Friday, July 23, 2010

Review: REVENGE IS..... Making Activism Fashionable




It wasn't until I hit adulthood and gained some of life's wisdom, had a few children, experienced some unforeseeable obstacles in my path that I realized just how much power and control we all have the ability to hold. Riding the fierce roller coaster that has been my life has molded me into a strong person, allowed me to develop my own sense of personal confidence and come to understand the extent of the power with which I hold. We all have the ability to communicate and send strong messages to our family, friends and those around us without even saying a word if we don't want to. Simply by believing in a cause, being passionate about spreading the message about the cause, and wearing an ultra hip and cool article of clothing can make a HUGE impact on getting our thoughts and messages across. Yes indeed, wearing a work of art, a beautifully designed very couture looking teeshirt can send a powerful message to anyone you come in contact with, and you don't have to even open your mouth. The significant message on your spectacular piece of clothing will speak volumes for you, and give you such an extreme sense of satisfaction that you will smile from cheek to cheek when you realize the response and affect just wearing something that conveys a message can have on the people you interact with. Get them thinking, get them involved, spread the word about what you are passionate about, through silent, brilliant, creative means, like a teeshirt from REVENGE IS.....

Without further ado, let me introduce you to this most extraordinary company and the amazing team of people behind this fascinating company:

{Taken from the REVENGE IS..... Website}



Who is Revenge Is…?

Revenge Is… was formed to inspire people to Make Activism Fashionable. Our products and slogans acknowledge and validate our collective frustrations while at the same time encourage and inspire us and others to take action — to take meaningful steps toward a stable climate, a clean environment, energy independence, national security, a healthy economy, and a country of high moral principle and international regard that we can be proud of. Our product messages address the vital public issues of today while at the same time display simple yet meaningful ways to enact change — from the landfill up. To start, our heather T-shirts and reusable tuck away carry bags are made from recycled plastic bottles and/or organic cotton. Our reusable hybrid coffee/tea mug and tuck away bag give each of us the power to significantly reduce the use of plastic water bottles, Styrofoam cups, and plastic grocery bags that clog our landfills. They also reduce our use of paper cups, hot sleeves and grocery bags. Revenge Is…is also committed to contributing 20% to charity for the Ending the Cycle of Violence, they are giving 20% to Peace Over Violence, which helps victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. And, they are partnering with the William J. Clinton Foundation on the Help Haiti tee and am giving them 50% of the profits.



How is Revenge Is… going green?

Our entire line is eco-friendly, meaning our t shirts designs are made with sustainable fabrics, such as organic cotton and polyester spun from recycled plastic bottles. Our tuckaway bag is made 100% form polyester spun from recycled plastic bottles and our reusable mug reduces the use of Styrofoam, paper and plastic cups. Our promotional materials are printed on recycled stock with soy inks. Our packaging is recycled, reused or reclaimed. In every aspect of what we do, our goal is sustainability.



Where do your proceeds go? How much money have you donated?

Revenge Is… donates at least 10% of its profits to charity. Our primary charitable program is supporting the reduction of iodine deficiency – one of the leading and most preventable causes of mental retardation. Our contributions will be made to charities who help alleviate this problem and are effective charities by highly reputed watchdog organizations. Revenge Is… was formed in October 2008 and by the end of December 2008, had donated more than $20,000 of cash or product to charities.

Our Team



Marilyn Barrett – Founder and President



Having absolutely no prior experience in running an apparel, retail or e-commerce company, Marilyn Barrett launched Revenge Is in October 2008 when the economy crashed. A committed liberal and social activist, Marilyn hopes to raise awareness of the many difficult problems that confront our country and our world today and encourage people to actively participate in their communities to help solve these problems. Marilyn has been actively involved in charities and politics for decades. As a college student, she volunteered for Head Start and, during law school, co-chaired an annual conference on Women and the Law. She has assisted more than 20 nonprofits secure tax exempt status and has served on the board of several highly regarded charities. Marilyn has actively supported many progressive candidates for political office. Known as someone who “puts her money where her mouth is,” Marilyn has contributed thousands of dollars to charities and political candidates and has committed that Revenge Is will contribute at least 10% of its profits to charities in addition to her personal contributions.

John Inserra

John lives in Dana Point California and has been starting to live part of the year in Hawaii establishing a permanent home in the islands. A single father raising two sons, as an artist he has been designing and illustrating for a wide range of products since 1990. The diverse list of commercial projects he has worked on in the past 20 years have included T-shirts, fabrics, set designs, book and magazine illustration, animations, greeting cards, tableware and packaging. “Working with Revenge Is, being able to combine my love of design with important advocacy for issues facing us all, has been both an honor and a joy!” Most recently, an interest in producing green products in the USA with minimal environmental impact, led to the self manufacturing and marketing of his first products. See http://www.johnnyi.com and http:www.daylightwastingtime.com to see more of his work.





DESIGNERS





Justine Verigin

Justine is an artist and graphic designer residing in Portland, Oregon. Her creative and quirky t-shirt designs, plus her ability to capture on canvas a subtle mood or provocative emotion, emerge from a lifetime of creating art. Justine’s art education began as a student at the Portland Waldorf School, then expanded by attending an arts high school, and then deepened by attending and graduating from The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in LA. Many of Justine’s t-shirt designs have been sold in stores such as Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters, Delia*s and Zumiez. Justine currently lives in Portland, Oregon where she works as an independent t-shirt designer. Please visit her website to view more of her work: www.justineverigin.com

Benjamin Della Rosa

Benjamin Della Rosa is a Sacramento based graphic designer and illustrator. Born and raised in Salinas California, Benjamin always had in interest in all things creative. He could be found drawing from his favorite comics, painting and building with his hands as a child. When exposed to print making in his high school art classes along with encouragement to peruse a career in design from his peers and teachers Benjamin began to explore, taking basic design classes at the local junior college building upon the fine arts foundation and principles of art and design he’d been exposed to most his life. Benjamin moved to Sacramento in 2004 and graduating form Sacramento State in 2006 with a Bachelors of Science in Graphic Design. Please visit Benjamin’s website for more of his work at www.benjamindellarosa.com

Packaging & Fabric



Packaging:

We’ve worked hard to find resources that meet our vision for protecting the planet. You’ll notice that your purchase arrives in a Dupont Tyvek® envelope and does not have tags attached with plastic!

If you are wondering “Why Tyvek?”, a publicly funded life cycle inventory (LCI) by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) with the U.S. EPA Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program found that shipping soft goods in lightweight, non-rigid materials such as Tyvek® or poly bags is the most environmentally friendly shipping solution. This is due to reduced weight, conservation of space on transit vehicles, economical value of the materials, and the best protection of products from moisture damage.

The ODEQ study provides a complete LCI from the extraction of necessary raw materials to production, use, and disposal of the packaging. While it finds lightweight, non-rigid materials such as Tyvek® and poly bags to be the most environmentally friendly purchasing option for retailers, we must still count on you, our customers, to take necessary steps to recycle packaging materials.

Fabrics:

Our tees are made either 100% from organic cotton, a blend of recycled plastic bottles (RPET) and organic cotton, or other eco-friendly materials. To make the RPET, recycled plastic bottles are melted down and then processed into a fine yarn which, in turn, becomes a soft and silky t-shirt. You can follow the process on the flow chart for processing plastic bottles into recycled polyester under “Power Point Presentation On Recycling Plastic Bottles Into Fiber” below. No pesticides, less plastic in landfills. It takes between 3 to 5 plastic bottles to make each RPET/organic cotton blend tee. After the bottles are melted, the plastic fiber is blended with organic cotton to give these tees their soft, silky feel. These tees can be washed and dried over and over and they won’t shrink, fade or lose their shape.

REVENGE IS..... has donated to a variety of charities. Please
CLICK HERE to view and learn about them all!!


MY REVIEW

The very gracious and generous folks at REVENGE IS..... gave me the honor of being able to review a few different styles of teeshirts from their marvelous collection of designs. I wanted to be able to include REVENGE IS.... as part of my Spring Radiance 2010 Guide because I strongly feel that wearing a really cool article of clothing that is not only visually appealing but also functions as a means for encouraging and inspiring others to take action, to take meaningful steps towards helping to make changes to such significant causes like a clean environment, a healthy economy, the end to violence and steps to make our world a more peaceful world. It is a chance for you to think about what concerns and frustrates you the most in our world today and get involved in making a difference in resolving those issues. Here are some of the delightful designs I was sent to review and I plan to wear proudly everyday to promote issues that frustrate me the most and I want to be involved in making a difference in:


Women's Saving the Earth Teeshirt
Price: $32.00
Sizes: Small, Medium, Large or Extra Large
Colors: Eggplant or Vintage Grey




NOTE: Also Available for Men and Children



Collectively, we can change the world. By each of us taking small and large actions to reduce our footprint and our use of the Earth’s natural resources, we can and will change the fate of our planet and save the Earth. Our “Saving the Earth” shirt embodies this message. Featuring a gorgeous, eco-centric graphic designed exclusively for Revenge Is… by Justine Verigin and made from a blend of 50% recycled plastic bottles and 50% organic cotton, this stylish and silky t-shirt will not only make you feel warm and fuzzy all over just by putting it on, but will make you a proud consumer knowing you are flexing your purchasing power in a positive way. Every day should be earth day and this super-soft t-shirt shows your commitment to saving the earth all year round. This silky tee is manufactured and printed in the USA.



We don’t have to completely alter our lifestyles, but simply focus on simple, everyday actions we can take to reduce our use and abuse of the Earth’s natural resources. By each doing our part, we can and will change the fate of our planet. Our “Saving the Earth” t-shirt embodies this message. Featuring a gorgeous, eco-centric graphic designed exclusively for Revenge Is… by Justine Verigin and made from a 50/50 blend of recycled plastic bottles and organic cotton, this stylish and silky soft t-shirt will make you feel warm and fuzzy all over as a proud consumer flexing your purchasing power in a positive way. Every day should be Earth Day, and simply by wearing this t-shirt, you are demonstrating your commitment to sustainable living. This super-soft tee is manufactured and printed in the USA.




MY THOUGHTS: I received this style teeshirt in both the eggplant and the vintage grey colors. The very first thing that struck me about these teeshirts was the "feel" of the fabric. Honestly, these are the softest, silkiest, most luxurious feeling teeshirts I have ever touched or experienced. I was awestruck about the fact that they are rendered from recycled bottles. It is unbelievable that material that feels this incredible and delightful against your skin is made from products that could easily have landed in a landfill but instead was reborn into a magnificent work of art in the form of clothing. The quality of this teeshirt is of the highest standards, far exceeding any typical teeshirt out in the marketplace today. The level of excellence in the style, fit, and material is so innovative and will most definitely be spicing up my summer wardrobe and helping me to spread this most important message all season long. I am very passionate about saving our beloved earth, and in January 2009 began my journey to green up my act and live a Green Lifestyle. Wearing this gorgeous teeshirt will be another way for me to promote my stand on how I believe we all should work together to save our earth and make changes to our lives to live a life that involves being kinder to our environment. Consider purchasing one of these for yourself, your husband or even your children as they are available in styles for everyone!!


Women's Peace Teeshirt
Price: $32.00
Sizes: Small, Medium or Large



NOTE: Also Available for Men



We all want to live and raise our children in safe and peaceful communities. Yet violence perpetrated by terrorists, renegade nations, and violent criminals at home and abroad impacts us every day of our lives. Our decisions about where we work, where we live, and where we go are all affected. Our “Best Revenge is Peace” t shirt embodies our commitment to strive for greater social justice, equal economic opportunity, and more effective local and international laws and cooperation to reduce the violence around us. Designed exclusively for Revenge Is… by Justine Verigin, this tee is made from a blend of 65/35 recycled plastic bottles and organic cotton. Join us to fight for peace and safety by wearing this stylish and silky t-shirt. This tee is manufactured and printed in the USA.



MY THOUGHTS: I received this teeshirt in charcoal grey. Again, the sofest, most glorious feeling material! The design is bright, cheerful, just a splendid work of visual art, yet packs a powerful punch in terms of sending out a strong message to end crime in our city neighborhoods, and put a stop of violence around us and around our world. This is another subject that I am passionate about and why I felt I wanted to promote this teeshirt not only here on my blog, but also wear it proudly as much as I can to send another strong message to those around me. The teeshirt feels like a dream when you are wearing it. It is impeccably rendered and the design is so enchanting and eye catching that I know it will capture the attention of those around me. It holds that "cool" factor that I love to wear, and functions as a means for me to communicate my thoughts without uttering a word. Now that is the ultimate in broadcasting, wouldn't you say?!


Women's - Ending the Cycle of Violence
Price: $32.00
Sizes: Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large




Features:

- Limited Edition
- 64% bamboo
- 28% organic cotton
- 8% spandex

MY THOUGHTS: This teeshirt design caught my eye right away because I love the gentle, sweet, feminine approach of the design in capturing an issue that is so dangerous and life threatening. There is no sense in adding fuel to the fire with such a rampant problem in our world today, but rather let's take a calm and serene approach to addressing this serious issue and send our message out with class and sophistication. That is what this teeshirt says to me. It is rendered in natural materials and has a nice, crisp, solid feel to the material. Again, this style is perfectly manufactured, with just the right amount of detail to the style and fit of the teeshirt. I also want to mention that before I wore any of the teeshirts in this review I washed them inside out in cold water and line dried them. They came out beautiful, they didn't shrink nor were there any problems with the designs being affected by washing, always a sign of a high quality teeshirt.

You can visit the REVENGE IS.... Blog by
CLICKING HERE


A very special thank you to REVENGE IS..... for providing me with TEESHIRTS to use for this review.

Disclosure: I received the teeshirts mentioned in this review from REVENGE IS.... for the purposes of this Review . This has no bearing on my completely honest review above and was not influenced by any type of monetary compensation. The opinions and experiences I’ve shared with this product are my own and yours may differ.


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1 comment:

dreamin2win said...

really nice designs.. Love the colors!