Dance Macabre is an independent, alternative, and limited edition t-shirt and clothing boutique in the Emporium, Middlesbrough. That’s England.
The designs are produced by Paul Dobson and printed locally to North East England. Paul spends hours looking through archaic prints and random photos seeking out any golden nuggets; he then montages them together into eye-catching designs.
Dance Macabre T-Shirt Review
This is a light blue 100% cotton t-shirt (possibly Gildan). It’s a large. I usually wear a medium but you can see that this fits quite well. Paul Dobson, the owner/creator of Dance Macabre says they always ask customers to size up if they would like a regular fit. (I assume he is talking about his bricks and mortar store customers.)
It has a DTG print so is quite soft and is a perfect print.
It’s a digital collage of Victorian images and grunge inspired by the work of the great Surrealist Max Ernst.
It is nice artwork and well put together. Because of its ambiguity, it is definitely a t-shirt that I would wear. I’m not sure that I would buy it though. Perhaps if I were a fan of Max Ernst? Also this t-shirt is basically a logo tee with Dance Macabre printed across the image in a large gothic font.
Branding
Well, there is the large Dance Macabre text on the chest but to be honest, it doesn’t really bother me. The font chosen matches the image well and it’s not as if I would be promoting a big evil corporation with sweatshops in Bangladesh.
The designs are produced by Paul Dobson and printed locally to North East England.
The original tag has been cut off and replaced with a Dance Macabre tag. It looks good. There is also a separate size tag and care label.
Extras
There was a small throwaway promotional flyer in the envelope with some details about the store. Basically:
- They are limited editions.
- Edition no. is on the price tag.
- Designed and sold exclusively by Dance Macabre.
Website
The website is clean and easy enough to navigate. I would put a link to the online store on the top navigation as well. I would also add clearer and larger images of the clothes on the home page. (Actually high-resolution are needed on other pages too.) It’s not a pretty website and I really don’t know why they would want pictures of houseflies on the banner header of every page.
Selection
There is a small but interesting collection of t-shirts, hoodies, sweaters, artwork and jewelry.
Pricing
T-Shirts are priced from £10 to £25 which is quite reasonable for limited edition t-shirts and practically a bargain for original tees in the UK.
Wrap-up
The t-shirt can’t be faulted for quality or the design work. While their main outlet is more than likely their physical store in Middlesbrough their website does represent their brand so I think it deserves a redesign with a theme that would complement the products in the store.
Please comment with your real name using good manners.