Thursday, November 2, 2017

Making Statements ... with T-Shirts

Attention Slow Fashion buddies and DIYers:
Check out this great tutorial to make your own statement T-shirts with Photoshop.


A statement worth making...
Do you wear your heart on your sleeve?  Or would you rather wear your thoughts on your chest?

Although the concept of slogans on T-shirts is nothing new, the trend has crept out of your concert-loving big brother's closet and onto the runway.  Fashion insiders even coined the very serious-sounding term "Statement T," which cracks me up considering how many past t-shirt "statements" have been things like "I'm With Stupid" and "Not as Think as You Drunk I Am."

That said, there are a lot of important things you can say in a few words.  Other than writing a viral tweet, the most surefire way to reach people with a political or philosophical point is by literally writing it out on your shirt.  For most of us, the personal is political ... and what's more personal than what we wear?


  I particularly like the messages here:


Embed from Getty Images

by Haider Ackermann

Fashion has always been a great tool for self-expression as well as politics.  The souvenir jacketMary Quant's rebellious dresses and Chanel's liberating knits are just a few of the actual political statements made by fashion.  What made more of an impact than when those early feminists burned their bras?!  In the era of text messaging, hashtags and social media, statement T-shirts are an obvious response to our tumultuous political and social world.

Will there ever be enough?






Starting last spring, designer T-shirts with words started popping up in many collections, from Dior's We Should All Be Feminists to Haider Ackermann's Be Your Own Hero -- with too many to count in between. 

Not every statement is revolutionary, either.  There are plenty of cheeky, irreverent takes too -- which feels like a nice callback to the "I'm With Stupid" roots of this whole trend.

For those of you who'd rather leave politics on Facebook,  I've included a few less grandiose shirts below. 

Be sure to watch the killer tutorial at the top of the post to learn how to design your own statement T-shirts using Photoshop.

Click on images/captions for more information.





Keep making those statements, contrairistas!