DistrictTees: The Joke's On You
What is it about the joke-tee that is so potentially alluring? Could it be the irresistible opportunity to shock and offend? Is it tied to the indie-culture affinity for semi-obscure references? The combination of the two? Is it the same hope for wit by association that drives people to quote Will Ferrell movies or put MR. PIBB + RED VINES = CRAZY DELICIOUS in their away messages (or on their t-shirts)? Whatever the case may be, such shirts are not only prevalent, but their online cottage industry is quite lucrative. Though they may be a few steps farther up the evolutionary fashion ladder than sparkly “Princess” t-shirts, their tacky brethren, most “humorous” tees fall more than short of funny into the realm of simply corny, crass, and cringe-inducing. So naturally we were a little anxious to read The Rock Creek Rambler’s recent post about a brand-new source of comic hipster tees, almost all emblazoned with some sort of DC theme.
For the most part, DistrictTees.com stays with the traditional Urban Outfitters formula of faux-vintage graphics and two-bit puns, though both the designs and the punch lines often look like they were made by middle school students who downloaded a shareware font pack and decided to type a few pee pee jokes into MS Paint. It would be easy to utterly dismiss DistrictTees based on most of their apparel, but there are a few puzzlingly clever designs. We admit we liked the “I’m Late Because I Ride The Red Line” shirt, and a jab at the popped collar camp is always appreciated (though we aren't sure what those arrows are supposed to be pointing at. Is that a nipple joke in diguise?). They have a few to indulge your regionalist tendencies as well. They also offer a local alternative to the Neighborhoodies monopoly on urban neighborhood gear, though they don’t provide anywhere near the amount of customization that Neighborhoodies does. We hope that if DistrictTees wants to carve out a niche for themselves in our city, they’ll try to cater more towards District in-jokes and at least half-clever references, rather than tawdry venereal disease puns. The site does include a submission form if you have any better design ideas, and they offer a 10% discount on your first order if you feel like grabbing that Red Line shirt.
Picture taken from DistrictTees.com.