501 EDGE SHIRT
Some things are just classic. They stand the test of time in a world full of flavor-of-the-week fads and come-and-go trends. For me, straight edge isn’t a club you join or a bandwagon to jump on, because that never lasts. If you’re in it for the right reasons, it has staying power and becomes a part of who you are. For a person with deep convictions, the edge never goes out of style.
LIVE CLEAN, TRAIN MEAN TANK
Day in and day out. No days off. We train. And then we train more. And we keep going until we forge ourselves into an unstoppable force of vitality and wellness. If others want to throw away their health on drugs, alcohol, a meat-based diet and sedentary living, so be it. But I’ll be out there – moving, sweating and getting stronger. As Henry Rollins says, “Strength is a product of struggle. You must do what others don’t to achieve what others won’t.”
THE SYMBOL SHIRT
The X isn’t just an X to us. It’s our struggle. It’s our strength. It’s our foundation. It’s a symbol of the way we choose to live our lives and deal with the negativity that surrounds us. “Normal” people may not understand this shirt when you walk down the street, but to us, we hold the X close to our hearts, and it means the world to us. If you know, you know.
WE GOT THAT ATTITUDE SHIRT
Don’t care what they may say
We got that attitude!
Don’t care what you may do
We got that attitude!
Yeah, people may think we are boring, lame, stuck up, uncool and anti-social for not drinking. I’ve heard it all and more. The fact is, we don’t care what they say. We don’t care what they do. We’re simply not interested in self-destruction disguised as fun. If that makes us unfun in their eyes, so be it. We’ve got something better that the rest of the world just can’t wrap their heads around.
People may not understand your choices. Who cares? You’ve been down that road before and you know it leads to nowhere. Don’t let the negative actions and attitudes of others sway you from your personal growth. We got that PMA.
STRAIGHT & DESTROY HOODIE
Ian MacKaye once said, “Skateboarding is a way of learning how to redefine the world around you. It’s a way of getting out of the house, connecting with other people and looking at the world with a different set of eyes.” In other words, you don’t see a curb as something to walk on anymore. Your perception of it changes and it becomes something to grind. Things that were once ordinary become extraordinary when you see them outside the box. The world becomes a different, more incredible place – full of potential and brilliance. For me, straight edge had the same effect – it gave me a different lens to view the world with. Fun no longer meant getting drunk till you couldn’t stand up. What once seemed like a good time to me, I started to see it for what it was. People trying to anesthetize their pain. People trying to imbibe courage and smoke away inhibitions. I learned there was a different, more healthy way to move through the world. With a clear mind, everything seemed bright and undistorted. I threw away the crutch and it made me walk taller.
Straight edge till the wheels fall off. True Till Death.
STR8 EDGE VS EVERYBODY SHIRT
Live life left of center. Go ahead, I dare you. It’s not for the faint of heart. Most cave. Most conform. Most wear the same clothes, listen to the same music, and eat the same food as everyone else and adopt a herd mentality to fit in. Be “normal” and live a safe life of non-confrontation. No one will make fun of your clothes, or your hair, or your dietary choices. No one will question your values. There’s a certain comfort in conformity, but know this – fitting in to our materialistic, consumeristic, party-your-way-to-happiness culture means accepting a certain mediocrity that rarely finds our human potential.
When you step out of line and into your own heart, others will naturally point their fingers. Being out of step, whether it’s your decision to not poison your body with alcohol, or to not kill animals unnecessarily for food, will certainly bring the derision of the vox populi, People will mock. People will laugh. People will certainly not understand and try to sway you back to the fold. Be brave. Have the courage to do what you feel is right, even if others don’t accept it. Never, ever be afraid to take the less-beaten path.
If you don’t like the way the world turns, turn in a different direction. Buck the system. Break free. Straight edge vs everybody.
IRON FIST SHIRT
I was a really young kid, barely in my teens, just fazing out of Kiss and looking for the next thing to rock out to. New Wave was hitting at the time, and I found myself gravitating to alternative-type music like the Talking Heads, Blondie, Devo, and the Jam. I wore skinny ties and Pro Keds to school and was already walking the road less traveled. Then one night I was listening to an alt-rock radio station and Ace of Spades started blaring out of my speakers. That song just friggin’ STEAMROLLED every new wave song in its path! How was I supposed to listen to the Knack anymore after that?
Motorhead were my gateway to hardcore. If it wasn’t for them, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into thrashy music, and who knows, I may never have heard of or gotten into straight edge. Everything louder than everything else!
NYC STRAIGHT EDGE SHIRT & CREWNECK
From the city that brought you The Abused, Youth of Today, Straight Ahead, Judge, Project X, Gorilla Biscuits, Bold and Shelter. NYC, there’s no other city like it in the world. It was a hard place to live. The rats were as big as cats, drug dealers ruled the streets and every commute back to our apartment at Schism HQ in Brooklyn seemed like a scene from the Warriors. The hardness rubbed off though, and it doubled our resolve to rise above it all. We weren’t about to get caught up in the crack and the heroin that were as available as tap water. Our crew stuck tight, and within that dusted, dangerous environment, a new scene emerged. This shirt is dedicated to Ray Cappo, Mike Judge, Civ, Toby Morse and all the others that fought to bring something positive to the streets of the lower east side.
This design is available in a t shirt AND a Champion crew neck sweatshirt! The choice is yours!
I DON’T WANNA BE SEDATED SHIRT
I loved the Ramones. I loved the Sex Pistols. Later on, I loved hardcore. When I was an angry, screwed up youth, the energy and the rebellion of the music connected with me in a deep way. When I started going to shows though, I quickly realized that the nihilism, the drug addiction and the constant complaining without any personal change didn’t sit right with me. I didn’t wanna be sedated. I didn’t wanna sniff some glue. I saw people shooting dope right in the bathroom of CBGBs. It struck me – how is this punk? How is this rebellion? How is this outside the mainstream? I got into punk to get away from the status quo culture where every kid would get fucked up around a keg on the weekends and fight over stupid shit, but punk seemed like the same mentality with wilder clothes. Straight edge was different. It wasn’t about bitching. It was about self-empowerment. It wasn’t about getting blitzed till you couldn’t stand, it was about creating a real alternative to that kind of self-destructive lifestyle. Straight edge to me seemed like the real rebellion, and I was ready to rise up and make some changes.
DON’T FORGET THE STREETS HOODIE
I never understood the term “Street Wear.” Shit you wear on the sidewalk? Raybeez was street and homeboy wore a chain around his waist and a ripped up $5 thermal shirt. To me, street means something real, something unpretentious and something you live every day – not something contrived and marketed to you for a 1000% markup. Straight edge ain’t something trendy or something you do to impress other people. What makes it “cool” is that it’s part of you and represents who are you are and what you believe in. It’s more than a fashion, it’s a compass that guides you through the pitfalls and dead end roads of life. So keep it real, keep it street, and when it comes to drugs and alcohol, don’t believe the phuckin’ hype!
HAS THE EDGE GONE DULL SHIRT
“You said it shouldn’t be taken too seriously. You said it was just your personal ideas and opinions. You said it was only meant to relate directly to your life. What about my life?” Straight edge was something you were supposed to grow out of. You mature. You go to college. You lose your youthful idealism and settle into a life of comfortable compromise. “It happens to everyone,” they said. Sorry, but no. Sorry, but I’ll keep fighting. Sorry, but as I get older, I hope to only get stronger in my ideals and my idea of who I want to be. The wise Dalai Lama once said, “Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.”
FUCK RACISM SHIRT
It’s an old, tired story. I’ve heard it before and I’m sure we’ll all hear it again and again. There will always be people who choose hate over love and see the differences in others as threats to themselves. It’s sad and petty when small minds see something as inconsequential as the color of someone’s skin as an excuse to judge and oppress. This shirt is a declaration that we choose not to be that way. We don’t rise by putting others down. It’s only through love, compassion and kindess that we grow and prosper. Equality for all, and yeah, fuck racism.
SKATE STR8 TANK
Anyone remember when skating was uncool? When I grew up, if you had a skateboard, you were a loser. Jocks and hipsters would yell out of the windows of their BMWs, “Get a car, dork!” as I rode by. I was ok with it. I was straight edge. I was already an outsider, and their mainstream, plastic, herd mentality lifestyle didn’t appeal to me at all. So this tank is for all the people who have the guts to live their lives left of center, despite the heckling from the “cool” party kids. Do kickflips, not drugs.
STAY TRUE SHIRT
With anything you hope to accomplish, consistency and commitment are everything. It’s perseverance through the day-to-day struggles that leads to ultimate success. Staying true to what you believe in and staying the course, in good times and bad, are powerful tools of transformation.