Review: Thunder Apparel

I wasn’t expecting to be back with another fashion review so quickly, seeing as I’m a poor student and my altrocklife fashion week cost me a significant sum.  However, my family were very generous to me this Easter, and I find it difficult to resist clothes shopping at the best of times, so here we are again.

My brand of choice this time around is Thunder Apparel, an independent brand formed in 2011.  I ordered my Tiger Tee on Easter Sunday and it slid through my letterbox this morning, which I was extremely happy with.  Speedy shipping is what gives me strength.

One thing I noticed that struck me as odd, however, is that my package did not contain an invoice.  I don’t know if this was an error or the general practice of Thunder Apparel, but if I’d wanted to return my t-shirt I probably would have run into difficulties, even though I did get an email confirmation of my order from both the brand and PayPal.

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Anyway, back to the shirt.  The print looks awesome, and the shirt is great quality.  There are a couple of white patches in the print, which I expected due to the style of printing, but they don’t detract from how much I love the shirt.

Plus, the neck hole is a great size for my head!  If you’ve read my previous t-shirt reviews, you’d know that shirts with neck holes that are too small are a major issue for me.

If you’re on Twitter – and frankly, who isn’t – you should definitely check out Thunder Apparel’s Twitter page.  Whoever’s in charge of their account is absolutely lovely, so make sure you say hi.

I would definitely recommend shopping with Thunder Apparel.  I had a really great experience, and I can’t wait to shop with them again.

Want this shirt but don’t know what to wear it with?  Check out my Polyvore for ideas.

Currently listening to: (I’ll Grab You By The) Neck Of The Woods (live performance) – We Are The Ocean

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altrocklife fashion week: Rogue City

So, it looks like this is the last instalment of the altrocklife fashion week.  I can sense all of your sad faces from here.  But not to worry; there’s a lot more where this came from.

The third and final brand I’ll be looking at is Rogue City.  I ordered the AKA Orton Bleach Splash Tee on the 2nd of April and it arrived on the 5th, which is great for someone as impatient as me.

They also sent me a handy 10% discount code via Twitter, which I really appreciated.

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I like this shirt; it feels good quality, and it’s the only shirt I featured in the altrocklife fashion week which has a neck hole large enough for my giant skull.

My main issue with it is that even though I ordered a medium, this shirt is massive around my hips.  I knew it would be baggier around my hips, but it felt a lot larger than I’d have expected from the information on the website, especially as I’m only a size 12.  I’ll definitely be altering this shirt so it fits better.

So, overall, I’m a little disappointed in this shirt.  The brand’s customer service is awesome, though.  I got a little note with my shirt which made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, as well as a Malteaster bunny!  I was extremely happy with that, let me tell you.

I would recommend purchasing from Rogue City, but make sure you’re 100% happy with the item you’re about to buy before you buy it.  If I’d taken a closer look at the product photographs, I would have noticed the bagginess around the hips and probably chosen something different.  All in all, though, I’m happy enough with the shirt to not bother returning or exchanging it.

Want inspiration for how to wear this shirt?  Check out my Polyvore for ideas.

Currently listening to: Do It Now, Remember It Later – Sleeping With Sirens

Review: Memphis May Fire, KOKO London

Anyone who follows me on Twitter or who’s read this blog will know how obsessed I am with Memphis May Fire at the moment.  I reviewed their latest album, Unconditional, about a month after I picked up tickets to see them play at London’s KOKO, and all that did was fuel my excitement even further.

Before the gig I headed to Drop Dead, as the band were holding a signing.  Unfortunately I don’t have any photographs of the signing itself, but check out the Challenger booklet the band signed for me!  They were lovely guys too; if you ever get the opportunity to meet the band, then please take it.

Of course Matty signed his name right over the album artwork. Of course.

I may have queued for an hour and a half to get into the signing, but it was so worth it.

After the signing I ate some dinner and then headed to Camden.  The issue with this was that I ended up at the back of the queue, meaning by the time we got into the venue the opening act, Cytota, was already nearly finished.  I wasn’t too sad about that, though; from what I heard, I didn’t rate them very highly.

The next support act was FACT, and to be honest, I’m not sure what to think about these guys.  I could hardly hear the vocals and lyrics over the music, which could have been down to mixing issues, but either way it made the set difficult to enjoy.

Then came The Word Alive.  I really enjoyed these guys.  They had a lot of energy, and their sound is right up my street.  I’ll definitely be buying their next album, Real, out in September.

And then, Memphis May Fire took to the stage.  These guys were absolutely awesome.  Matty’s vocals were clean, and the band’s overall performance was polished and well-rehearsed.

Their best songs were probably Be Careful What You Wish For, The Rose and Prove Me Right; the entire crowd was jumping and full of energy.

My highlight of the night, however, was their performance of Miles Away.  Matty’s vocals were enchanting, and when the entire crowd joined together to sing Kellin Quinn’s section the atmosphere was amazing.

Their encore of Prove Me Right and Legacy was the perfect way to end the night on a high note.  I had high expectations for this gig, and I definitely wasn’t disappointed.

Currently listening to: Alive In The Lights – Memphis May Fire

altrocklife fashion week: Stay Lucky Clothing

Welcome to the second instalment of the altrocklife fashion week!  Today I’m looking at Stay Lucky, another independent clothing brand.  I ordered my shirt on April 2nd and it arrived on the 4th.  Speedy shipping seems to be a theme with the brands I’m looking at this week.

Another running theme is that these guys also sent me a 10% discount code when I followed them on Twitter, which is great for an unemployed student like me.

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I absolutely love this t-shirt.  The design is vibrant and exactly how I expected it to look from the website.  The fit is great, too, even if once again the neck hole is slightly too small for my apparently gigantic head.

Along with my order, I also got sent a couple of sweeties and a lovely little note, which really made me feel like a valued customer.

All in all, this brand is absolutely fabulous, and I recommend you go check them out.

If you want inspiration for how to wear this shirt, check out my Polyvore for ideas.

Currently listening to: Everything Ends – Young Guns

altrocklife fashion week: Half Naked Clothing

Welcome to the altrocklife fashion week!  First up I’ve got a review of a fantastic independent clothing label, Half Naked.  I ordered the Love Deep shirt on April 2nd and it arrived at home on the 4th, so their shipping is super fast.

Plus, when I followed their Twitter account, they sent me a discount code for 10% off my first purchase, which was definitely the icing on the cake.

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The shirt itself is lovely.  It’s a great fit, plus it’s soft to the touch and seems really great quality.  The design is bold and nicely printed.

My only slight issue is that the neck hole is a little small for me.  Maybe I just have a massive head?  Who knows.

This brand is so awesome.  They sent me a sticker, which is going up on my wall, and the people behind their twitter account are super nice.  Plus, their shirts are really good value for money even without a discount, so I’d definitely recommend checking their store out.

Wanna see how I’d wear this shirt?  Check out my Polyvore for ideas.

Currently listening to: Right Back At It Again – A Day To Remember 

Coming soon: altrocklife fashion week

Hey all!  Sorry for the sudden silence, but I have a lot of stuff planned for this blog!

On Monday 14th April, I’m gonna be starting a little feature called altrocklife fashion week.  In an effort to expand my collection of clothes from independent, alternative fashion brands, I bought t-shirts from Stay Lucky, Rogue City and Get Half Naked with hopes to review their products and general service.

However, in order to make sure I got them before I travelled home for Easter, I decided to get the shirts shipped home instead of worrying about them feeling lonely and abandoned in my empty student digs.

Hence the inactivity on this blog: all the material I plan to blog about is currently 250 miles away.  Bummer.

So, next Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I’ll be posting a review of each of the shirts I ordered.  You’ll have so much new content from me you won’t know what to do with it all.

On top of that, when I get home I’ll be able to get hold of my digital camera, so from now on all original images on this blog will be super high quality.  Well, better than my camera phone anyway.

Hope you’re looking forward to next week as much as I am!

Currently listening to: People = Shit – Slipknot

Review: Drop Dead Fuun Koneko Shirt

Now, before I begin I’m well aware that if you’re into alternative fashion but not Drop Dead, then you’re already a minority.

The independent fashion brand, formed by Bring Me The Horizon frontman Oli Sykes, has been around since 2004, and its popularity started to boom along with the band’s.  Nowadays if you see BMTH live, it’s a dead cert that at least 50% of the audience will be wearing Drop Dead clothing.

It’s almost become a mating call for fellow BMTH fans.  I remember as I was approaching the ticket tent on the Friday of Reading Festival last year, one of the wardens pointed at me, ripped open his high-visibility jacket to reveal a Drop Dead shirt and pointed at mine excitedly, shouting “Are you a Bring Me The Horizon fan?  I’ll see you in the pit later!”

(I didn’t go anywhere near the pit, to clarify.  I’m a punk rock princess, I can’t deal with having my personal bubble invaded.  But the sentiment was nice.)

Anyway, currently Drop Dead are clearing out some of their old lines, meaning permanently reduced prices.  Hello, I’m living on a student budget, this is a DREAM COME TRUE.  I snapped myself up a Fuun Koneko Shirt, and let me tell you, it’s amazing.

No photo taken in a student’s bedroom would be complete without a messy wardrobe.

The chiffon is such great quality.  The shirt is soft to the touch, and the stiffened collar means I don’t have to worry about it flopping out of place over the course of the day.  None of my other chiffon shirts have this feature, so I’m pretty impressed.

Also, who could say no to the design? It’s super cute, and easily recognisable to fellow Drop Dead fans.

Once again, shopping online at their website was a seamless experience.  I ordered it on a Wednesday with standard shipping, it was dispatched on Thursday, and it slid through my letterbox on Saturday morning.  Perfect.  I even got a couple of stickers along with my order, which is always a bonus.

Too bad there’s nowhere appropriate I can stick the ‘Suck-A-Fuck’ sticker. Sigh.

My only bug-bear with this shirt is that I should have bought a Large, rather than an X-Large.  It’s a perfect fit everywhere except the arms, which are too long and the cuffs slide over my hands easily.  But, that’s my own fault.  Considering I own a Drop Dead vest in size X-Small I should have known the X-Large would have been, well, too large.  But when you have a bust like mine it becomes habit to buy a size too big, just to make sure the twins are contained.  And I definitely didn’t want to have to deal with bulging shirt buttons, so the too-long sleeves are a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

So, if you’ve been meaning to buy something from Drop Dead but don’t trust online shopping, trust me on this: you can’t go far wrong with this brand.

Currently listening to: Homesick [Acoustic Version] – A Day To Remember