How to Make Your Own Dumb $120 Kanye West Tee for Almost Zero Dollars

By Madeleine Davies  |  July 17, 2013 | 9:30pm
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If you’re like me, chances are you rushed to A.P.C.’s online store as soon as you heard that the French fashion line had collaborated with Kanye West on a limited edition “HIP HOP T-SHIRT.” The “HIP HOP T-SHIRT” is crew-necked, oversized, comes in white or black, has no design on it and costs only $120. Safe to say, I could not wait to spend my hard earned money on it. Other things I can’t wait to do with my hard earned money: throw it into a fire, feed it to a horse, use it to send my cat to Cat College.

Needless to say, I’m very good with money and needless to say, I really need a Kanye West HIP HOP T-SHIRT. Unfortunately, what I discovered upon visiting the A.P.C. website is that nearly all of the Kanye West HIP HOP T-SHIRTS have sold out and you can now only get them on pre-order.

Unfortunately, those of us who want one (definitely me, probably you) don’t have forever to wait around. Style is constantly evolving and what’s in today might not be in tomorrow. Think of the classic Yves Saint Laurent quote — “Fashions fade so buy as many $120 Kanye West/A.P.C. HIP HOP T-SHIRTs as you can and you’ll never regret it!”

But how can we follow YSL’s famed advice if the Kanye West/A.P.C. HIP HOP T-SHIRT is all sold out? Well, with the help of some fairly cheap supplies, you can make your own budget friendly version of the Kanye West/A.P.C. HIP HOP T-SHIRT pretty easily.

DIY: How to Make Your Own Kanye West/A.P.C. HIP HOP T-SHIRT

Skill level: moderate

First of all, it was very hot today and I had to leave my nicely air conditioned office to go find some white tees, so you’re welcome for that. Secondly, not only was I walking around in 90-degree heat, but I was being tortured — TORTURED — by seeing so many people already out and about in the limited edition Kanye West HIP-HOP T-SHIRT.

A man in a Kanye West HIP HOP T-SHIRT.

A woman and a baby in Kanye West HIP HOP T-SHIRTs.

Three men in Kanye West HIP HOP T-SHIRTs.

I ended up finding my supplies at Duane Reade, a mom and pop sundries store, which you probably haven’t heard of unless you are very cool like me.

Because Duane Reade is so niche, I worried they wouldn’t have what I was looking for. Luckily, I was wrong to worry.

For $15.49, I purchased 3 extra-large men’s crew neck t-shirts. They are not Egyptian cotton like the $120 Kanye version, but they are 100% cotton, which will do if you’re a loser.

I then headed back to the office where I laid out my supplies. Here’s what you’ll need for when you inevitably copy me and Kanye West.

ONE (1) oversized white tee. (Though I recommend buying the three pack because I accidentally spilled juice on two of them before I even started.)

ONE (1) Sharpie in any color.

It is not enough to wear a white t-shirt and say it’s a Kanye West HIP HOP T-SHIRT. Someone might check the label and MAN, will your face be red when they find some printed-on Hanes logo that makes you look like a peasant. The good news is that, using your Sharpie, you can fake a Kanye West HIP HOP T-SHIRT logo and no one except maybe Kanye West himself will know any better.

Once that’s done, you are…finished.

Yeah. You are then finished.

Here’s a pic of me wearing my Kanye West HIP HOP T-SHIRT (wink wink!) with pride. $120 0r $5? You tell me!

If that was too complicated to follow along with (it’s okay if it was — fashion design is hard!), here’s a video tutorial to help you out:

 
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