02/12/08

This tee is brought to you by David and Goliath. I remember picking this up in Vegas, right after I won my very first Duck Duck Goose World Championship in 2006!

It was a tough battle, but I beat out Little Jimmy from LA, Sally from NY, Ricardo from Italy, and Giancarlo from Spain. The final round was relentless, lasting for about two hours. I like the Heather Grey effect on this tee out of all my Greys. It has the right combination of Steel, White, and it's not pink at all.


Unlike being a Rock/Paper/Scissors Champion, the Duck Duck Goose Champ requires ALOT more skill. You have to have the element of surprise, keen strategy, fast footwork and turning skills, and awesome hand-eye coordination.


I actually know the dude who was head designer at David & Goliath. He's a cool dude from MTL, and he's on to greater, much greater things right now! He took them from "Boys are Smelly" to a whole new generation of apparel beyond just tees.


90/10 Cotton Poly blend which makes it a bit softer, Made in the USA. I'm still waiting for my "Two-Time Duck Duck Goose World Champion" tee.

MUCH love to all the folks who have been giving CNG Concepts a welcome kickoff and warm reception! Stay Tuned, big things are comin'!!

I see you Capetown South Africa, Hong Kong, India, Macedonia, Barcelona, France, Germany, London, Mexico, and the rest of North America, HUGE Shout Outs!!


Reminds me of a childhood favorite "I See You..."

"Romper Stomper Bomper Boo, Tell Me Tell Me, Tell Me Do!!!"

01/12/08

A big shout out to my folks at Marc Ecko and Marc Ecko Cut and Sew!!

This tee combines an iconic Skull with the NYC fan favorite: Pigeons.


I always get good comments and good looks on this tee. I quite like it myself. The skull hidden from far is quite well done, and the Pigeons are enough that they completely WORK.


I even like how they made sure some Pigeons made it off the body and onto the sleeve. Great detail! Of course, it doesn't hurt for me that it's on a black body, so automatically it gets props.


The M.E. Cut and Sew jock tag woven seam label standard. The two sewing needles at the bottom of the skull are a future classic.


The little story about quality, and workmanship, and blah blah, but the signature of Marc Ecko himself is enough to put some cred behind this piece.


100% Cotton, Made in Meh-Hee-Co? Why not the good ole US of A Mr. Marc?


Really loving the contrast stitching on the back neck and shoulders. I would have put a Pigeon poop stain on the bottom of the tee just for an exclamation point.


Sealed with a kiss, or just sign on the dotted line.

30/11/08

Today's tee is a feel-good tee. Everytime I wear this tee, I can't help but smile all day. Sometimes other peoples even smile back at me.

I picked up this tee while I was in on vacation, but I really can't remember exactly where of all places in the Universe. It's killing me. It could have been in Banff? Or maybe even in Winterpeg?


This will be me in the summertime. "Life is good", but I hope my arms and legs don't turn black from all the charcoal. Either that, or I hope I don't have my black socks pulled up to my knees, and black socks with Sandals....puke!


I live by this motto each and every damn day. Well said. I'm glad they had the wherewithall to put it on a jocktag.


100% Cotton, Made in Peru. Life is Good.

29/11/08

Today's tee is brought to you by another Life Altering event in my life: Wrestlemania 18:

"Homee What?" Yup! The pinnacle, The Rock vs Hogan, two of the greatest icons head to head, for the first time, for the last time, right in Toronto, Canada!


The boys put on a great show, and this main event was no letdown! The originator, the OG, Hulk Hogan, and the next generation's best of the best The Rock. The WWF saw the passing of the torch for the generational gap right before their eyes.


I've had the pleasure and fortunate circumstance to see two live Wrestelmania's in my life. This one will stick out because we were almost touching the Roof of the Skydome!


It was Still known as WWF in '02, and forever will be in my mind.


March 17th, 2002. Just a few fateful weeks before I moved to Toronto. Weird how fate works itself out that way, huh?


WWF for Life.


I told ya so.

28/11/08

Today's tee is brought to you by the NBA ALL STAR GAME 2007 in Las Vegas. Picture it, 10 days in Vegas, (5 were for the Magic Tradeshow), more people than the city could handle, the strip was pretty much shut down, cab lines were 45 minutes plus, and hotel lobbies were like night clubs.

There were alot of people disappointed in Vegas that year, but it really was utter chaos. By the night of my second last night there, I just wanted to go home and sleep in my own bed. We actually crashed my boy's hotel room for the last 3 nights, so there were 5 people staying in one room by then! There were fights galore in the hotel lobbies, rumors of 2 shootings on the strip, and every table was rammed with ballers and wannabe ballers. I swear they must have rigged the slot machines that week too!!


This is pretty much the only remnant of that weekend. Usually there is NO evidence allowed (road trip rule #2), but this tee was an exception. I usually don't like wearing tees with years and dates on them either, but this one always gets me asked, "Did you really go there?" "YUP." Having to endure the Magic Tradeshow, a previous trip to LA and SF, and then the All Star Game fiasco, wow, exhausted doesn't begin to describe it.


100% Cotton, Made in Honduras. Honduras is another one of those places where you can get cheap tees made cheaply and fast. This one being an Adidas blank, is not bad quality though.

27/11/08

Today's tee is brought to you by the Dallas Cowboys:

Got Five? Five what?


Playing on the popular "Got Milk" ads, Got Five asks if your team Got Five?


When Reebok took over the NFL, it was a sad day. But they did come correct with a few things, like not putting their logo on anywhere on this tee except on the inside label.


The answer to Got Five? We do! Five RINGS that is! Championship Rings!!


Five Time Superbowl Championship Rings!


Just seeing if this 08-09 team can win it all this year? I'll tell you in Feb 09!!

26/11/08

Today's tee is plain and simple. Dallas Cowboys Football.

Pretty simple, right?


Got it yet?


Gotta have the Dallas Star on the back hit.

Reebok. 100% Cotton, Made in Honduras. FYI, Honduras is where you go to get cheap tees made fast. This one is actually pretty good quality though. I guess they took their time on this run.

25/11/08

This was a series of tees that is also close to my heart. Again, as a buyer, I would have certain influences on how some brands would look like, and put in some collaborative creative inspiration into things. This tee was done for our house brand Antidote, and was produced by a third party company to remain nameless.

The tee was actually well ahead of its time. We wanted something NY influenced, but denim friendly and with a twist. There's a whole helluva lot more happening than at first meets the eye.


First off, the embroidery over top of the applique was something we wanted to kick things up a notch. The "A" was supposed to be reminiscient of the "A" subway train. The patch with the trees, not sure really. Both applique patches were executed very well.


You can see the names of a few newspapers in there "Globe and Mail", "Daily Telegraph". This gave it a more worldly feel, almost intellectual. The artwork came out well, almost like broken concrete chunks. Even the contract ringer collar was just enough to make it pop.


I had to put in the "New York Times", I would have put in "USA Today" but that would just be gawdy.


I have no idea what this says, and I never asked. It's on the back of the tee, on the right hand bottom side. The letters are embroidered over top of a screen print. Again, heavy on the embellishments!


Louise, you HAD to sneak in an Italian paper in there, didn't you? This is right across the center back. Well done! It really does work though.


Antidote. The pill logo existed already, we wanted to play around with a few color combinations to keep it fresh. 100% Cotton, Made in China. I think I will make a return to the whole creative process again. Stay Tuned!!

24/11/08

On a recent trip to the Vault, I came upon some old-school WWF tees. WOW, the memories of these times...

The Dudley boys were definitely one of the more dynamic new generation tag teams of the WWF. My favorites of all time would have to be the Hart Foundation, the British Bulldogs, the Road Warrios, Ax and Smash Demolition (not Crush), and Greg the Hammer Valentine & Brutus the Barber Beefcake.


Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley definitely brought their A-Game every night though. They had the charisma, they had the mic skills (not the best, but skills), and still had the athleticism. Their signature move of putting opponents through a folding table is still legendary in the WWF.


Audiences poured in by the droves and tuned in by the millions to hear Bubba Ray say, "D-Von.......Get The Table!!" D-Von would run under the ring, pull out a table, unfold it, and set it up. The rest, as they say, is history:



Down the right arm of the long sleeve, "TESTIFY"!!! I STILL remember Boxing Day 2000, AW Metrotown, we had the busiest and most successful Boxing Day in AW Metro and BC History. We celebrated like Big Willies once we broke the sales record, and we were still open for business! We put the tiniest Part Timer through the sweatshirt clearance table at the end of the day. It was CLASSIC. Customers running for cover, staff laughing their heads off, all the cashiers were toting him away and hugging him. CLASSIC. Brant, if you're reading this, let's do it all over again!!


It always was, is, and will be and forever will be known as the WWF to me. This is the signifier of WWF vs WWE times for the WWF. Only the true heads in my circle still call it by WWF because it really is. 100% Cotton, Made in USA. Stay Tuned for more from the Vault!!