(no subject)

[verbminx]

I would never, ever buy THIS, but I know people who would, and I have to admit that at one point I might have been one of them.*

Nonetheless, I thought those of you so inclined might prefer to be alerted to it as a crafting idea. Stencil it? Embroider it? Up to you, of course. One good thing here, aside from your money not going to Rick Santorum's career (hopefully) is being able to choose the kind of sheets you use - organic? high thread count? etc.

It's kind of similar to some ideas in some books I've been looking at lately. There's a wonderful book by Paige Gilchrist that came out a few years ago and is called Decorating Your First Apartment. One of the projects is a stencilled or transfer-printed sheer curtain hung behind a bed, with a dictionary definition page including "love" printed on it. It's hard to explain but it has great visual impact, especially for anyone who loves words and typefaces.

Also try Wall Words, although I have to say that I think many of their quotes are on the simpy side.

* On the other hand, despite my general resistance to buying from UO, I really like THIS LAMPSHADE... wish I could afford one or two of them.

Comments

[hilarykay.livejournal.com]

i forgot why people are mad at Urban Outfitters. tell me why. i think we have a store in san diego (city). i guess ive never been there.

[verbminx.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I'm not sure what all the reasons are, because different people have different reasons.

In some cases it's a racial or ethnic thing... they had to withdraw their "everyone loves a jewish girl" shirt because it connected to the stereotype of jewish people as greedy, although they haven't withdrawn similar shirts referencing italian and irish girls. another is that tshirt they've been selling for years, that has a ho tei (fat buddha) and says "rub my belly for luck."

other people think they're guilty of cultural appropriation... in most examples i've heard about the reasoning is pretty weak, i thought. it's really been fair trade worries expressed as critiques of cultural appropriation. but there are some good examples mentioned too. (candleholders? weak. that ho tei t-shirt is a more valid complaint. and i don't think they do this as much as they used to; when they do, it's more subtle than it was like 5 yrs ago.)

still other people object to the "fashion". i guess i'm pretty down with this, though I have gotten a few items of clothing there over the years that i've liked. it's that whole "this t-shirt looks like it came from a thrift store, but it cost $50." thing.

yet another issue is whether or not they use sweatshops. their stuff is usually way overpriced for what it is.

finally, there is the issue that the guy who started/owns/heads the company has contributed a lot to Rick Santorum's campaigns - ironic, since Santorum is an ultra-conservative anti-gay Republican and the UO head is gay.

all this said, and maybe this makes me hypocritical... i have a lot of stuff from UO that i really like, including books that i found there at fantastic clearance prices. but i bought most of it before i knew this stuff. also, for about three years, i shopped there only on out-of-town trips - boston, nyc, wash dc. i am very reluctant to buy things there now... in the last two years it's been 2 things (both presents bought for me) and some lip balm. there are other places to buy most of the things they sell, anyway. so yeah, i still shop there, but very selectively, which is why i have to admit that i've been pretty happy with almost everything i've gotten there. still, i wouldn't buy things like $120 Diesel jeans, and i try to keep an eye on where things i'm interested in were made.

[hilarykay.livejournal.com]

how does "everyone loves a jewish girl" connect to a stereotype of Jews being greedy??

I do think the "Everyone loves a ___" shirts are kind of icky, it rubs me the wrong way. Okay, but if I saw the Italian girl shirt I might buy it for myself. *laughs* How tacky of me. My relatives would be proud.

The Buddha thing isnt in very good taste either. I looked at their shirt selection and most of it was in bad taste. *shrugs* also, overpriced.

I like to just buy that type of thing from thrift stores. That way, I can get something in bad taste for only $1. hehe.

I guess I do like mildly offensive shirts but it gets a little weird when its racist or makes fun of someones religion. I hate the shirts with jokes about Jesus. *cringes*

I do like 'special olympic" shirts and shirts about camps for weird genetic disorders


heh.

[verbminx.livejournal.com]

Oh, the "everyone loves a Jewish Girl" had dollar signs or something on it.

I have seen some funny Jesus shirts at tshirthell.com, but the one that amuses me is the one that says something really nasty on the front, and then the back says something like, "Just kidding! Jesus loves you!" Some of the rest are OTT offensive.

Same reason I don't really like bumper stickers much. I don't need to advertise much about me to random people in traffic. Band stickers are OK, but I don't even really do those anymore.

[hilarykay.livejournal.com]

ohhh, geez, thats horrible with the dollar signs. I would hope the Italian shirt wouldnt have like mafia things on it or some such ridiculous stereotype.

I have seen the Buddha shirt so many times, actually...


I used to have TONS of bumper stickers on my old car. I got the car when I was 16 and accumulated stickers. I just found a lot that I couldnt resist. I was putting them on even a couple years ago. But I'm really shy so it freaked me out when people noticed my stickers. I was afraid weird scary people would talk to me or get mad. People would walk by and glare at them. blahaha.

Probably the funniest thing was once one of my stickers was stolen. It said "Real men wear makeup" and someone tore it off. I just had this mental image of someone getting so angry and saying "NO THEY DONT!!" and ripping it off. Like someone who is against cross dressing. hehehe.

Right now I just have a small car sticker that has the Mystery Science Theater logo. i dont plan to add anymore.

[star-power.livejournal.com]

That's a ton of money for a sheet that simply has a Morrissey lyric on it.

I mean, for that much I would expect the sheet set to actually have some sort of sound byte or something implanted in the sheets so that when you get into them, they actually SING the lyrics to you.

[verbminx.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Although I actually think it's a sheet set?
But if I were gonna have something like that... I think I'm too old for it anymore anyway... I would want it on much nicer sheets. I would be buying a 270+ thread-per-inch 100% cotton thingie to stencil it on with ye olde fabric paint. Even if it's a full set, that's STILL a lot of money for what the quality likely is.

[star-power.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I didn't even notice anything about the thread quality. Yes, for that amount of money, I would definately expect something with a higher thread count.

[verbminx.livejournal.com]

It doesn't say anything about thread count as far as I know... it only says that they're cotton/poly. The most they would be is 200 thread, I think, and more likely 180 (which is standard for cheaper sheets). I think I've been at 100% cotton for at least the last 10 years and wouldn't ever go back! And I just wouldn't buy anything less than like 270-thread sateen, unless all my sheets had been burned in a freak accident and I had to start from square one with no money. It's not like all my stuff is super-expensive... we've gotten a lot from, like, Sam's Club, Overstock.com, BB&B store brand on sale, that kind of thing... but it IS all cotton and cuddly.

[star-power.livejournal.com]

I concur! I do appreciate good cotton sheets (and during the winter -- flannel) ;)

[boofany.livejournal.com]

maybe a cheap set at bed bath and beyond or walmart, and embroidering it at the mall embroidery stand perhaps?

[boofany.livejournal.com]

i have a thing for these
myself....
http://store.yahoo.com/modernseed/wallgraphics.html

they seem pricey though, so there's not buying them
for myself in the near future.

[verbminx.livejournal.com]

They are pricey. As unquietmind pointed out to me, you can find Unikko by Marimekko on ebay all the time. You have to look for bargains - can't buy the sheet sets that Crate and Barrel was doing a few years ago, for example - but you CAN find enough to cover a couple of small canvases or hang a panel on a wall.

[verbminx.livejournal.com]

... also, almost all of it (including the unikko but also the apples and dots and so on) would be pretty easy to knock off for anyone who was reasonably crafty. Not hard to make yr own stencils, especially if you are handy with the graphics software or know someone who is.