Event: Reggae Night

PhillySka.com presents Reggae Night! Shine your boots, cut your hair, put your braces together and get ready for the rudest party in town! No cover!

Brand: Jinxed Clothing

So first an apology for the continued shitty photography. My camera is new, I'm admittedly not so good at it and all these black Ts with shiny material aren't helping. So this brand is Jinxed Clothing, another Philly original. They're a little more pointed (and less weird) then Ghosticorn but they're a welcome addition to our designer repertoire. Philly's Rudest is a little behind on this brand, check out the other reviews.

We KILL FOR GOD! Bad ass! Whatever you think of their subject matter, what everyone can agree on is the quality of the materials. Very nice thick shirts and the designs are very solidly adhered vinyl. I've washed this shirt dozens and dozens of times and it's never faded, shrunk or cracked. This one is my favorite, by far. The art itself is hilarious; I'm in love with the lines branching off the figure as if it was an instructional manual. The subject is drenched in satire and irony, definitely not a serious political statement. Overall, (like the perfect man) it's attractive, funny and fucking hardcore!

The art style on this one is somewhere between Medieval religious icons and 1930s Soviet propaganda. The skeleton to the right gets some props for being worthy of carrying the prestigious Standard of the Mexican Wrestler. Although the fellow of the left definitely has a dashing cape/scarf. 

If you don't know, this is a hilarious play on the famous Love sculpture. Hate is probably more appropriate anyway. This bold design is immediately identifiable to anyone from the City, I'm frequently stopped and asked where I got it from. 

I'm not actually totally sure that this is a Jinxed piece. I got it from the Jinxed store, but they carry brands other then their own. I suspect it's not Jinxed, as the T-shirt itself is a Hanes and Jinxed usually uses Gildan. But either way, it gets an honorable mention for being bad ass.

Where to get: 

Their shop is at 620 South 4th St., right down the block from Jim's Steaks. Available online at Upset the System. Usually 24$ for a T, but they often have a 2 for 4o$ deal.

Local: The Shithawk

Beware the Shithawk!

If you live in Center City (specifically Graduate Hospital) say hello to your new neighbor: The Shithawk. The Shithawk is some kind of large hawk (at least a foot tall, I've seen it) that exists, it seems, to do little but shit on my house. 

Yes, this was done entirely by one single bird. But not just any kind of bird, a Philadelphian Spotted Shithawk. Artist's rendering here.

The Shithawk was first discovered in 16whatever by Benjamin Franklin. B. Fiddy noticed that the bird shat a great deal, primarily due to it's diet of 'steaks, Tasty Kakes, Rita's, vender pretezels, Yuengling Black and Tan and scrapple.

As evidenced in my photos, our shitty friend in the sky is still with us today.

Seriously though, if you see a big bird around Center City, please shoot it. 

Event: Punk Rock Flea Market

So the cool kids at Sourpuss were nice enough to update everyone about the PRFM. Learn all about it here. Check out the Sourpuss table, they say they'll have some good sales. Sourpuss is a great, reasonably local (Jersey), place to get various skin and punk brands (Fred, Ben, Merc, Hoooligan). Sometimes with some nice discounts. 

Brand: Ghosticorn

Say hello to Ghosticorn! Images courtesy of the brand's website (getting a good one of the black t was killing me). The brand's concept is pretty simple: dead unicorns! This first one here is my favorite. It's a little difficult to see here but the meat sections drawn on the unicorn are labeled as "magic chuck", "magic rump", etc. As a Philly local brand we're all very proud. Philly says FUCK YOU, unicorns! 

This one is a girls t, as I think the color palette probably suggests. It really ramps the psychotic feel of the brand into overdrive. I'm a huge fan. 

Check out the rest of their great stuff at their website.

Where to get: As far as I've seen Ghosticorn only sells at various special events, so far the Punk Rock Flea Market and various Roller Derby events. So keep a look out! Otherwise their line is available online at ghosticorn.com

Brand: UZI NYC

Uzi's a great little brand operating out of Brooklyn that I fell in love with the first time I saw some of their work at Omoi. I only have a couple pieces but they're some of my favorite items in my wardrobe. The brand's overall theme is a fun and colorful fashion punk look.

Their bio from their website:

"Uzi was started in 1993 in Denver, Colardo by David Ball, Mari Gustafan and their friends. It opened to an audience of midget hookers and drunken Indians, originally they made straight jackets for basement pervert potluck parties.

In 1999 they began studding t-shirts in tribute to their cheesy back alley youth. They sold enough studded t-shirts to move to Brooklyn, and live fabulous lives in tiny, rent controlled apartments. Every day they look out the window, down the Brooklyn-Queens expressway, dreaming of vacations in Berlin.

Well. Wasn't that "edgy".

Anyway, the clothes.

This awesome v-neck is extremely comfortable and very flattering for any broad-chested guy who wants to flaunt a little bit. I love this shirt, but be warned: you will look gay while wearing it. This is actually a common feature of the brand.

The first thing I thought when I saw this shirt was "Hipsters in spaaaace" (sung in the manner of the Flight of the Concord's "Bowie's In Space")- but it is undeniably awesome. Like all Uzi pieces it's made out of a stretchy soft fabric that's both comfortable and reasonably durable (at least when compared to similar fashion brands).

This one's a little more subdued then the others but I still like it. The print is interesting, particularly on the semi-camo pattern. 

This is actually my little sister's shirt, but I think it's great. The print is of Nancy Spungen, Sid Vicious's wife (and, some believe, downfall).

Where to get: In Philly at Omoi at 1608 Pine St. Otherwise they have a more limited line available at uzinyc.com.

Item: MA-1 Bomber Jacket

If you don't know anything about Skinhead (i.e. you think all skins are white power nazis) please read this before you continue on. Like they said on GI-Joe, knowing is half the battle!

So first up is my jacket. Originally known by its military designation, MA-1, bombers have been a staple of Skinhead fashion since the mid '70s. Real MA-1s are produced by Alpha Industries, however they've become part of popular fashion and are now pretty ubiquitous They're available from Alpha in green, navy and black. I prefer green because it's more traditional. Other companies sell a broader array.

What I really like about bombers is that they provide an interesting contrast with the rest of the Skinhead uniform. The bomber's modern nylon creates a strong disparity from knit polos or gingham button downs (Freds and Bens). Additionally it provides a great silhouette- the bulky upper body of the bomber, the comparatively thin legs of tight Levis and then oversized Docs. It all works together to present an almost cartoonish image of hyper-masculinity. Like a bulldog, the Skinhead's chest swells with aggression!

I've adopted more of an Oi! Skin look with my bomber, the result of all the band patches. I've always thought bombers were more appropriate for Oi! Skins- I think Crombies and Harringtons are much more suited for Trads. I've decided to buy a Crombie, so I figured that I might as well punk out my bomber so I'll have something for both looks.

The band patches are pretty standard, but I do really like them all. I take particular pride in the Boils pin and patch (collar and right arm), repping the Philly scene. I'm  also really happy with the PBR patch on the back, which I cut out of an old t-shirt. I Actually couldn't find any PBR patches online, so I lucked out finding that shirt in my closet. PBR: the official beer of subcultures.

'

Patches in the future may include the Last Resort and Yuengling beer.

The patches were all pretty easy to put on, I just used simple studs like any other punk. The brass knuckles patch is ironed on. A warning: where the Business patch is currently I originally tried to iron on an "Oi!" patch- with disastrous results. Nylon burns very easily! Don't fuck about! In fact, don't fuck with iron on patches at all. Nylon is very hard to get patches to adhere too. For best results, just stick with studs. But no safety pins! You're a Skinhead, not a punk!

Even if you're not Skin a bomber is a great piece of clothing. They're incredibly warm, light, flattering (particularly if you're broad shouldered) and when unzipped hang open widely so they can be worn in warmer weather.

Where to get:

In Philly, Net on South Street sells bombers sometimes. Otherwise flightjacket.com provides a pretty good (and cheap) recreation and alphaindustries.com still makes the original millitary version.