Seattle Shirt Company
Washington State Convention Center, 903-0128

Seattle Shirt Company is the kind of place you’d probably never think to go into, unless your cousin Margie was here from Minnesota, and she wanted to buy a bunch of corny “Seattle” t-shirts for her hometown crew. Actually Seattle Shirt Co. definitely is the place to take Margie for just that sort of thing—they have what seems like hundreds of variations of “Seattle” designs—for Minnesota prices (2 pre-printed t-shirts for $10, $12 for a custom tee, and only $14 for a “Seattle” shirt-and-baseball-hat combo).

But why would a non-tourist bother setting foot in such a seemingly obnoxious souvenir shop? Because along with all the Seattle crap, they have the best deal on custom shirts in the city. You buy a $12 t-shirt—pick your own color and size—then you get to pick a FREE iron-on from the amazingly kitschy designs tacked up on the walls. They have an insane collection of ’80s iron-on weirdness—unicorns, baby seals, sharks, kittens, and my personal favorite, the airbrushed white tiger cub. After you pick the iron-on, you can tack on some custom-type for only 45 cents a letter. They have a good selection of old-school lettering styles, in several colors too. I once made my Dad a gangsta-style zip-up hoodie (with his name in big bold “old english” lettering) for under $35 dollars. He doesn’t “get it” but he wears it. I mean, Dad’s gotta look tough sometimes too, right?