The underground teeshirt world has gone the same route as everything else underground. Namely… no longer underground.

I used to be in love with Stussy. It was immortal, untouchable. I thought that no matter what they did, they would still just be the dopest brand out there. Even when they were selling at Macy’s, I loved it.

Over the last year or so, I have slowly been coming to terms with Stussy’s mainstream movement. This last week… I accepted it.

RIP Stussy

Stussy was the originator, the first real teeshirt line, my graduation from Gotcha. They’ve left their irie roots and moved on to a very generic hip-hop/skate thing. The all-over prints, the logos aaaaaallllllll ooooovvvvveeeeerrrrrrrr everything, the NewEra caps. Not that anything is wrong with any one of these things, but you know… if i wanted that stuff, I’d rock LRG or Roca Wear.

I was at Barracuda on Melrose the other day (for those that don’t know, probably the best store in LA) and I was dissapointed at my selection of men’s tees. Normally a sick selection, I was confronted with a wall of Stussy tees and hats (all looking the same in different color-ways), some 2K and some otherhand-drawn looking tees of monsters or girls throwing up or something. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DOPE TEES?!?!?! Everyone loves a dope tee. (In Barracuda’s defense they did have a dope selection of denim, kicks and other goods, but we’re talking tees).

Maybe it’s just my oskee-woskee bias, but these new tees are, for lack of a better word, whack! Some lines are still holding it down: FreshJive, Upper Playground, and others, but even some of the more underground ones… they just all look the same. It’s dissapointing really. I’ve only bought 2 new tees in the last year, a FreshJive and an X-Large (the Woody Allen tee, DOPE!). Other than that, I seriously have not found tees that I just had to have.

I used to be able to rely on Stussy and FUCT (another one of my old favorites), but it seems these days there’s only 2 or 3 companies with different tags. I don’t like wearing shirts that seem to scream out, “CHECK OUT HOW DOPE MY TEESHIRT IS!!” I may as well print that on my next shirt. I need a little subtlety in my gear.

I’ll still keep my eye on Stussy. I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for them; I’m sure I’ll buy something of there’s again. But for now, i guess I’m, on my own.

So… that being said, check out my line: CHILDREN.

PS - My wife and I found out yesterday that it’s a girl.