Cart Contents    Checkout 
Shop Girls

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Glee TV show Features Geek is the new Chic t-shirt!

The always fashionable and impeccably dressed Kurt Hummle, as played by Chris Colfer, was spotted in our Geek is the New Chic Guys T-shirt in Glee: Episode 3, Accafellas.

We are super psyched. Glee is one of the hottest shows on TV right now, and they're wearing Crooked Monkey t-shirts! Hip hip hooray!

Glee joins Weeds, Leverage, and "So you think you can dance" in the category of TV shows with awesome style. Eclipse, the third saga in the Twilight series, will be joining the category of Movies with the best style when Eclipse features our Sketched boombox t-shirt.

Big shout out to Cara, best former intern ever, for spotting this one. It wasn't an easy spot, as Kurt was wearing a blazer over our Geek is Chic t-shirt, but I guess we trained her well. She also is responsible for letting us know about Ryan Seacrest wearing our I'm not a gardener i just like hoes t-shirt. Three cheers for Cara. Well actually two cheers for Cara. She'll get a third cheer on her next spotting.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Don't Waste my Daytime Minutes Shirt on E! News!

Crystal Harris, from the TV show Girls next door and Miss December 2009, was on E!News last night showing Ryan Seacrest what shirts she's going to buy her friends for Christmas. And guess what she found at Fred Segal Fun in Los Angeles?

Our Don't waste my daytime minutes t-shirt! Awesome. I DVRed the show and will post the video later (couldn't find it anywhere on the internet for some reason).

This slogan tee, or sayings t shirt, was also featured in Seventeen Magazine last year. Grab yours online--for you or your best friend: Don't waste my daytime minutes girls shirt

Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: Crooked Monkey Style

Guest blog by Dr. Mark Drapeau, originally posted on BrianSolis.com, about our Photoshoot at the Warehouse:

I hadn’t heard of the popular t-shirt company Crooked Monkey until I was invited to an exclusive party they recently held. You see, even though they get great press from actors wearing their shirts in movies and magazines talking about their fashion styles, Crooked Monkey is based in Washington, DC – not widely known as the fashion capital of the country. And they wanted to do some local brand building.

This wasn’t just any party. Sure, there were attractive guests in a cool setting with great drinks and music all the usual stuff. It was what they did differently that made it the most memorable event Ive been to in a long time.

Lets start with how I even found out about the event – a secretive email from someone I didn’t know telling me that my friend recommended me as a guest for the event. This is somewhere in between Facebook and Eyes Wide Shut. Then, a request for my home address, to which was mailed a package containing an envelope with a paper invitation, and also a sparsely decorated white t-shirt, which I was required to save for the party two months later and bring with me to gain admittance. Finally, a bag of tart banana candies finished the package.

Further inspection revealed that the event was on a Sunday night (no night is safe from parties!) at a secret location to be given to us later. Keep in mind that I dont know the person behind the party, nor the other guests, and now also not the location. Still later I discovered by email invitation that the event would be in a warehouse in a not-so-savory part of Washington, DC and that we MUST bring our white t-shirts because wed be doing something with them on the night of the event.

When the day of the event came, I really couldn’t stand not knowing anything! I texted the contacts I had for the event to ask questions, but they revealed little. I emailed some socialite friends to try to figure out who else would be there we knew it would be all tastemakers of different sorts, but no one really knew who was going, which was exciting. I used Google Maps to investigate the location of the warehouse. I stressed about what one wears to such events (I think I chose well!).

Even the party itself was very engaging. An artist created a mural from our white t-shirts that we used for entry right in front of our eyes. An old-fashioned photo booth let us take pictures with each other, and the photo strips had (what else?) a Crooked Monkey logo on them. Even the name of the event Photoshoot at the Warehouse gave the party an active quality.

Do you detect a pattern here? Crooked Monkey kept busy, elite attendees who get invited to tons of events mentally engaged with their event for weeks. They made us part of telling their story. They got us to talk about their brand before, during, and after the event. And in the end, the event delivered with a cool venue, outstanding bar, fun atmosphere, and lots of fashion.

Photoshoot at the Warehouse is a great example of putting the public back in public relations and brand engagement. How great? Im writing an entire post about them – and I dont even like wearing t-shirts!

This post originally appeared on Brian Solis’ PR 2.0 site.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Does this shirt look familiar?

We did some research and here's what we found. Nathan Trasoras wore our Keyboard Graphic t-shirt on Season 6, Episode 7 of the So you Think you Can Dance TV show. He's on the show for a good part of it--from minute 3 until minute 4:45 and he wears the shirt well.

We're going to embed the YouTube video here for you to see the shirt in action, but chances are it might get taken down.

Labels: , , , , , , ,

Our t-shirt on So you think you can dance (again!!)

We just got an email from a fan saying they saw one of our guys shirts on the TV show "So you think you can dance" last night. We're finding out more details--like which guy wore it, which t-shirt it was and whether or not he can do the moonwalk.

The season started less than a month ago, and already two dancers have worn our t-shirts. (Check out the other t-shirt on so you think you can dance). I'm not sure what it is, but it looks like there's a direct correlation between being a good dancer and wearing Crooked Monkey's graphic t-shirts.

Maybe we should come out with a commercial, where Michael Jackson is trying, trying to dance. But he just can't get the rhythm, the timing, the moves right. He throws on one of our t-shirts, and bam, he's moon walking and side walking all over the Apollo theatre. How should this commerical end?

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, September 18, 2009

What a party

We haven't had a chance to write the follow up blog to the Photoshoot at the Warehouse, but I wanted to give a small glimpse of the night. We transformed a beat up warehouse in Chinatown into an impressive lounge--with lighting (pictured above), a full bar, a kicking DJ and a live graffiti artist. Everyone who attended said they were blown away with the ambiance--that this was probably the coolest party they've been to this year. Nice! Our 6 weeks of work paid off!
On Monday we'll post a blog with all the details. In the meantime read up on the press that we got for the T-shirt launch party:

-9:25 AM on Monday morning (9/21), Angie Goff (pictured above) will discuss it on WUSA Channel 9 Morning News!
-Pamela's Punch
-The Glamazon Diaries
-K street Kate
-MoCo Scene
-Amanda Nachman, CEO of CollegeMagazine.com
-DeaconDoesDC
-The Event Current
-Bisnow The scene

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, September 10, 2009

T-shirt spotted in "So you think you can Dance"

Today has been a good day. We found out that Twilight wants to put one of our t-shirts in their next movie, Eclipse (blog coming up), and we spotted one of our shirts on "So yo think you can dance" Season 6 Episode 1.Watch the episode below, from 4:17-4:24 there's 7 seconds of Brandon Dumlao gracefully dancing around the screen in one of our Crooked Monkey t-shirts. It's not yet online but we're real proud of Brandon for picking up our t-shirt and wearing it on National Television.

Labels: , , , , , , ,

Friday, August 14, 2009

Our British Flag Shirt Featured in Seventeen Magazine

Our good friends over at Seventeen Magazine featured our Girls British Flag T-shirt in their September issue. On page 66 and again on Page 70 they have a rocker chick, decked out in a plaid jacket and shoes, modeling our British Flag Girls t-shirt.

Real cool photoshoot. All about plaids because plaids are back.

Labels: , , , ,

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Micha Weinblatt featured on The District Dish

DC bloggers and trendsetters Ebong Eka, Kate Michael, and Pamela Sorensen have a bi-weekly webisode called "The district Dish." They feature individuals with interesting stories/businesses/charities/lives.

This week they decided to interview yours truly. I was honored to be asked to be on the show. Kate Michael writes and produces K street Kate, Pamela Sorensen writes and produces Pamelas Punch and Ebong Eka owns a men's fashion line called Mi Chiamo Eka.

Great group of people. I discussed t-shirts, the origins of Crooked Monkey, where we get inspiration and celebrities wearing our t-shirts.

Michael Wilbon was filmed that same day--so I got to meet him. He's a real real nice guy and very interesting to talk to. He's got a few more views for his edition of The District Dish than I do, so go watch my edition so we can beat him out.

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Our Michael Jackson shirts are rated #1

We've really appreciated all the love for our MJ shirts. It's meant a lot to us because of how meaningful these are to C monkey.

We've gotten a ton of emails and a good amount of bloggers writing about our Michael Jackson T-shirts.

I'm going to repost some of them here for you to see:

Jessica from Toronto wants us to sell to Toronto so she can pick up an MJ shirt:
"I would love to be able to buy one of your MJ shirts if you did relocate to Toronto. Great site though, keep it up, loving the shirts!"

Bloggers:

-My favorite post came from Karen Watkins of the MoCoScene. She read our blog post, Mourning Michael and wrote:
"Micha Weinblatt says in his company blog June 26, 'Since news broke of Michael's passing I have been teary eyed and at a loss for words.' But not for ideas. The master of the wicked double entendre quickly came up with four simple, hip T-shirts in homage to the great one - with V-necks, a first. Straightforward sentiment from Crooked Monkey, another first and an aesthetic winner."

-Coty Gonzales did a top 10 of MJ shirts. Our I heart MJ shirt was # 1! Thanks.

-Kelsi Smith from Dedicated Follower of Fashion called our Michael Jackson t-shirts "gems."
She added that our Michael Jackson shirts are "stylish [and] a genuine tribute from a company that has always been influenced by Michael Jackson since their launch in 2007 (you can watch their monkey bust a groove and do the moonwalk here - click on the speaker).

-Northern Virginia Mag wrote:
"You know I’m a huge fan of locally-based crookedmonkey.com" And added: "I couldn’t be happier to let you all know about Crooked Monkey’s new shirts designed in honor of the music legend who, according to Jessica Kades, has long served as an inspiration to the company."Dexie Wharton wrote that we were the first place she checked for MJ shirts.
"They didn’t have them last week because as I found out yesterday from one the CM folks, they were making sure the shirts look perfect. I think you won’t be disappointed with what they came up with."

Thanks everyone. Good work Jessica on contacting these blogs.
And go ahead and check them out for yourself. Our guys Michael Jackson t-shirts. Girls Michael Jackson T-shirts.

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Friday, June 19, 2009

Our CEO interviewed by Heeb Magazine

Heeb Magazine, the edgy New York based Jewish Magazine, interviewed me the other day--over Gchat. That's a first for me, and it was pretty interesting. I think I like phone or in person interviews more, but I'm happy with the end product.

With 5 comments, its the most commented post this week. That's good news--means we're interesting.

Go read the interview and learn a little more about our history, our roots and our t-shirts.

Labels: , , ,

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Seventeen.com loves our Funny t-shirts


Crooked Monkey uses Google Analytics to see how people come to our website and see what specific pages on our site people like. We can also see how people get to our website--whether they found us by searching for funny t-shirts or from a blog that writes about us.

Oftentimes we get welcomed surprises--websites that are sending us traffic that we didn't even know wrote about us. This morning I checked analytics and found that people were coming from Seventeen.com. What a welcomed bonus.

They listed us under their "The cutest Tees" section, and we occupy the top 5 spots in it. Thanks guys.

Their list:
1)Facebook its my day job girls t-shirt
2)Give Peas a chance girls t-shirt
3)Sole Mates Girls t-shirt
4)Boys are so Last Season Girls T-shirt
5)Don't Frown Boogie Down Girls T-shirt

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, May 28, 2009

People.com's Stylewatch features our t-shirts


The title says it all. People.com's Stylewatch features our t-shirt website and specifically our Geek is the new chic t-shirt. We are offering the readers of People, and of our blog, a 20% discount on all our shirts. The promo code is: "People," and it expires on June 15th. So use it as many times as you'd like until then.

And don't forget that we always offer free USPS shipping when you buy 2 or more shirts. And our Girls recession t-shirts are up on the site.

Labels: , , , , , ,

Friday, May 22, 2009

Featured on Kitten Lounge's Summer Guide

Twitter has done well for us. We found out about Ryan Seacrest wearing our shirt, get to interact with our customers, and found out about Kitten Lounge. Its run by Cocoabebe, she's got a great twitter account--so follow her!

Anyways we sent her some shirts to review and she's going to post that review next week. In the meanwhile, just in time for Memorial Day Weekend, she added our t-shirts to her Summer guide. She's got some other cool products on there so check it out.

Have a good friday!

Labels: , , , , , ,

Saturday, May 16, 2009

The on air with Ryan Seacrest T-shirt giveaway!

We finally have the audio clip from the Ryan Seacrest show. And we finally made our first Crooked Monkey YouTube video. It took us a little bit of time--we wanted to make sure YouTube was a safe place and that it was here to stay. Next we'll launch a "website." (Just kidding we already have one).

Anyways, Manny from the On Air show with Ryan Seacrest talks about our Thats How I roll t-shirt and our I recycle boys t-shirt. This was aired on April 23rd on Kiss FM in LA. Pretty cool, hunh? Those lucky winners got free Crooked Monkey t-shirts. We'll be coming out with a bunch of new YouTube videos this summer. Kind of funny that it took us 3 years until we uploaded our first video.

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, May 4, 2009

John Mayer, a Douchebag?

Well probably not. We actually like John Mayer--He's one of our interns favorite blogger/singer/songwriters.

I'm not sure how Chloe the intern found the video--the singing is pretty awful and very annoying to listen to--but its a guy covering John Mayer wearing our Either your collar is messed up your just a douchebag t-shirt. The video's gotten over 13,000 views.

That's pretty cool. We love random Crooked Monkey Funny t-shirt sightings.

Labels: , , , , ,

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Ryan Seacrest wears our Keep the Ratio Strong T-shirt Today!


We have been blessed recently with some pretty awesome press. Those cool cats in LA can't get enough of our funny t-shirts.

Unfortunately we can't release the picture of Ryan wearing the Keep the Ratio Strong T-shirt, but take our word for it--he wears that shirt well.

Twice in one month? We're super happy. Our funny shirts are really doing us proud.

Labels: , , ,

Friday, April 24, 2009

Crooked Monkey wins BB&T Invitational with Under Armour

Crooked Monkey was established in 2005. In May, it will celebrate its 4 year anniversary. We've accomplished a lot in our short history--featured in magazines, picked up by department stores and trendy boutiques, and put a smile on over 120,000 happy customers. And now, finally, we can add, "receiving an oversized check (a la Happy Gilmore) to our list of accolades."

Starting in 2006, Kevin Plank (the founder and CEO of Under Armour) has hosted an annual business competition for the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland, called the Cupid's Cup. In its first year, Crooked Monkey was nominated for the award and finished as a runner up in the competition. This year, Crooked Monkey could not compete for the award because our annual sales volume exceeded the upper limit.

Luckily BB&T launched the BB&T invitational--which features companies connected with the University of Maryland. It allows us to showcase our businesses, and invites students, alumn and other entrepreneurs to get a taste for each company. The attendees then vote for their favorite company and the winner is announced at the Cupid's Cup, in front of the entire Under Armour Executive team. There was stiff competition from a list of other strong, thriving entrepreneurs. But in the end our Funny t-shirts were a fan favorite and we took home the prize money and an oversized check!

Than you to: Kevin Plank, Asher Espstein (from the Dingman Center) and BB&T.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Greivis Vasquez wears Terps Shirt


We met Greivis Vasquez last week at a business competition put on by the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship and Kevin Plank, CEO of Under Armour. I'll tell you more about that competition when we get pictures (for now, i'll just have you know that Crooked Monkey received one of those big oversized Happy-Gilmore checks).

We gave Greivis one of our University of Maryland shirts--and he loved it so much he wore it the next day. Greivis, the star Point Guard on the Terrapins basketball team, probably gets a lot of free stuff--so we're honored that he loved our shirt enough to wear it!

He's wearing our Terrapins shirt Men's shirt. Other UMD t-shirts include:
Fear the Turtle Newspaper University of Maryland shirt
Testudo rubbing Testudo's Nose University of Maryland Terps Shirt

Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, April 10, 2009

The Scene Bisnow features our Funny t-shirts

Big shout out to The Scene Bisnow, a highly read daily email from the guys at Bisnow. They did a nice little write about us yesterday and we got a ton of emails and Facebook messages congratulating us. I wore our Life Comes at you fast t-shirt for the shoot, because I knew it'd be a fan favorite. And my hand is resting on our Don't be Trashy shirt.

Its always nice to get written up in the local Press.

Labels: , , , , ,

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The Seventeen Issue with Let me hear you say Yeah t-shirt

As promised, here's the actual picture of the the Let me hear You say Yeah t-shirt spread in Seventeen Magazine. If you're thinking to yourself, is that Taylor Swift wearing a Crooked Monkey t-shirt? Then your inner most thoughts would be correct.

Nice work Seventeen. We'll keep on providing the awesome shirts, you keep on providing the awesome magazine.

Labels: , , , , ,

Monday, April 6, 2009

Let me hear you say Yeah T-shirt featured in Seventeen Magazine


Seventeen Magazine, our favorite magazine ever, featured our Let me hear you say Yeah Girls t-shirt in their May issue--out in stands now. On the cover is Taylor Swift, the country/pop star phenom. Taylor Swift wears the t-shirt in the magazine. We got two hits with this shirt--Seventeen Magazine and Taylor Swift!

We'll post the Seventeen Magazine picture of our shirt as soon as we get it. But until then, you'll just have to buy the magazine yourself or trust us!

This is our 5th time in Seventeen Magazine. They've also featured:
Thats How I roll Guys T-shirt
Don't waste my Daytime Minutes t-shirt
I recycle Boys T-shirt
I love Camp t-shirt
Let me Hear you Say Yeah t-shirt

Check out more press on our Press page.

Labels: , , , , ,

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Ryan Seacrest wears I'm not a Gardener T-shirt

Enough Said.

He has a whole post on his site, about the shirt, entitled: Classy or Trashy. All his fans are commenting about how much they love Ryan's I'm not a Gardener, I just like hoes shirt.

Best posts on his site:
1)LMAO please wear that on Idol tonight :)
2)OMG Awesome shirt Ryan. You should wear that on Idol. You need to be more casual. The suits are a little intimidating.

He reported it on his twitter. I'd suggest you start following us on twitter And subscribing to our RSS Feed.

Ryan, that's awesome that you're wearing our Gardener shirt on your Radio show. We hope you wear the Gardener t-shirt on American Idol tonight.

Just so you all know, Ryan bought the I'm not a gardener shirt at a store (probably Urban Outfitters). He actually paid for it, which is much cooler than him getting the tee for free.

Cara, our former intern, found this one. NICE WORK CARA

Labels: , , , ,

Friday, February 13, 2009

Welcome City Shop Girl

We'd like to welcome all the loyal readers of City Shop Girl to our website. We've got a ton of funny t-shirts on the site that you can choose from and some funny blog posts that you can read. We've even got moving Valentines Day poems to enjoy, or for you to plagiarize.

Happy Almost Valentines Day and let us know if we can be of service to you.

Labels: , , ,

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

TMZ features I'm not a gardener t-shirt


Michelle, from our West Coast Showroom, was checking her daily Blog roll this morning and look what she found. Erol Sarabi rocking his I'm not a gardener I just like hoes t-shirt , hanging out with Rick Warren, the pastor whose giving the invocation at Obama's Inauguration.

They were spotted outside Out of the Closet thrift store in West Hollywood. Hopefully Rick trades in his tired button down for the Gardener t-shirt, and then wears it for the invocation.

This shirt is probably our most famous tee. It was on the TV show Weeds, Erol Sarabi, and I always see people walking around town wearing it. Just the other day, I was at a Wizards game and saw some dude wearing the Gardener tee.

Labels: , , , , ,

Friday, December 5, 2008

Crooked monkey Cares


For the holiday season, we are doing something good for this world. We've linked up with Dosomething.org on a couple of initiatives to help raise money and awareness for their great cause.

First and foremost, 15% of profits from our That's How I roll guys t-shirt will be donated to DoSomething.org. Seventeen magazine wrote us up in their December Holiday gift buying guide--because they love the shirt and they love our charity work.

Second, since Do Something wants you guys to get active, if you text MONKEY to 30644 you’ll get volunteer opportunities sent to your cell 2 times a month. It’s a great way get involved and stay involved. Go on, do it. Text MONKEY to 30644 to get the volunteer opps and make a difference this holiday season.

Labels: , , , , ,

Friday, November 7, 2008

University of Maryland features Funny t-shirts in Worldview magazine



The school of Behavior and social sciences wrote us up in their magazine, "WorldView." What an honor. If the picture looks familiar, it's because it is! It is the same picture from the Washington Post article in the Making It section.

Crooked Monkey has a special bond with the University of Maryland and they love our funny t-shirts. UMD is the first school for which we are producing licensed University apparel, and the students have responded in kind. My brother said he saw 5 kids the other day wearing our University of Maryland t-shirts.

We look forward to working with the Terrapins and to continue to provide the school with first rate products and the opportunity to sample our t-shirts before we roll them out to other schools.

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

ShopFlick interviews Micha Weinblatt from Crooked Monkey Funny T-shirts


Courtney from ShopFlick interviewed us for their blog, shopflick.com. Enjoy!

SF: What does your brand stand for?

MW: Crooked Monkey is about fun. We strive to put smiles on people’s faces by providing them with funny t-shirts. At the end of the day, the goal of Crooked Monkey is to remind people how awesome College and bring people back to their glory days.

SF: What is the inspiration?

MW: College students, the college lifestyle. We try and take the best four years of a person’s life and express it through soft, vintage style tees. Its college-inspired humor, and college kids are who we aim to please.

SF: Who are your customers?

MW: The college student, obviously. But we also recognize that guys and gals who are just about to enter college, and who just left college, have a strong bond with Crooked Monkey as well.

SF: What’s new this season?

MW: We’re introducing a line of hoodies, flannels, and sweat pants. We also just secured collegiate licenses so look out for Crooked Monkey’s irreverence to hit the college mascot scene in a big way. And like always, count on us for hilarious, humor graphic tees.

SF: What items are people responding to most?

MW: For girls our environmental and political screens have been doing really well for us. For the guys our classic humor t-shirts have been very strong this season.

SF: Are any celebs wearing your pieces?

MW: Yup. Miley Cyrus wore our “Waking Up is Hard to Do” shirt on her video blog, The Miley and Mandy Show. We wrote it on our blog: http://www.crookedmonkey.com/2008/03/miley-cyrus-wears-crooked-monkeys.html

Also, Silas on “Weeds” wore our “I’m not a Gardener, I Just like Hoes”.We wrote about this on our blog as well: http://www.crookedmonkey.com/2007/10/tv-show-weeds-features-crooked-monkey.html

SF: How did you get started in the industry?

MW: We started at a bar in College Park on May 5, 2005. That was our launch party and the rest is history. Our first big account was National Jean Company in Long Island, and we’ve never looked back.

SF: What is your must-have item?

MW: Scarves. They’re functional when it gets cold outside and they can dress up a t-shirt or dress down a cute dress. They’re the absolute best day-to-night staple.

SF: What are you wearing right now?

MW: Plaid. I can’t get enough of it for fall. And Crooked Monkey tees, of course. They’re perfect for day time - comfortable, effortless, and chic. Not to mention the wearer of a funny t-shirt always gets a ton of attention.

SF: Is there anything else you would like to share with the Shopflick community?

MW: Keep checking www.crookedmonkey.com for our newest t-shirts. We produce t-shirts like its our job, so we’re always coming out with new hilarious stuff for you guys. And if you have any questions or comments, post them or email me.

Labels: , ,

Monday, September 15, 2008

DC Modern Luxury Article about Crooked Monkey Funny t-shirts


Ashley Gosik, a journalist for DC Modern Luxury wrote up a piece for a series called "Look who's talking" that was featured in the back page of this issue of DC Modern Luxury. I first told you about it when i reported on the Photoshoot of me in a Dolce and Gabbana suit. So here's the article, republished in its full form.

Micha tees off!

And in the process, the Crooked Monkey CEO rocks the vote

By Ashley Gosik

If you’re looking to blame Abercrombie & Fitch for the tasteless T-shirt phenomenon, don’t bother. The culprit is 25-year-old localite Micha Weinblatt. The rabbi’s son co-founded the sophomoric T-shirt collection Crooked Monkey in his primary school pal’s basement three years ago and has since become an international arbiter of sayings like “Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.” But the Potomac native recently did something a little more grown-up. He launched a collection of “Vote” tees trendy enough to sell out at L.A.’s hottest spots like Kitson and Fred Segal and they’re in short supply at the other 500-plus shops that stock them.

Weinblatt’s style growing up was something akin to slacker-chic. “I always wore T-shirts and sweatpants,” he says. He’s replaced the sweats with designer denim, but tees remain a staple for the U Street boy who keeps his stride in colorful kicks from Puma and Adidas. Before his foray into fashion, the University of Maryland grad studied political science and interned for a number of prominent lobbying firms in the District. But after months of surveying the ensembles of his peers, he decided to put his Hill dreams on hold. “There were too many un-funny shirts out there,” he says.

Just a few months after his company’s launch, Crooked Monkey’s first T-shirt, “Livin’ the Dream,” was featured in a GQ spread. Soon, retailers from Nordstrom to Urban Outfitters jumped on the better-tee bandwagon. A bicoastal sales team and dozens of fresh, irreverent slogans followed but Weinblatt says the political tees are the most important he’s produced. The understated shirts feature sayings like “One Voice, One Love, One Vote,” and “Make Your Voice Heard.” Their bipartisan flavor is intentional.

“I’m not a fan of political parties,” he says emphatically. “There are so many other things that need to be done from global warming to the economy and none of it can be dealt with by being partisan.” The minimogul does, however, find time for a different kind of party. “I usually go out four nights a week,” he admits. Weekend mornings are spent at Busboys & Poets and followed up with a movie on his 46” LCD TV—his first big boy purchase. “Yeah, I guess I am livin’ the dream,” he muses.

Labels: , ,

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Meetings with Alloy and Seventeen Magazine about our Funny t shirts!

So besides going to shows and cruisng around town with has-been governors (see our blog post from yesterday about my trip to New York City), we're also meeting with some big whigs in the city.

Today I met the buyer from Alloy, for the first time. She's picked up a lot of our funny t shirts, which have been doing real well, so we finally had to meet. We invited her to our NYC showroom and it was a true meeting of the minds.

We showed her our new funny t-shirts, chatted about bridge and tunnel girls, and looked into ways we can work together in the future. She actually gave us a bunch of ideas to work on for the meeting--i posted one of our new funny t-shirts below. She challenged us to come up with some vintage looking destination shirts and she was real impressed with our concepts. The new shirts remind me of old school destination shirts you'd find in those old vintage shops. We're going to be coming out with a whole series of these--if you have any cities you want done, or if you can think of any clever lines for cities, please do email us or post them here.

I'm actually pretty tired so I'll blog about Seventeen magazine tomorrow--just enjoy the sneak peak at our newest vintage looking funny t shirt.

Labels: , , , , , ,

Monday, July 21, 2008

DC Modern Luxury Photoshoot of Funny t-shirts


Crooked Monkey has modeling shoots all the time, and we produce some pretty sexy pictures like the one above. The photograph was taken by Richard Greenhouse, a famed Washington DC photographer, who does all the shots on our funny t-shirt website. You can check out our Gallery for more hot, steamy pictures.

But it's not everyday that I'm asked to be the model of a photoshoot. I was quite flattered and a little nervous for my first shoot--finally understanding what our models have to go through. Leading up to the shoot I kept to a strict diet of Pizza and Fruit by the Foot.

The shoot took place in NorthEast DC at what we thought was an abandoned warehouse. There was some real cool Graffiti art about the election that we spotted and Modern Luxury wanted to use it as a backdrop for the shoot--providing a nice urban feel to the sleek outfit the set me up with. The best thing about the shoot was I didn't have to dress myself--they had stylists taking care of my appearance. I only had to make sure that my mascara looked good and my hair was gelled. I rolled up to the shoot in jeans and a Crooked Monkey Funny t-shirt. They swapped that outfit out for a sharp looking Dolce Gabana suit. The photographer told me I was a natural born model and looked comfortable in front of the camera--I told him that I already had a girlfriend but was flattered nonetheless.

Anyways, about 45 minutes into the shoot we got shoed away by the owner of the warehouse who accused us of a lot things--not fit for publication--and threatened to bust a cap in our asses. Apparently you need a permit to look this good in front of a camera. It was kind of ridiculous. She looked like the cat lady from the Simpson--but instead of cats she traveled with Monty Burns' hounds. And off we went--but not without a number of fantastic pictures--probably the only pictures in circulation of me not wearing a funny t-shirt. We'll post the pictures as soon as we get them. You'll enjoy them.

Labels: , , , ,

Monday, June 30, 2008

Washington Post writes up article about Crooked Monkey's Funny t-shirts


The Washington Post Magazine, with a circulation of 983,000 people, did a nice write up of the brand this past weekend. It was published in the "Making It" section of The Post. Tracing the company from our humbled beginnings selling Fuck Duke T-shirts, the article highlighted our wholesale distribution of over 550 boutiques.

They even got the store manager from Urban Outfitters to go on record about Crooked Monkey's Funny t-shirts. Antoine Kelly from Urban said "'They're a hot item'," Kelly said. College-age customers like them because 'they're funny and can start a conversation at a bar."' That's awesome, thanks Antoine.

The picture is pretty cool--i look like a magician juggling funny t-shirts. You can check out the article in its full form by click here, Washington Post Crooked Monkey Funny T-shirt Write up

Labels: ,

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Popscribe.com features Crooked Monkey funny t-shirts


Thanks to John over at PopScribe.com who just ran a nice little tidbit about Crooked Monkey Funny t-shirts. Not too shabby.

He had a contest rewarding people who read and comment on the blog. He randomly chose four of the active readers to receive Crooked Monkey funny t-shirts. How awesome. You should check out the blog, start reading and commenting on the posts, and maybe you'll win a future promotion.

Good work Cara!

Labels:

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

GirlsTalkinSmack.com Diggs Crooked Monkey's T-shirt Style

Kim from GirlsTalkinSmack.com featured our shirts on her blog. She doesn't usually write about t-shirt companies but she really liked us, and we really liked her.

Here's what she had to say "I’ll admit, I’m not one who usually goes for t-shirts but I’m really liking this brand. Why? They have cute designs, witty slogans, and most importantly to me, good colors and graphics."

Cool. She thought our Waking up is hard to do t-shirt is our coolest t-shirt.

Nice work Cara.

Labels: ,

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Best T-shirt Review ever written

Paul over at Buy-tees.net wrote an amazing analysis of the Crooked Monkey brand. Drawing on pop-culture, social norms and egalitarianism, he applauded Crooked Monkey for offering girls a clothing line that "[gives] less aggravation in your life, if you want to save time on telling the guys you can’t stand or totally adore, where to go or what to do, CrookedMonkey.com can hook you up with the best fashion artillery for any great night out."

I'd truly suggest reading the rest of the t-shirt review. To call it a review trivializes its grandeur so we're going to call it an in-depth analysis of the brand.

Check out the funny girls tees, and funny guys tees, he was referring to.

Good work Emily.

Labels: ,

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Qeeper.com reviews our funny girls tees

Kim over at Qeeper.com liked Crooked Monkey's Not to be subtle let's cuddle t-shirt and Break dance not hearts tee. She was impressed that the tees are so inexpensive!

Her blog is pretty cool--it features products under $30. Everyone's looking for a bargain, and her blog is a great place to find them.

Good work Joanna.

Labels:

Monday, May 19, 2008

Crooked Monkey Featured in Unwind Magazine, compares us to Under Armour!


We were just featured in Unwind Magazine. You can read the article here: http://www.unwindmag.com/Issues/Issue%206/Enterprise/crooked_monkey.htm

Here's a good snippet from the article: "Asher Epstein, managing director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship said. 'The company [is so successful] because they are very in touch with their demographics.'"

That's right. Asher Epstein knows what he's talking about.

Labels:

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

"I Love Camp" t-shirt featured in May's issue of Seventeen Magazine

Seventeen Magazine listed our I love Camp shirt as one of the Cutest T-shirts for the Spring season. You can order the I Love Camp T-shirt.

The shirt was made to remind us of those amazing summers filled with smores, bunk pride, and best friends. Look out for the magazine, which hits the stands in the beginning of April.

Labels: , ,

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

TV Show "Weeds" features Crooked Monkey


Crooked Monkey's I'm not a Gardener, I Just Like Hoes t-shirt was worn by Silas on last night's episode of the hit Showtime series, "Weeds". The shirt is a Crooked Monkey topseller. So make like Mary-Kate -and Mary Jane-and pick up this classic tee today. If you like "Weeds" you might also like:

Our Best Buds T-shirt Or our
Chai Times shirt

Buy any two shirts from this list and get $4.20 off. This Week only! Use promo code: 420

Labels: , ,