Writing a review is work. Let’s make that clear. It is just like any other job, sometimes you enjoy it and sometimes you don’t but whichever, it is still work. I do quite a lot of writing in my life actually. For example, one of my jobs is writing articles for Yokohama City and it is the same. Sometimes I enjoy it, sometimes it is tedious, sometimes it is hard work and sometimes it is stressful. Other times it is fun and I can’t believe I get paid for it. Writing these reviews is very similar except here I can give my honest opinion. But the pay is lousy. On the other hand, it’s my blog and I am the boss.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, I just want to emphasize that writing this particular review was work. Usually when people contact me to review a shirt they provide me with plenty of information but not this time. One guy just contacted me and said he wanted to send me a shirt and I gave him the address and a shirt arrived. There was quick note scribbled on to a scrap of paper that gave me some bare details. No information about the store or shirt or anything. I had to contact him to get some details…like the url of his store. Nice guy but definitely needs to learn some marketing skills.

Anyway, on to the t-shirt. The tee that was sent over is called Rosa Parks Station. It’s from a line of photography based t-shirts called Grey Matter that was started in 2006. I have nothing against putting photographic images on a tee but this particular t-shirt does nothing for me. I know who Rosa Parks is, even though I am neither black nor American but I don’t know the significance of Rosa Parks Station. Is it a tourist t-shirt? Why would I want a photo of this on my tee? I don’t know the answers to these questions. As you can see below the image looks like it might have been a good photo but I’m not sure it was meant for a t-shirt.

The tee is a black cotton Alstyle and looks like it will last a while. On the back of the t-shirt you will also find a quite uninspired logo. Another negative point. If you are going to put the logo on the outside of the t-shirt you should at least have a good logo or be very creative.

DVClothing (Dirty Vato Clothing) started in 2007 as a way to “creatively articulate the culture of L.A”. that Erwin Recinos (owner) sees. “From pop culture references, latino heritage, car culture and a true L.A. lifestyle that is ever changing.” After three years the line is still quite small and made up of a variety of logo t-shirts most of them going for just $10. Of all the tees on sale only the Dirty Dodge t-shirt seems to be “designed” although I do like the His Gun t-shirt. Just don’t try and get on an airplane while wearing it.

DVClothing is hosted on Big Cartel. You can check it out here: DVClothing.