Summer is coming to England, which means we can break out our long sleeve T-shirts and light jackets. That's a joke. It isn't that bad. But England isn't known for its bright and sunny weather. So eco-friendly London fashion line Howies sent their clothes to friends in San Francisco and Malibu to model for their summer line (also a good way to splash into the American market). The result is a photo-friendly catalog showing some of the best clothes they've put out in years, alongside some beautiful American locals. You can view the catalog as a PDF off their website, but if you can get your hands on the physical book you won't be let down. Howies is known for giving their products a great narrative, because everyone wants to know the real story behind the jacket.

Two weeks ago, a detailed article appeared in New York magazine that made many, including myself, rethink something we’ve taken for granted for so long — walking. In particular, walking in footwear. If you take a look at how the human foot is formed, and how we walked hundreds of years ago, you can see that modern shoes are completely counterintuitive.

Sneakers are designed to minimize heel strike and maximize toe spring. What ends up happening instead is we slam our heels on the pavement harder than necessary because we want to feel the feedback that is, ironically, cushioned by the shoes we wear. Of the solutions presented, the one I found to be the least radical is a line of shoes called Vivo Barefoot.

They offer 12 designs for men in a variety of colorways, and look like normal — albeit slightly boring — shoes. What sets them apart is they are essentially slippers fitted with puncture resistant soles. Wearers comment on being able to feel the grates on the street or the curvature of rocks on trails. If you’ve ever worn rock climbing, driving, or Nike Free shoes, you know what this feels like. The Vivo Barefoot seems to be a wonderful way to start regaining the muscle strength most of us never developed thanks to our fancy kicks.

When we have to look our most dapper, we can always turn to Rochester’s own Hickey Freeman. Whether it’s an important meeting or business lunch, the American clothier has traditional (and untraditional) accessories for our fashion sensibility. Like this line of ties. They range from your basic khaki or batik pattern tie, down to the bolder tattoo, artistic Lady Godiva, or über-classy “40 in a bag” designs. Yes, nothing says “I’m drunk at work and I love it” more than a power tie with a half-exposed bottle of OE.

Fashion label Electronic Poet say they’re a blend of the art and science of music and fashion — coincidentally, four of our favorite topics. They just recently launched the Spring/Summer 2008 Collection — and boy is it good. Our personal favorites include the Moog T-shirt, which celebrates Moog’s introduction of the synthesizer in 1964, Matsushita giving us the decks in 1969, and the quilted hoodies (they have some great hoodies!). Speaking of dedications, the entire line is an acknowledgment to DJ’s, producers, and bands who have broken boundaries and pushed the future of electronic music. We know this picture only shows details, but we encourage you to check out the whole line — it’s stellar. Available at Oki-Ni!

Growing up, I had plenty of sneaker brands to choose from, instead of being limited to the three of four major players available recently. Thankfully, people are beginning to see the introduction of smaller niche brands such as Visvim and Creative Recreation. Admittedly, I’m glad to see so many brands of yesteryear stay buried, but a recent announcement caught my interest.

Tomorrow, May 1st, is the relaunch of British Knights (or BK as we like to call them). This is not the first time a brand has resurfaced. In 2005, Pro-Ked teamed up with Damon Dash to reissue favorites. There was some fanfare involved but since I never owned a pair, I didn’t pay much attention to it. This time, my interest is piqued and I am looking forward to seeing how their first pair, the “Purple Wizard Moccasin” designed by Gio Chiappetta, will be received. The hi-top shoe features a dark purple colorway with an obligatory velcro strap on the top. In addition, you can buy the first four 1989 Bk styles. The shoes will be available at on the BK site and select retailers nationwide.

From the casino floors of Vegas, to the velvet ropes in New York, there’s something about the power of the wad. Don’t deny that once or twice you’ve gone to the bank and asked for $500 in singles, then wrapped that sucker up with a few rubber bands, and voila! A wad. You know famous Belgian fashion designer Martin Margiela of the Antwerp Six believes, because he created a leather wallet with a faux $11-dollar bill facade (which is just a one dollar bill without Washington) for Oki-ni. It also costs quite of few of these dollars (well, since Oki-ni is London-based, we’re actually talking about pounds.) You’d think for the kind of cash we’d drop on this unique money minder he could have at least wrapped a $101-dollar bill around the outside.

Many well-meaning organizations seek to make people aware of world issues through largely unsuccessful methods, like badgering people on street corners to sign petitions or sending a constant stream of spam. The forward thinking folks at Bantu Republic have come up with a successful way of fostering social awareness where so many other organizations fail. How do they do it? T-shirts, of course. Signing up for the Bantu Republic newsletter doesn’t mean you’ll be receiving pamphlets destined for the recycling bin. With your modest membership fee, you will receive a new T-shirt every month, designed specifically to highlight a pressing socio-economic issue. In their own words, it’s “like an activist newsletter you can wear.” In addition to your new shirt, you’ll receive Bantu Republic’s electronic newsletter The Conscious Dresser. While you can’t wear this, you should at least pay them the courtesy of reading it. After all, they did send you a sweet tee.

Kate Spade ain’t got nothing on us. With Elemental Threads’ line of customizable purses, day clutches, and totes, we are the master of our own design destiny. Choose between dozens of patterns, from paisleys to Geisha girls, to cover your bag. You can even choose from linings, handles, etc., right on down to the type of fastening button. Maybe it’s because the concept of these do-it-yourself designer items is, well, DIY that keeps the cost down. Either way, we already feel like Louis Vuitton’s successor.

If we had to choose between spending our last dime on a savory meal or a sweet T-shirt…well, we’d probably have to pick the meal. We’re practical like that. However, if the shirts in question were amongst the creations from c07, we might take an extra minute or two to ponder our quandary. The new UK-based apparel company promotes artists from the surf, skate and music scenes and pushes the boundaries of expression to make kick ass tees for you and me. The latest visionary to tackle the task of creating an original design for the upstart label is Emerica Europe team rider Vaughan Baker.
The Brit-born boarder’s limited edition T-shirts certainly make us want to forgo a good meal so we can look good while starving. If you want to snub food in the name of personal style you should act fast, because Co7 is only producing a limited run of 500 of these bad boys.

When we got the e-mail from Sharon Paris over at Paris House in New Zealand, she said, “we create products that make people smile.” Then we thought, “we’re consumers, and we like to smile.” Also, we were in the market for a new wallet, which is exactly what Paris’ handmade works of art are. She has a few ranges (or lines), but our favorite is “Johnny Rotten,” which incorporate punk psychology like, “Punk Killed Disco,” or “It’s 1980, Everyone Wants To Be A Rockstar / I’m Taking Umbrage / How Great It Was / Get Rich Quick.” Her products come in wallets, billfolds, card holders, and change purses…kind of an eclectic assortment of monetary keepers. Now if only the punk rock lifestyle actually filled this wallet.

Like a fashion-conscious Burns and Allen, Mistormissus is a relationship turned business venture by the boyfriend/girlfriend team of Mark and Bec. Their new April ‘08 collection is rolling out with graphic tees and hoodies for the guys, and accessories like scarves, wallets, makeup bags, headbands, and earrings for the gals. Of course, those gender roles are merely suggestions. You’re welcome to wear whatever you want.

CNN.com quietly launched a new feature today which allows readers to order T-shirts of their favorite headlines as they happen. And yes, they have some funny (and terrible) headlines to choose from. To get there, look for the tiny little T-shirt icon next to the headlines on the front page. The great and inherently viral part about it is the shirts are limited edition, and only available during a certain “headline” period of time. Shirts are $15 a pop which is totally fair, and the entire service is powered by Spreadshirt.

Related Entry: Spam Shirt

Each week we’ll comb through Rumplo’s pages and pages of of kitchy, artistic, and often hilarious tees, to bring you our picks. We’ve had a kind of a Tyler Durden week, which is to say we “wanted to destroy something beautiful.” Here are a couple that meet our killer criteria:

Scrap Metal: This is what would have happened to R2 had he gone with Luke to rescue Leia. That Death Star trash compactor isn’t very forgiving.

Chainsaw Killer Bunny: Did you know that if given the chance, carrots would kill you and everyone you loved? I don’t call this rabbit a murderer, we call him a hero.

Surf’s Up Dudes: What would happen if Dr. Strangelove met Johnny Utah from Point Break? This shirt.

Noah Butkus: Our old friend Noah Butkus puts his hooded killer on full display. This masked man clearly loves his work.

When the calendar hits the vernal equinox our natural inclination is to rid ourselves of multiple layers and bust out the short sleeves. However, every spring season has it’s grace period. It doesn’t automatically get warm because a certain date has passed and often times the weather fluctuates so wildly between mildly warm and “let’s stay inside” that finding a happy medium as far as your outerwear goes seems nearly impossible. Thankfully, the folks at Spyder Freeryde have taken seasonal Schizophrenia into account to give you the ultimate option for dealing with the Spring weather’s multiple personality disorder. The Boulder-based active sports apparel company’s ultra-versatile Northshore Windbreaker is made from super lightweight wind and water resistant fabric and is equipped with two-toned zippered sleeves that allow it to be warn as both a jacket and a vest, making it an ideal option for when it’s just sorta warm or perfectly pleasant. We suggest picking one up and solving your seasonal coat quandary for good.

When it comes to getting some new sweet t-shirts, the folks at Progresswear know just the “type” you’re looking for. Known for producing shirts with political messages or as they like to say “meaningful messages for thinking people”, the socially conscious apparel brand has taken a bit of a departure from their usual aesthetic, releasing their first in their new line of shirts aimed at designers and typophiles alike. The Helvetica Neue Descending shirt is a redesign of Max Miedinger’s own classic 1957 work featuring one of our favorite fonts on a black t-shirt descending in weights ranging from Ultra Black 95 to Ultra Light 25. If you’re suffering from the same case of typophilia that we are, we recommend heading to their online store and grabbing one of these babies for yourself at the special pre-release price available until May 15th. A portion of the shirt sales will be donated to Design Education programs…sounds like the “type” of cause we could really get behind.