Monsieur T has always provided us with plenty of kick ass tees to rave about on a regular basis. However, with the sizzling season officially upon us, our good friends have upped the ante on their kick ass-ness to not only warm the cockles of our hearts, but our otherwise naked torsos as well. Their scorching new Summer ‘09 collection features designs from a gaggle of top-notch talents such as Arbito (best known for teaming up with MHAK, and Evan B. Harris). While there’s no shortage of eye-popping graphics on this set, there are very limited quantities of the actual shirts. So whether you’re walking around half-naked and need to cover up to get into that fast food restaurant or you’re just looking for a top that will catch that special someone’s attention while cruising the skate park this summer, we suggest you head on over to the Monsieur T website and grab something before they’re all gone.

The last time Monsieur T and Hecklewood collaborated on an art exhibit it was to show off some serious skate decks. Having enjoyed success with their Wood Pushers exhibit back in December, two of our favorite tee design lines are primed for yet another brilliant presentation. The spanking new Noir, Blanc, et Gris exhibit at Hecklewood Gallery in Portland is all set to roll out with a reception on March 5th from 7 to 10 p.m. The show will feature contributions from Spear favorites like Royal Remarkable, working within the color scheme of black, white, and gray.

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Being able to stay in business for five years is a good sign you’ve achieved a suitable level of success. In these tough economic times most companies would be forced to celebrate with a few noisemakers and an anniversary cake in the break room. While savings are certainly on the mind of the hat and apparel masterminds at Monsieur T, it’s not their wallets they’re worried about, it’s yours. To celebrate five years of churning out quality designs, the Portland producers of fine wearable prints are passing the savings on to you with a festive five day sale. From now until midnight PST on Friday (1/16), hats and apparel are 30% to 50% off. So head on over to their site and get a slice of that sweet anniversary pie for yourself.

Skateboard art just keeps getting better and better. Like graffiti, it’s made its way from street level with a flare for deliquency, to carrying content dope enough to warrant a gallery show. If you happen to be in Portland this week, be sure to check out Wood Pushers, a show curated by Monsieur T. It’s all happening at Hecklewood Gallery. Check out their site for a list of artists and some of the work to be featured. Contributing artists were given the choice of painting a blank deck, or creating a piece with a skating-related theme, which should make for some interesting eye candy.

Moving right along with the Veuve Clicquot Recipe I’ve been slowly but surely completing for you this week… Since we’ve successfully added one part each of design and ambiance, we’re going to go ahead and fold-in one part expertise today. Successful businesses invariably depend on exceptional people, and VC is no exception, its tradition of expertise having been laid into place by Madame Clicquot. At the ripe age of 27, she took over the family business of wine making from her late husband, Francois Clicquot. The Madame began what what must be considered one of the most impressive careers of the era, both pioneering within her industry, and setting an important example for other aspiring female entrepreneurs. Through brilliant ingenuity of her own, she revolutionized how champagne was made and mass produced when she invented the process of riddling in 1816. She went on to leave her legacy to people whom she trusted, and the brand grew so that when she died in 1866, she was the richest woman in Europe.

Luckily, my Veuve Clicquot experience last week included meeting and learning from Madame Clicquot’s contemporaries. While the guys pictured above are by no means the only experts within the Veuve Clicquot organization, they sure stuck out in my mind. After the jump, I’ll introduce you to them in turn, starting from the left and working right…

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If you are a long time reader of JoshSpear.com you'll know that we've raved about Monsieur T a lot. (Monsieur T is the limited edition line of street wear clothes designed by Portland based artists and founded by a French dude, just in case you forgot). We've always loved their T-shirts and followed them through all their clothing lines — now it is time for some art. A new set of fresh prints that you would expect from the T just launched on their site. As expected, they feature Portland based artist and are all limited edition and signed. Now you can style your walls as you would style your wardrobe.

Last month we showed you the sweet partnership between Royal Remarkable and Monsieur T, but now, Monsieur T has dropped the details on its full summer line. Contributions this time around include a neon orange splatter shirt by Ruben Sanchez, an amusing skate-inspired shirt for both boys and girls by Bwana Spoons and a wild-style cap in a zebra print (as one who keeps up with color trends every season, I’ll clue you in on the fact that zebra stripes are hot this season). Each are pictured above, in no particular order. Get them before they sell out.

Royal Remarkable (aka Joshua Gajownik) and Monsieur T are at it again. The graphic designer is having another go at teaming up with the Portland-based streetwear label, providing those in search of sweet tees with yet another option for showing off their arms, while keeping their torsos covered. The Still Digging Mint shirt features a cross-section of five different distinct patterns set on a minty fresh hued combed cotton shirt. We pity the fool who doesn’t get his hands on one of these.

Shelta’s Ntrl Tiny Bubble Tee: Read JS Review | Buy It ($84, Shown as 1)

Swedish designers always do it better, right? Ultra comfy, designed by Swedish brand Ntrl Tlnt (Natural Talent). You can thank the weakness of the dollar for the price conversion on this puppy!

Chuck Anderson’s No Pattern T-Shirt: Read JS Review | Buy It ($24, Shown as 2)

Who doesn’t love Chucky? What happens when the No-Pattern legend does a t-shirt, well, duh, it’s good. Kinda-funky design printed on AAA fabric, worldwide shipping is $10 from an international designer of mystery.

You Are So Last Year: Read JS Review | Buy It ($25, Shown as 3 and 4)

Pretty much every t-shirt YASLY drops is worth owning, from the Monster Eyballz T-shirt to washed out Aztec Patterns. Always limited edition, always soft, always classic.

Beautiful Decay Winter 2007: Read JS Review | Buy It ($27, Not Shown)

One of the softest-wear-for-your-money t-shirts on the market, the Winter 2007 Beautiful Decay Line is incredible to look at (they’re like works of art), incredible to wear, and damned near impossible to get when the line sells out. Get yours quick, they will be gone fast.

Hecklewood’s Teenage Wasteland: Read JS Review | Buy It ($32, Shown as 5 and 8)

Hecklewood is our favorite up-and-coming line– we call them the Portland bad-asses, the little t-shirt line that could. We’ve been long time lovers as they’re always on top of the best fabrics and most ingenious printing methods. This new winter ‘Teenage Wasteland‘ line is too much, we had to choose two pictures to share!

Monsieur T Winter 2007: Read JS Review | Buy It ($28, Shown as 6)

An oldie, a goodie, who doesn’t love funny French-guy living in Oregon t-shirt humor? Designs are always creative and quirky, I’m a big fan.

Star Electric Eighty Eight: Read JS Review | Buy It ($28, Shown as 7)

Arguably one of the most impressive new lines I’ve seen in a very long time, point blank, SEEE.us is going places. Go, indulge, the selection is incredible. The Jane Fonda t-shirt is just too much!

Momimomi’s TEaA Party Subscription: Read JS Review | Buy It ($120-$360, Not Shown)

A JS mainstay, a family affair, an always-in-the-ring for top 5 anything t-shirt related, Momimomi reigns supreme. Best gift of the season? Give yourself or a loved one a subscription to the Momimomi TEeA party, a limited edition supremely soft t-shirt every month. Just awesome.

Are you ready for the JS08 Gift Guide? If you are, that’s a shame; we’re actually not doing one this year — we’re going to do even better. Over the next month you’re going to see itemized lists, broken down into separate categories for your easy perusal, and all you’ll need to do to get to those posts is hit the “gifts” tag at the bottom of any of them. If you have any suggestions for a list, feel free to hit us up at feedback at josh spear dot com. If you’re staying in today (instead of braving the malls and stores), we salute your intelligence. If not, try not to get arrested. Happy holidays!

Monsieur T is towing the line of awesomeness again, this time with a drool-worthy new Bwana Spoons/Dekline hi-top shoe out now in limited availability of 35 pairs on their website, so go play your cards accordingly. The Portland artist used denim, faux croc, gold metallic and white foxing (which, contrary to what it sounds like, doesn’t mean that foxes were hurt in the making of this shoe) to give these kicks lots of texture and a primo pop factor. My chief complaint still stands from before, though: Monsieur T, the female contingent wants its Madame T! Or at least have a couple of these sneakers in boy’s sizes too. There’s gotta be some sneaker-fiendish parents who would love to hook these up for their sons if big girls don’t get to them first.

Related: Monsieur T Archive

The term “buyer’s regret” is sort of similar, but what do you call it when you see something you like only to find out it’s not made for you? Because I’m having a major, itchy case it after seeing Monsieur T’s upcoming fall/winter 2007 line for guys. For its next season, the T-shirt company joined forces with prolific artist Andy Rementer and art director of Spain’s Alai Ruben Sanchez, who turned out great designs, like one of a headless body about to step on its head that’s been screened onto a plain but handsome crew-neck sweater. Also, “Thee Manticore” hoodie by Martin Ontiveros has horns printed onto its hood, and there’s a submission by Ryan Berkley with just eyes and fangs that glow in the dark. Totally sick! I’m starting a petition immediately to get Monsieur T to make these gems in girls’ sizes, because if Josh and Jamie are allowed to rock them, us girls on the team should be able to, too.

It’s business as usual over at Monsieur T. as the Portland company (known for their uncommon and nicely under-produced streetwear) gears up for Spring/Summer 2007 with some great new designs. They’ve welcomed several new designers to the team this season, adding to their already stellar line-up of a wide range of artists from diverse mediums. Monseiur T is still right up there with Threadless in the pursuit of the anti-tee (a.k.a. an un-basic basic), so if rare yet comfortable shirts are your thing, definitely spend some time checking out their new line. This Mondrian inspired design is my favorite for guys; just mix in a pair of comfy jeans, a rooftop bar, a little sunshine, and voila! Summer!

Some of my favorite content on the site comes from our fashion vaults (that probably has a lot to do with my love for fashion, but I really do think we have found some fabric gems). I frequently find myself sifting through the archives to see what we’ve written about so I can give references to interested friends. Then I thought: why not do the same for all of you? So here it is– my top fashion picks from our vault. Just in time for holiday shopping!

Newson for G-Star: Industrial design legend Marc Newson teamed up with the raw denim hounds at G-STAR to bring us G-Star by Marc Newson… Continue Reading

Triko: The Art of Life: Triko is a brand founded by Hector Estrada, after years of designing for some of the biggest names in the street-wear market he decided to set out on his own to build a premium brand with what he proclaims to be a soul… Continue Reading

Invicid Takes on Broadway: I really dig this new Invicid Hoodie, called ‘Tanks on Broadway.' It's new for Winter 06, hand-screened, and has inside pattern prints of grenades… Continue Reading

Wrath Arcane Clothing: Cleveland, Ohio. The home of the Cuyahoga River, the Tribe (Cleveland Indians), and now Wrath Arcane Clothing… Continue Reading

Monsieur T: Our friends over at Monsieur T in Portland, OR have been creating great skateboard and indie art-scene-inspired screen printed tees since 2004… Continue Reading

PRPS Denim: PRPS, also known as Purpose, lives by the slogan “bruised but never broken,” because each pair of jeans is put through various treatments, washes and hand-done details to give it that amazing finish… Continue Reading

Trovata: We just received word that our friends at Trovata have just opened their online store for business… Continue Reading

Ever Clothing: Ten years ago I didn't think anyone did vintage clothing better then my friends Mr. Abercrombie and Mr. Fitch, but since then times have really changed and Ever clothing is a perfect example… Continue Reading

Big Mouth On Tour: On Tour Lab strikes again with their autumn / winter 2006 collection of tees, sweatshirts, and hoodies dubbed Big Mouth Ontour… Continue Reading

Blue Blood Denim: For those denim aficionados that love a great looking pair of distressed jeans, but hate looking like you just walked out of a homeless shelter then Blue Blood Brand has your back… Continue Reading

Nudie Jeans: Some companies merely make products. Others strive to create not just a “product,” but instead something that becomes a natural extension of the consumer, almost like a second skin… Continue Reading

Angry Retail: A fashion and graphic design agency out of Dublin, Angry recently launched their website Angry Retail… Continue Reading

New guys and gals Limited Edition T’s, designed by our amigo and design-savvy ‘Royal Remarkable‘ (Josh Gajownik), have just been released on Monsieur T. The new design, ‘Don’t Stop,’ reflects Josh’s unique, fresh, and jet-set style, and with free shipping offered throughout the U.S. and Canada, it’s looking like these T’s are shaping up to be a perfect holiday gift. Don’t hesitate though– they only printed 48 mens and 36 ladies for this super-limited-edition run. Hurry hurry rapido!

T-Shirts, an item of clothing generally reserved for the warm spring time– but really is a year round necessity. Don’t get caught wearing mainstream nonsense this year– buy independent. We believe t-shirts are wearable art, and here are 11 of our favorite shirts ‘from the vaults’ for holiday time gift-age.

• Beautiful Decay Holiday Line: As we promised back in August, the nice people at Beautiful Decay have come out with quite an impressive fall/holiday line of t-shirts… Continue Reading

• Momimomi: I'm absolutely loving the new t-shirts I just received from momimomi. Very rarely does a t-shirt line get both factors of the ultimate t-shirt… Continue Reading

• I-Manifest: This shirt is solid holiday-time update from the guys at I-Manifest. They call the design ‘Cupid‘, and it's the first of hopefully many collaboration t-shirts… Continue Reading

• Nossa: Che Poppa: I'd seen this shirt around before on a couple of hipsters but never knew where they got it. The Che Poppa shirt is by a design group called Nossa… Continue Reading

• Artefacture: I Will Pay for Good Design: I recently had a conversation with a friend who said ‘it's so hard to find great designers these days', and I totally agree… Continue Reading

• Squidfire Designs: Focused on quality, comfort, and individuality; SquidFire's t-shirts are all hand designed, hand printed, and each piece is given individual attention… Continue Reading

• Softservice: softservice's line of t-shirts responds to the “homogeneity and ubiquity” of commercial “superstore” clothing. All of the shirts are individually hand-painted and embroidered, giving them each a unique appearance… Continue Reading

• Rxmance Clothing: Chris Dennler and Nick Motte started rxmance as a small independent clothing company. Right now they make t-shirts and tops… Continue Reading

• Invicid:Hot designers Invicid are back! They just released their latest collection– the series is called “Clouded By Fiction”, featuring 9 new styles for… Continue Reading

• Monsieur T: Here's another hot tip on T's.. Are you aching for some truly unique designs? Monsieur T. offers you just that. Limited edition… Continue Reading

• Materialust: It takes a lot for a t-shirt line to really impress me, but when I came across LA based Materialust, my hand immediately reached for my wallet. Materialust is really a globe trotting brand… Continue Reading