t-shirt

Web Shirts: 20 rad T-shirt sites

Internet commerce is becoming the new pastime for many in my generation. Generation Yers like to buy interesting T-shirts online, and there's no shortage of sites out there that are putting out an absurd amount of user-generated designs. Here's a list of more than 20 quality sites that put cotton, and inspiration, on your back.

Readymade: These services sell shirts that are designed by users and professionals.

Threadless is one of the most popular shirtmakers out there. It started out with user votes to pick out which shirts would go on sale, and have since moved on to independent designers. When shirts sell out, they're typically not for sale again unless the demand becomes great. They're also set to open a retail store in Chicago next month.

Glarkware, a small Canadian shirt company, is based out of Toronto, Ontario, and has a fairly eccentric line of humor-related shirts. They've also got a line of T-shirts on the way for toddlers.

Shirt.Woot. From the same bunch that does good ol' Woot.com and Wine.Woot.com, is Shirt.Woot.com--a one-shirt-per-day service that rolls out a new design every night at midnight Central time. Every shirt is always $10 with free shipping, along with the option to get it delivered in two days for another five bucks. While a good deal of the shirts are designed by professionals, the service also runs a weekly "derby" with user-generated designs. The most popular design goes on sale, and the designer gets a cut of the profits.

Bountee is a hybrid service that offers both professionally designed T-shirts and a build-it-yourself solution. Bountee features a variety of "Web 2.0" features like tagging, user ratings, and commenting. It's also got a really slick, easy-to-use design.

Split The Atom is a U.K.-based T-shirt company that's pretty much exactly like Threadless, but with a smaller selection. It also takes user designs in return for a one-time cash prize.

Design by Humans has a very small collection of shirts, but offers some pretty decent prize money for winning designers with a daily, weekly, and monthly design contest. Each designer also gets their own profile page for listing any background information and to showcase some of their other works.

BustedTees and Defunker are two very different Net T-shirt services from the same company. Bustedtees is more about humor, while Defunker offers more designer solutions akin to Threadless. Both sites are really slick, but between the two, Defunker feels a bit snappier. There's also a pretty large price gap, with most Bustedtees topping out at around $16, and Defunker averaging in the high-$20s and mid-$30s.

T-ShirtHell. There's a reason this site has a warning page and a hellish name. These shirts are the kind that will get you stares in public, and usually not for a good reason. Definitely not for the faint of heart, or workplace.

The Cotton Factory doesn't actually make cotton, but they have a very solid selection of designer, and humor T-shirts. There's even a section of T-shirts less than 10 bucks. There's some real gems in this place, especially if you like "ninja" apparel.

Threadless to open Chicago retail store in September

Online T-shirt retailer Threadless has announced it will be opening its first brick-and-mortar retail store in its hometown of Chicago next month. The store will open its doors on Friday, September 14, and will celebrate the launch with two free concerts that night (one all ages, one over 18).

Threadless has been hailed for its innovative business model, which it calls an "ongoing T-shirt design competition." Creatively inclined fans can submit their own T-shirt design ideas, and winning selections can rake in $2,000 in cash for the designer. There are plenty of quirky features, too--if you submit … Read more

Deal of the day: Nerd shirts for $5

The same people who brought you the Biitles have reduced prices on some of their other inside-joke T-shirts for the technocrat.

Some of NerdyShirts.com's normally $20 shirts are on sale for $5 and $6, making it a $15 to $14 deal.

I guess you can never have enough hexadecimal code shirts, right?

Still, the Digg shirt is pretty cool.

What: Nerdy T-shirts for $5 How much: $5 Shipping: Starts at $5.75 depending on method Where: Nerdyshirts.com When: Through unknown date

iTees iPhone T-shirt Search (iPhone App)

As an illustration of the idea that just about any app can be made for iPhone, iTees iPhone T-shirt Search lets you search among thousands of Cafe Press T-shirts right from your phone. More of a Web site than an app, iTees iPhone T-shirt Search is already set for touch-sensitive scrolling so you can get a feel for the iPhone interface as you search for Cafe Press T-shirts.

Web site link: http://shirts.meetees.com/itees/

Wear this t-shirt, look even geekier

This isn't a gadget, but I felt obliged to post it here on Crave for two reasons: 1) we all love corny blog humor, as much as we hate to admit it; and 2) I suffered through four years of high school Latin, right through that excruciating Aeneid-based AP exam. But in retrospect (i.e. once you're no longer getting graded on it), Latin really is kind of cool, especially since it gives you fun insider details as to what the stuff in that HBO series Rome is really about. Plus, the mashup of an ancient language with … Read more

Flexy solar cells: Concert T-shirts in disguise

In the solar energy world everyone is talking about CIGS, or cells made up of copper indium gallium selenide.

They cost less to make and are flexible, which makes it easy to incorporate into roof shingles or building materials. The sample photographed here from DayStar Technologies would shatter if it were a silicon solar cell. DayStar and others will begin commercial production of CIGS cells next year.

But the best part is how they get made: The pattern on the solar cell is made through silk screening--the same industrial process that brought you the Lynyrd Skynyrd muscle shirt.

"We … Read more