Alternative Apparel Blog

Win Your Wishlist!

Okay, now I don't want to sound super-selfish, but when the holidays roll around I can't help but think about all of the stuff that I want. I love buying presents for my friends and my family, but it puts me in this total shopping mood and I just want to buy nice new things for myself too! But then I'll always feel a little guilty because I know I've gotta spend my cash on my loved ones. Is it so wrong to want to buy yourself a little early holiday cheer??

Well, if you're like me, then you're going to love this: Alternative's Win Your Wishlist Sweepstakes! Enter now to win one of five $400 Alternative gift cards. If you win, that means you can go on a shopping spree for yourself and not feel too guilty because you'll still have plenty of funds for gift giving.

Enter now! Last day for entries is Sunday, December 13, 2009.

And tell us, WHAT'S ON YOUR WISHLIST? What are you gonna get from Alternative if you're one of our lucky winners? Leave a comment below and let us know what items you just can't live with out!

"Free Energy" by Free Energy! (Say That 3 Times Fast)

Recently signed to the Astralwerks/DFA label, we're proud to present Free Energy!  The Philadelphia band released an EP back in September, and their debut album entitled Stuck On Nothing, produced by James Murphy (DFA/LCD Soundsystem), will be released in January 2010.  Check out their track on our music player (also titled "Free Energy" - easy enough, right?) and get dancey!  Nylon magazine says it's "classic rock that makes you wish it was warm enough to roll down the windows."  Yes!  And if you need a little extra, here's the music video:



And if you're looking for a giveaway, we've got it!  We'll give FIVE lucky readers a copy of their EP and we'll throw in one of our unisex burnout v-necks for good measure.  How about that?  (Oh, we've got stickers, too)

How do you enter to win? Just leave a comment on this post by Sunday, 12/13 - we'll announce five (5) winners on Monday, 12/14. Best of luck!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Melissa and I wanted to send out our biggest and best Thanksgiving greetings to our loyal blog readers as well as every single person out there who loves Alternative.  We are definitely thankful to have such awesome individuals who wear our tees; we're happy that you love wearing Alternative as much as we love making it.

On behalf of everyone here at Alternative: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  Eat all the turkey and/or Tofurkey™ that your heart desires!

Coat Check

 
As fall turns to winter, a chic, cozy coat is the must-have item of the moment. A word of advice from one coat lover to another: You don’t necessarily have to drop hundreds and hundreds of dollars on a good coat; however, investing in a good, well-made coat will save you some bucks in the long run. Here are a few of the top coat trends for Fall 2009/Winter 2010 to help you stay warm in style.

Trench Coats – An impeccable trench is a must for any wardrobe. Lightweight and versatile, this staple is ideal for any season. Classic khaki is always in style, but you can liven things up with bright hues and prints.

Leather – From fur-lined leather motorcycle jackets to belted leather trenches, you can’t go wrong with a stylish leather coat this season. In addition, leather capes, vests, pants, skirts and dresses are all the rage, too. If you can’t bear to wear the real thing, just go faux.

Ruffles – Get in touch with your feminine side with some lovely ruffles this season. Louis Vuitton championed the trend on the runways, but plenty of others have jumped on the bandwagon with more affordable options. Why try it? It’s an easy way to glam up your favorite jeans and tee.

Military – It would be remiss of us to discuss this season’s coat trends without talking about military style. With their strong shoulders, double-breasted buttons and hardware embellishments, military coats are arguably the coolest of all. (Check out Beyonce in this awesome Balmain number.)

A Farewell to Fall with Alternative and Jeffrey Butzer

As Thanksgiving is upon us, followed promptly by the holiday season and winter weather, we'd like to say our goodbyes to fall.  To make it official, we're sharing with all of you our last two videos from our fall campaign: Badlands, part 1 and part 2.  Above is Badlands, Part 1, a magical and dreamy autumnal romp featuring music by Jeffrey Butzer.  If you'd like to see part 2, you can check it out on your YouTube channel.


And because it's Monday (and you know how we do), we're adding another song from Jeffrey Butzer to the music player: "Theme for a Tailor" from the album The Garden of Scissors.  If you're even a somewhat fan of Yann Tiersen (the guy who did the soundtrack for Amélie) then you are going to love Jeffrey's music. 

And of course we've got giveaways!  We're gonna send you a copy of the album The Garden of Scissors, which features the song in our campaign video as well as the new song on our music player, and we're also gonna send you both our unisex aa6032 V-Gan Organic V-Neck and our unisex aa2632 Burnout V-Neck w/ pocket.  Jeffrey told me he really likes v-necks, so I figured it was apropos for our giveaway package.

How do you enter to win? Just leave a comment on this post by Sunday, 12/6 - we'll announce three (3) winners on Monday, 12/7. Best of luck!

Vampires Are Totally The New Black, Part 2

About 6 months ago, I wrote an article for the blog titled "Vampires Are Totally The New Black".



Go ahead, I'll wait a minute while you read it and catch up...



...Okay, so vampires are still pretty much the trendiest thing going (except for Snuggies and Lady Gaga).  Let's see what's happened in the vampire world since we last spoke in July:

• The Vampire Diaries premiered on The CW, starring Ian Somerhalder from Lost and The Rules of Attraction.

• The Vampire's Assistant hit movies back in October.  There was a two second window when I was slightly interested in this movie, and that's only because I saw Salma Hayek in the movie poster.

• The Swedish film Let The Right One In, about a boy who befriends a 12 year old vampire girl, is getting an American remake.  It's due in 2010.

• I finished watching True Blood season one only last week and I am now completely obsessed, following my initial hesitation.  Just yesterday I received the Tru Blood can koozies I purchased off ebay.com.  I have also started cornering people in the break room to talk about True Blood.

• New Moon, the sequel to Twilight, opens today in theaters nationwide.

• During a recent work outing, I snapped a photo of Alternative's own Casey Brown posing for a kiss with a cardboard cut-out of Robert Pattinson.

So that's how we stand with vampires right now.  Oh, and don't forget about Ashley Green (who plays Alice Cullen in the Twilight series) photographed on the cover of Maxim in our heather burnout tank.

Check back in about six months and we'll see if vampires are still on top.  In the meantime, if you're a True Blood fan, please feel free to leave a comment on this post and tell me what you love about it.  I'll probably respond within 5 minutes seconds.  Like I said: OBSESSED.