten different people every time I go to PAX, I even ran into an a grey-haired, overweight man at an appliance store wearing it. That's how common it is. Some people don't mind this, but I am not one of those people. I'm not saying don't buy from Threadless at all. The problem with my shirt is that I bought it as a re-print.  If it stays limited run, your experience with the shirt would probably differ from mine, but you never know if a limited run shirt from Threadless is going to be re-printed or not. 

Stay tuned for a future post on recommendations on what to wear with that gaming t-shirt!