I don't consider myself to be the biggest fashionista out there. In fact, if you compare me to a fashion blogger, you'd probably have no choice but to laugh at my style choices. My wardrobe consists of items that are practical for real-life mom grunge work - you know, playing with tiny plastic animals, serving up cracker and raisin snacks, and of course - reading dozens and dozens of books out loud every day.
In my life before kids, I worked full time at my local library, planning children's clubs and parties and helping connect kids with books that I knew they would love. I'm so excited for the years ahead of introducing my own children to great works of literature - starting, of course, with some kids classics.
When I stumbled across Out of Print Clothing, I thought I had died and gone to librarian heaven. This fantastic company takes the artwork from classic (and often out of print) editions of literature and designs shirts, tote bags, phone cases, greeting cards, and so much more from them!
Here's a little bit about Out of Print from their website:
Out of Print celebrates the world’s great stories through fashion. Our products feature iconic and often out of print book covers. Some are classics, some are just curious enough to make great t-shirts, but all are striking works of art.
We work closely with artists, authors and publishers to license the content that ends up in our collections. Each product is treated to feel soft and worn like a well-read book.
In addition to spreading the joy of reading through our tees and accessories, we acknowledge that many parts of the world don’t have access to books at all. We are working to change that. For each product sold, one book is donated to a community in need through our partner Books For Africa.
How we read is changing as we move further into the digital age. It’s unclear what the role of the book cover will be in this new era, but we feel it’s more important than ever to reflect on our own individual experiences with great literary art before it’s forever changed.
I'm all for the digital age (hello, I'm writing this blog and have sent about 1,000 tweets today alone), but I don't want to ever lose the printed book. There's something magical about curling up with a ragged copy of your favorite novel to read it for the twenty-seventh time. You can see the tear stains on certain pages or find a spot of spaghetti sauce from that time as a child that you refused to put the book down during dinner. Books - real, actual, physical books - are amazing, you guys.
Out of Print Clothing sent us a couple of shirts to review, and we could not possibly love them more. It was agonizing to choose just two favorites from their large collection, but eventually I settled on the Charlotte's Web shirt for myself (this story may have been my first obsession, at the age of three) and the Mike Mulligan shirt for Lincoln.
Lincoln is consistently wearing size 4T and 5T clothing right now, and this size 4/5 shirt is a perfect fit for him! I ordered based on the measurements of the size chart for myself - my shirt fits, but is maybe a hair too big after it has been worn/stretched a few times. I think my next order will be for a size smaller. Don't get me wrong - I still love it, and wear it all the time and have no issues. Due to the tees being soft and worn like a well-read book, they stretch pretty easily. They are a cotton/poly blend and are so comfy!
When Addie noticed my shirt, she gasped and said "Wilbur, mama! And Charlotte right there." She's never seen this book cover, though she has watched the animated film a couple of times. That goes to show that a classic is truly a classic, don't you think? I've received multiple compliments from strangers when I have worn the tee to run errands, too!
You can shop by book title, author, or clothing style on the website and there are so many great choices - Pride & Prejudice, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and many, many others. I'm in love with the new kid sized Goodnight Moon and Madeline tees! To be perfectly honest, I kind of wish I had enough of these shirts that I could wear one every day. If I still worked at the library, these would absolutely be my uniform.
I can't wait to read Charlotte's Web (and so many other great stories) to my kids. |
If you love Out of Print Clothing as much as I do, you can visit them on the web or follow via Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, or Instagram for all the latest updates and product releases.
Disclosure: I received sample products to review. No compensation was received and all views expressed are my own.
We've all seen ones done with fruit crate designs/etc, but I had never seen books. What a great idea!
ReplyDeleteI've never seen fruit crate designs!
DeleteOh my gosh love the Charlotte's Web! Aboslutely my favorite.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it just the greatest book?
DeleteI was a K-1 teacher before I was a mom and this is such a neat concept, I am going to check this site out and mention it to my teacher friends!
ReplyDeleteYou definitely should, Jen!
DeleteThe shirts came out great. I'll have to check them out.
ReplyDeleteI want to wear my Charlotte shirt every day, I love it!
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