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Triltaison wrote:

One of the best shirts as far as not being overtly nerdy and that I remember loving in high school was a Fruits Basket babydoll cut tee from (iirc) GEE circa 2001. I'm not sure if this is an image of the exact shirt or a copy, but I wore the heck out of this thing for years.

That is a really cute design. Subtle, a call-out to other fans, but good looking and not a problem for anyone who isn't.

Basically, I too am interested in buying t-shirts that honor the original creators, look good, and will be attractive to people who see me who aren't fans of the show or know anything about it.

I had a Madotsuki-esque t-shirt made (the 6 checkerboard squares) and I've worn the heck out of it. I need to replace it as the print is disintegrating severely.

Geometric emblems are my go-to in general as they work well as crests.

The official RWBY t-shirts were also pretty good with the exception of Ruby herself; too big a print made it very non-breathable. The others are cool silhouettes that generally just look like colour splashes at a distance.

R315r4z0r wrote:

This isn't specifically about T-Shirts. Basically all anime merchandise that isn't the anime release itself or a figure suffers from this...

And this applies to many things. Wall scrolls, key chains and other accessories and apparel...

This, so much this. And I wouldn't say that the Japanese merch is all beautifully designed either. A lot of stuff in general just seems lazy when it comes to design or cheaply made. I had one or two really nice t-shirts (the Otogi Zoshi one was really nice) and I certainly would buy more, but it isn't necessarily that the designs aren't subtle enough for me as an adult its that some are just plain ugly, boring or would definitely get some weird looks. I would certainly buy much more merchandise, a decent keychain, posters, t-shirts but its almost like companies don't want to work to get my money. They think that just because I'm a fan I'll buy any old junk. I think they are missing out on some sales. They don't have to flood the market with stuff, but I think some nicely designed pieces would sell like hot cakes.

reminds me of how when hot topic initially released yuri on ice merch, a large amount of the items said 'I'm a sexy pork cutlet bowl'. In what context do you wear a shirt that says that

How many geezers, seeing the header, were flashing back to the late 90's, when anime was just becoming the New Young People's Trend, and the real underground VHS-watching anime fans cringed at the very name of "Hook-Ups"? Anime hyper

T-shirt fashions for "grrls" and sk8te-boiz, that didn't really portray any particular character, but just thought they were "anime" if they fanart-depicted a generic wild-haired martial-arts fighter, angry motorcycle teen, magical-girl, or mech-suit babe...If you looked closely, you might notice that they weren't actually within a ballpark of being Goku, Kaneda, Priss, or Usagi, which is why they were being sold to "cool" kids who wanted to show off the trend, and wouldn't know the characters from a hole in the ground if they saw them either...And, of course, generic "ecchi" anime-girl images, because everyone knew they were icky porn cartoons.
https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/2637749-vintage-anime-girl-hook-ups-skate-brand
Basically, if you were an underground fan back then, your anime t-shirt was probably a fan art bootleg too, but at least you knew who it was a shirt OF.

It may still be "pandering" for Hot Topics to look cool in selling the "Cartoon Network audience" anime of Spirited Away, Cowboy Bebop or Jojo, since they know they probably have a bigger market, but at least we've finally gotten to the point where trendy marketers know the shows actually exist.

Yunho wrote:

reminds me of how when hot topic initially released yuri on ice merch, a large amount of the items said 'I'm a sexy pork cutlet bowl'. In what context do you wear a shirt that says that

That it in of itself the point, if you understand what you are wearing is "something that makes you like an idiot in the eyes of the normies" then it means you are looking ONLY to talk to a very specific type of person.

Quote:

I'm looking around and everything seems kind of... poorly designed.

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if it's just going to be a giant colorful graphic plastered all over the front of a shirt, it feels a little bit conspicuous.

From my experience I have not come across many anime theme T-shirts I would consider to be terrible or lazy. In fact I have seen some I quite thought were nice. For instance when I went to see My Hero Academia: Two Heroes I have seen people wearing MHA theme clothing and I thought they looked nice.

Of course my guess is that part of the reason I do not have an issue with these shirts is because I have taken it to be typical when it comes to graphic shirts. Plus it's a part of style known as Urban (which can be split into sub categories or sub cultures such as Goth, Hip Hop, Japanese lolita for example) which is apart of category of clothing personality known as Trendy. I have seen people of this clothing personality and style where graphic T-shirts that are showy with their displays of images and prints exploding out. With that said there are graphic, as well as printed, shirts, that our settle, so it's not like they all need to be showy, and for me I do prefer graphics shirts that are settle in their design. Either that or if they are going to have images that they are are not so busy.

I use to wear shirts like this ranging from having characters on them to one in particular I remember once liking that had graffit like words splattered all over because I thought how the sleeves were design was unique. But when I discovered the concept of clothing personality and learn of my true clothing personality (which is a dominantly Natural (or Casual as is also called) and Classic being second, I no longer wanted to wear clothes like that. This was during a time I was beginning to get in touch with my true self. Now I days I mainly prefer wearing shirts that are either solid color or plaid, but if I do decide to where graphic shirts (and I have some because mom like s to give me some) I would want a design that is either simple or at least not so busy, and it has to represent a part of who I am. In the case of a anime theme shirt it would have to be from a show I like as well as if it's only going to feature a particular character it has to be a character I like.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Another thing as FenixFiesta mentions it's important to wear clothing that fits your body type, but another thing I would add is that if one knows that they are doing they can come off as looking well dress while still wearing anime theme T-shirts. One thing I can suggest is layering. I try it before (during the autumn and winter seasons as layering in warmer season risk my body overheating) and it works wonders. Anime smile

You can pair a graphic shirt with either a button down shirt or jacket. It would be better if the button down shirt/jacket in question compliments the color of your shirt (think the color wheel), but if one has a monochrome (black, white, and grey) shirt then that's perfects as monochrome can be paired with any color.

Lastly while it is true that people do judge others base on the clothing they wear people can also judge base on how one carries themselves. So if you are wearing a anime theme T-shirt in public yet give off the impression that you are ashamed of doing so people are more likely going to judge you even more unfavorable. So if you really like the part of you that is an otaku then be proud of what you wear and display that confidence. People are more willing to respect others more if they carry themselves like this even if they are wearing clothing that is not mainstream. As for the people who would still have a problem with others wearing anime theme clothing despite how confident one carries themselves, why bother trying to appease them given you would not get along well with that person anyway if you had a chance to bond with them?

Cutiebunny wrote:

Google 'Vintage Sailor Moon pillow case' and the first images sum it up in a nice nutshell - Purple haired Sailor Jupiter.

Try it but I could not find it the image of Sailor Jupiter with purple hair. I did find two Sailor Moon pictures that were cute though. ^///^

Triltaison wrote:

One of the best shirts as far as not being overtly nerdy and that I remember loving in high school was a Fruits Basket babydoll cut tee from (iirc) GEE circa 2001. I'm not sure if this is an image of the exact shirt or a copy, but I wore the heck out of this thing for years.

That does look to be a good shirt and something I would not mind wearing given I like Fruit Basket enough (I have not finish the story though), and the design is simple and cute. Anime smile

I also love the Japanese style calligraphy that is on the shirt. Both the style of writing and the design of the characters feel traditional in a Japanese sense.

P.S. Back when I was in high school I use to own a Naruto theme hooded jacket which on the front feature the simple of the Konohagakure Leaf Village and on the back feature Kakashi sharing his signature attack. I likes that jacket, but sadly I lost it one day. Sad

I have a huge weak spot for graphic shirts in general (I have at least...15? anime ones), and I don't really care what people think when I wear them, but I do admit that as the older I get, the more I prefer the shirts that don't (100%) scream "Hey, I bought this at Hot Topic!!".

It's frustrating to me how a lot of the really neat not-so-obvious anime shirts are "Japan-exclusive" in that I'd have to use a shopping service or pray it gets an international release. I love the Uniqlo collabs that they've done with Rose of Versailles, Nintendo, and Shonen Jump, and although some of the shirts were pretty "obvious", a good chunk of them look nice/subtle enough so it doesn't outright scream "hey I am an anime fan look at my shirt!!'.

And not gonna lie, I wear the **** out of the Yokai Watch shirt that came in a Loot Anime (?) crate over a year ago. Legit one of my favorite shirts ever.

Yunho wrote:

reminds me of how when hot topic initially released yuri on ice merch, a large amount of the items said 'I'm a sexy pork cutlet bowl'. In what context do you wear a shirt that says that

I'm actually curious at how many teenagers were allowed (by their parents) to buy those sexy pork cutler bowl merch, haha. Like, my parents were pretty lax with me when I was a teen, but I know they wouldn't allow me to get anything that said I was a sexy _____.

I fell love with Japanese graphic polyester t-shirts which prominently displays anime character in full color. Anime T-shirts sold in the West, both licensed and unlicensed, are just boring to look at. Heck, some of the key arts are lifted straight off from Japanese magazines and books!

Even though I don't wear anime graphic t-shirt open in the public except conventions and events, I do look at design sense applied on Japanese graphic t-shirts. For one thing, I don't like key art/design just pasted at the center of t-shirt and I find off-center print of character along with subtle background pattern more pleasing to look at. That's just my preference.

As for anime t-shirt with subtle designs, even the unlicensed ones in the West are just as boring because of their range of selection. They might have good design sensibilities and witty idea, but they tend to focus only on popular titles that I don't care much about.

I get free licensed anime t-shirts often so I wear them in my house and while doing workout outside. They are ugly, but I find practical use of it. They're ugly to the point of being given away.

I cringe every time I see someone wear an Anime shirt with that a character just slapped on it

Sometimes I walk into Hot Topic just to see the licensed t-shirts with lazy designs. There's rarely any subtlety or finesse to the shirt and instead designers often try the 'billboard' approach that's mentioned in the article.

I don't want a poster design or key art to be on a shirt, I want the shirt to be something more special that that. This is also an issue with items like keychains and lots of jewelry.

The merchandisers must be making money off of the lazy designs if they've kept it up for so long.

Sheleigha wrote:

Rather than those bootleg shirts off eBay, I really enjoy and own a bunch of stuff from those print-design-of-the-day stores. I think of those as fan arts, really, since they are super limited anyhow. But a lot of the designs are great! I often get people complimenting me and starting conversations about my Pokemon ones out in public. Speaking of Pokemon, pokemoncenter.com has some great designs! I have some of those, too..

you have to be careful with some of those print-design-of-the-day stores that work with a lot of fanart. some of those do use fanart they find online without permission from the artists and with nothing going back to the artists. every so often on some sites I see fanartists posting warnings about those kind of sites when they find out their art has been used for profit without their permission. the limited run thing is also something that makes it harder for legal action to be taken against them, especially if the service is based in certain countries that don't take copyright law as seriously.

I'm sure there's legit ones out there, but you have to watch out for the shady ones.

As someone who doesn't care for shirts with giant logos or a JPG plastered in the center, I can certainly empathize. Every once in a while you'll find something with a design that just looks good, but you wouldn't know it's source unless you were familiar with it.

Akamaru_Inu wrote:

UNIQLO's recent Shonen Jump shirts were really fun, I thought. I nabbed a few of those from Disney Springs, and while it's not SJ, they had a very nice Rose Of Versailles one that makes me feel completely undercover when I wear it, and since it's a size smaller than what I usually wear the slimmer fit makes it feel like a dressy shirt (I have this one).

I was going to mention that if no one else did Smile

Many of the designs were more subtle and more along the lines of a neat design even if you didn't know the source.

The only anime T-shirt I own is a FLCL one that was a freebie when purchasing the old Broccoli premium boxset. It's actually pretty subtle, with just the Japanese characters of the name and monochrome silhouettes of different robots/enemies from the series. It's still not something I usually wear in public, since I'd much prefer to keep my fandom to myself. Now if someone started selling some nice polos with more subtle references to series I liked, I might be much more interested.

That being said, my closet currently has at least 50 baggy T-shirts in them. I dress professionally at work, but when I'm off the clock, they're my go-to. And like most good men, I won't throw one out until it's all but disintegrating. Very Happy

Weazul-chan wrote:

Sheleigha wrote:

Rather than those bootleg shirts off eBay, I really enjoy and own a bunch of stuff from those print-design-of-the-day stores. I think of those as fan arts, really, since they are super limited anyhow. But a lot of the designs are great! I often get people complimenting me and starting conversations about my Pokemon ones out in public. Speaking of Pokemon, pokemoncenter.com has some great designs! I have some of those, too..

you have to be careful with some of those print-design-of-the-day stores that work with a lot of fanart. some of those do use fanart they find online without permission from the artists and with nothing going back to the artists. every so often on some sites I see fanartists posting warnings about those kind of sites when they find out their art has been used for profit without their permission. the limited run thing is also something that makes it harder for legal action to be taken against them, especially if the service is based in certain countries that don't take copyright law as seriously.

I'm sure there's legit ones out there, but you have to watch out for the shady ones.

I have definately heard about those being a thing with stealing art (which is annoying... I've even seen a new trend of Pokemon fanarts turned into bootleg plush, ugh). The ones I got actually highlighted the artist, so I think I'm safe with the ones I got.

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