At the heart of the new GFunk and Batz Street Series T-Shirt range lie bright and playful designs, bold graphics, and an inherent sense of soul. The collection pushes the envelope of football design, drawing inspiration from graffiti, pop culture and art. A new cut and soft combed cotton completes the urban outfit. Best worn with black or indigo denim, casual jacket and white sneakers.

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Inspired by dark, out of the way bars, Places We Should Go is a project by Mark Sarmel that revolves around four imaginary bars. They’re just the type of place one might accidentally stumble into and instantly feel at home, or not, but then the best adventures are often those that are unexpected.

The fashion Gods of the world blessed me with a sneak peek inside the forthcoming Made in Space Spring/Summer 2010 collection by Sydney fashion label Eleventh Commandment. Five months and 120 pieces later, the innovative line offers Australian made denim and apparel for both men and women including: jeans, chinos, tees, shorts, dresses, bodysuits, singlets and boardies.

I’m digging the assortment of fabrics and illustrations which designers Henry Holland and Joshua Oldfield experimented with to create a grungy, tasteful look. More importantly, groundbreaking subtle reinforced crutches and customised stitching means your denim won’t tear and you’ll never have to endure another tee or singlet losing its shape again. Catch the line hitting respectable boutiques around the nation this September.

Chances are these people didn’t think their day of reckoning was fast approaching when they awoke and got dressed that morning. Or perhaps they did? Hmmm. Either way, our friends over at the UpHaa website have an astonishing collection of mug shots starring the recently arrested in totally inappropriate attire.

With so many t-shirt labels coming and going these days it is a good thing to see some sticking around. London-based Ivory Skies has been around for nearly two years now — which in t-shirt language is long. The brand’s new collection has uncovered some more ancient drawings that sit nicely on a printed tee. Designer Carlo Salanitri has built somewhat of a cult following amongst the t-shirt community, with a large online following.

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This very clever stop-motion animation is by Rhet and Link and features 222 t-shirts. They actually changed t shirts more than 100 times in order to make this video. Now that’s what we call dedication.

I generally don’t like t-shirts so much, but I really like the ones at The Martinez Design Project, the Etsy store for designer Leslie Martinez. Her work transcends the glut of silkscreened clip art in the DIY aesthetic.

Lola and Alex are the couple behind Lovey and Dovey handcrafted tees. I’m fond of their minimal use of erratic patterns and overexposed photography prints that front their tees. Although they’re all made in a men’s small only, this one-only size still looks pretty snazzy on us females, too.

Junior Massive is a newly launched Australian boutique t shirt label making limited edition tees using only Australia cotton. It’s street meets indie; design meets durability; edgy fashion meets edgy fashion. We have them for sale in the Lost At E Minor online store.

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One Last Ounce is an experimental project exploring surreal imagery on an abstract cut. Says designer Jake Jelicich on his creative rationale: ‘I wanted to make thin, unique, comfortable tees that flowed and moved with the night. And I wanted the art to be dark, but sarcastic, mystical and inspiring, all in the same glance. These shirts are about long nights with good friends, being spontaneous, and letting the street lights guide you home’.

From this artist selection of t-shirts comes this Michael Gillette illustrated t-shirt, limited edition and distributed in a vinyl sleeve, with a biography of the artist on the back of the sleeve. Each tee is numbered and signed by the artist, and comes in organic cotton.

From this artist selection of t-shirts comes this Christina Koustospirou illustration, silkscreened on a limited edition t-shirt, and distributed in a vinyl sleeve, with a biography of the artist on the back of the sleeve. Every t-shirt is numbered and signed by the artist, and comes in organic cotton.

From this artist selection of t-shirts comes this Mydeadpony illustrated t-shirt, silkscreened on a limited edition tee, and distributed in a vinyl sleeve, with a biography of the artist on the back of the sleeve. Every t-shirt is numbered and signed by the artist, and comes in organic cotton.

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New York-based designer Ryan Sullivan’s shirts are printed in his studio in low runs. His latest batch works with geometric space on silky cotton poly blend shirts.

Seattle-based design studio, Dumb Eyes, have some awesome t-shirt designs, logos and typography up on their website, all of which showcases their minimalist, brightly colored, and tightly patterned aesthetic.

Oh boy! This is fun. So fun, in fact, that it makes me want to have kids. Now! These t-shirts by Greek company Albino are colourinable, so kids can add their own little splashes of colour and then cruise the streets with their own artwork emblazoned proudly across their chests. What’s more, all of the designs are hand-drawn and hand printed in-house, using sweatshop free, super soft American Apparel T-shirts to ensure a high quality product. Albino also prints using water-based, PVC-free inks and non- toxic markers. Hmmm, ok, so where has my wife snuck off to?

I’m tired of t-shirts. They’re utilitarian and comfortable in the summer, but I’m beginning to feel that they’re really lazy. They’re just billboards for brands, bands, and ideologies, and there’s usually not much thought put into their design. They’re the textile equivalent of the obnoxious status messages on Facebook. If I have to read one more clever slogan or look at one more badly-silkscreened image on someone’s chest I think I’m going to crawl into a hole. T-shirts add to the feeling that everyone is just screaming at everyone else in this overgrown, over-stimulated, anti-intellectual, throw-away culture. I like the idea of getting older and maturing. I look forward to grey hair and wrinkles. I like the idea of showing respect and dignity through your clothes. I like suspenders. Look at the above image from Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise to see what I mean. I’m just not into the perpetual adolescence so many people seem to be stuck in, and t-shirts, especially expensive fashion-y t-shirts, are on par with collector sneakers in terms of being indicative of how youth-fixated we’ve become. I know a lot of Lost At E Minor readers and contributors don’t feel the same way, but I thought I’d just throw that out there.

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Illustrator Hope Gangloff has a stack of her ‘election’ tees from the previous US election available for sale which she created with the talented New York-based artist (and her hubbie, no less!), Ben Degen. Even though they were done to mark Bush’s reappointment, they still kinda sum up her mood on the tussle between Obama and McCain. ‘If the election gets stolen’, she says. ‘What say we burn down the capital instead of blogging about it?’. Hmmm, now there’s an idea.

Threads or Dead is a new Australian-based online clothing store, based in Perth, and selling streetwear and contemporary fashion for both guys and girls. Says site founder Justin Greenwood: ‘As well as stocking some of the more well known brands, we also import a lot of labels exclusively from America, and produce a small range of our own clothing. We want to sell clothing that is unique and often has a story behind it. We don’t want to sell clothing that is available in your average High Street store’.

‘We are collaborating with up-and-coming illustrators and designers to produce our own range of clothing. The first designs, are t-shirts. The first by Paris and Tokyo based illustrator J*WLS, and the second by Venezuelan born, New York based designer Yker Moreno. The t-shirts are limited to only 50 units each, and every tee has a unique handwritten number on the rear, just like you would see on an art print’.

Seriously, all jokes aside, we really need to tear ourselves away from our computers every once in a while. These shirts, on sale at Threadless, may be intended as a light-hearted jab at modern culture, but who will be laughing when our hands become gnarled claws from decades of ceaseless typing and our spinal columns have fused solid from lack of movement? Evil monkeys, that’s who.