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Home > Junk Male > January 2012 > Junk Male Clothing: More than just a T-Shirt.

Junk Male Clothing: More than just a T-Shirt.

James Dean

T-Shirts: The ubiquitous daily uniform of the rebel, the disenfranchised, the alienated, the misunderstood, the loner, the slouch, the louche, the activist, the pacifist, the hobo, the pseudo-intellectual, the hep-cat, the muso… and those that are just too darned bone-idle to mess around with buttons and zips.


It doesn’t matter whether you’re into Soul, Hip-Hop, R&B, Blues, Folk, Pop, Rock, Indie, Grunge, Thrash, MOR or Metal… all cultures share the humble T-Shirt as their staple wardrobe-item-of-choice. The T-Shirt is versatile enough to unite all ages, sexes, colours, creeds, tastes and persuasions without prejudice. The T-Shirt doesn’t discriminate; it suits and embraces all of us equally.


Go to any city or town – anywhere in the World – and your retinas will be hijacked by a legion of dishevelled and sloganeering bohemians. It never should have been that way. Let’s rewind to see how this unassuming garment achieved cult-status… 

It was Brandos’ fault. The T-Shirt was always intended to be an afterthought – a scrap of utilitarian underwear that became ‘outwear’ by accident when workers, Dockers, grease-monkeys – and the military – found that it provided comfortable and warm working attire. 


And it didn’t matter if you got a T-Shirt ripped and filthy. In fact, it becomes arguable more alluring just before it falls apart. 


So, the T-Shirt was bland, faithful, disposable, reliable and functional – like a Cocker-Spaniel with a gas-refillable lighter. But then the likes of James Dean and Marlon Brando started wearing them in the films such as ‘Rebel Without A Cause’, ‘The Wild One’ and ‘On The Waterfront’. Suddenly, it all kicked off… Every wannabe-rebel started wearing their underwear on the outside.


In 1951, Brandos’ Stanley Kowalski – replete with sweaty T-Shirt – oozed menace, danger and sexual tension in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. Like all of our best-loved heros, it was easy to love – and simultaneously be repulsed by – the machismo of these lone wolves. Every hero we follow and worship, from Batman to James Bond is flawed. And we lap it up. We wouldn’t have them any different, other than as Junk Males.


In 1956, James Dean further cemented the T-Shirts’ cult status in ‘Rebel Without A Cause’. This time, our hero displayed a more sensitive side; his alienation and swagger employed as defence mechanisms because he ultimately wanted to be accepted and understood.


I love everything about the T-Shirt – and have ever since I was a kid. I’ve worn them for most of my life, and wear them virtually all year round. I don’t feel like me in anything else. I love the juxtapositions and contradictions of a T-Shirt; wear them plain and say nothing; wear them with designs and slogans and say something. Customise them, spray them rip them, make them your own. Advertise your thoughts and start a conversation with a random stranger who shares your quirky likes.


We don’t just make T-Shirts. We worship T-Shirts. Every T-Shirt has a story behind it. Every shirt is hand-printed and they’re all limited edition: a maximum of fifty of each design, and that’s it. 


And now, we’ve just released an entire new range of designs on even softer, velveteen cottons, that are tailored even more comfortably. They’re also part of our ‘Earth Positive’ range, which means they use organic cotton; are sourced ethically, and are certified carbon-neutral. You can read much more about that on our Information Pages.


In summary, Junk Male Clothing: Limited-edition, Hand-Printed Originals. What more can we say, except “Wear it out”.


by Junk Male on January 31, 2012