I hope almost everyone interested in fashion or beauty in this world knows this charming and incredible woman.
Even if you don’t know her name or anything about her you had to notice the famous posters, paintings of her sitting and smoking a cigarette wearing a LBD and pearl necklace and looking like an angel.
All her famous and awarded movies influenced the fashion world – naming only few: Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Breakfast at Tiffany’s or My Fair Lady.
Her name was connected with Hubert de Givenchy, wearing his clothing during Sabrina and in the world famous opening scene at Breakfast at Tiffany’s – sipping a coffee, wearing the LBD, big sunglasses (Ray-Ban Wayfarer’s) and standing in front of the Tiffany’s in New York City. This little black dress (LBD) is cited as one of the most iconic items of clothing in the history of the twentieth century… perhaps even the most famous LBD of all time.
She wasn’t only a great actress and humanitarian but also a fashion icon.
I have already talked about the LBD but the second picture I have in my head is her wearing black leggings, a big white shirt and ballerina flats by Salvatore Ferragamo – another famous part of many people’s wardrobe that she made famous.
I love iconic custom printed t-shirts and having one of Audrey should be a must for everyone.
Any of her pictures can go on the t-shirt, you can go with the famous one’s (her sitting and smoking, wearing a hat or sitting, holding her head in hands and smiling) or you can chose your own favorite.
She has influenced our closet more than you can imagine and everything she wore she wore, she wore with a style, elegance and confidence. A beauty wearing beautiful clothing.
No wonder she is one of the most famous fashion icons of all time.
Discharge screen printing is a water based process that allows for printing onto dark coloured garments with light coloured inks, while maintaining an extremely “soft hand” finish offered by water based inks. Water based screen printing is limited in that it is not well suited for printing onto dark coloured garments. Discharge ink differs in that it is specialty ink that works by removing the dye from cotton fibers in a garment at a certain temperature, then replaces the dye with the desired ink, thus allowing for printing water based discharge ink onto dark garments.
Discharge screen printing can be carried out as pure discharge or with the addition of pigments so as to produce a coloured discharge print. On dark coloured garments discharge screen printing is an excellent method for achieving beautifully vibrant colours that are a unique alternative to traditional plastic inks. Discharge screen printing can vary in terms of bleaching efficacy depending on the type of garment that is used.
From experience, Gildan and American Apparel t-shirts discharge quite well. The Gildan brand t-shirts that discharge the best are the black, navy blue, brown, blue dusk, charcoal, chestnut, indigo, leaf, forest green, and olive, as well as brown, slate, navy, asphalt and black American Apparel colours. Other brands and colours can certainly discharge well too, but it really depends on the dye used in the fabric. Be advised that variations can still occur even within the same brand and colour, depending where in the world the garment was manufactured. For example, the same navy blue Gildan classic t-shirt can be dyed in Honduras, or in India, and the type of dye that was used can still produce a different result when discharged.
Discharge printing can also be carried out on white or lighter-coloured garments, but water based inks are typically better. A technique that is often used is discharging without the activation powder on multicoloured prints on light coloured garments, which allows for printing “wet on wet”, which basically means you can print complicated designs faster.
Discharge Ink Advantages:
“Soft hand” prints
Eco-friendly
Beautiful, vibrant colours
Excellent for printing onto darker-coloured garments
A unique alternative to plastic inks
Discharge Ink Disadvantages:
Difficult to process full colour printing
Limited detail (very fine dots are difficult)
Pantone matching cannot always be 100% accurate
Not all dyes work well with discharge ink
Not ideal for all types of material (100% cotton works best)
When it comes to screen printing ink, there are two types: plastisol and water based. Plastisol is the industry standard and the default ink used by commercial printers. It uses a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) base, as opposed to water based ink, which is exactly what its name suggests, a water based ink with pigments suspended within it.
The limitation associated with water based inks is that you cannot print onto dark coloured garments, but they are excellent for printing vibrant colours onto lighter coloured garments. Furthermore, the print result is affected by the colour of the garment. For example, using a purple coloured shirt may change the appearance of the ink colour. Water based inks also do not work well on all materials and are better suited for shorter run orders.
For printing soft prints onto dark coloured garments there is a screen printing technique that uses discharge water based inks.
Benefits of water based screen printing
Water based inks are very useful because of their versatility and ability to print a wide range of items. They can be used to print onto non-textile items like stickers, stationary, and canvas, as well as garments such as t-shirts, polo’s, hoodies, sweatshirts, caps, tote bags, jackets, aprons and virtually any other garment that can be placed on a platen to be screen printed. Water based inks work well with cotton, polyester, and poly-cotton blends.
In the screen printing industry, the term “hand” refers to how soft a print feels to the touch. Plastisol inks, for example, are well known for the maximum or hard hand that they provide. Water based inks result with minimal or soft hand onto printed garments, much like direct to garment (DTG) digital printing that is practically seamless to the touch. An added benefit with water based inks is that they can be ironed over, while plastisol prints cannot because the iron can easily melt the PVC in the ink.
Water based prints produce colours that are often much more vibrant than plastisol prints. After proper curing, a t-shirt or other printed garment with a water based print will be likely to outlast the fabric on which it was printed. Due to the minimal hand of water based prints, very large and detailed designs printed onto a garment will feel light and thin, while the same design printed with plastisol inks will be much heavier because of the thickness of ink layers.
Garments printed using water based inks are also likely to be much more comfortable to wear. Since water based inks penetrate the printed fabric, rather than sit on top like with plastisol inks, skin under the printed garment can breathe easier.
Water based ink is an environmentally friendly printing option. After a printing run, screens and printing equipment can be washed off using conventional water, and it is safe to go down the drain unfiltered. Water based inks are non-toxic and do contain any lead or heavy metals, nor do they contain ozone-depleting chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) or other volatile solvents.
PVC based inks and the environment
Plastisol is a PVC based ink which is a carcinogen known to cause serious hazards in the environment and to be harmful for human beings. Plastic is damaging the natural world and its ecosystems while having drastic consequences on life and the future sustainability of our planet. As ‘greener’ efforts begin (and have already begun!) influencing the collective consciousness of humanity and industries start turning away from plastic in as many ways as possible, this also includes the preference of screen printing inks that people purchase and wear.
PVC inks, like plastisol, are not drain safe. Printers using plastisol must resort to dangerous and environmentally harmful chemicals to break down plastisol from printing equipment and screens. Specially designed filters must be installed on drains to catch PVC particles. Many commercial printers are diligent in taking precautions, but unfortunately, many do not.
Plastisol is popular and loved by printers because it is relatively inexpensive and very well suited for mass production and large run orders because it does not dry and clog printing equipment. Plastisol never dries; it stays in a semi-liquid state until it is cured at a temperature that brings it to solidify onto a printed garment. Water based inks are cured at a high temperature until the water in the ink has completely evaporated, leaving behind just the pigment colours.
Of course I am not telling or cheering you to walk naked in the streets but only to fall in love with a nude colour…
Because this colour is so easy to use with everything you have in your closet – honestly, with everything! The best combination this and next season is with the pastels, you can’t go wrong with it! Not even mentioning the combinations that are always IN – with black, with white and with red.
Nude colour lights you up, makes you look casual, elegant and shows that you totally identify with the strength of the colour. The most common use when it comes to wearing it are the shoes! They are like new black pumps, fits perfectly with any kind of a dress, any length, any shape. The beauty of those shoes is that it makes you look taller and with the combination of a perfect LBD (little black dress), also thinner, not talking about being very sexy… But why is it like this? The nude shoes look like being a part of your skin and the higher heels you have, the taller you look. That’s why a lot of celebrities use the nude pumps – to make them look taller.
If wearing the whole outfit made of nude colour you should always add one piece of a different colour, like to add the final touch… a big black cocktail ring or white big clutch for example. A very chic combination is just to finish it with a black leather jacket – nude wide pants or super skinny jeans (totally up to you what you prefer), nude blouse, nude pumps and leather jacket, even super rock or motorcycle style will look incredible! Just to add few gold accessories and you are ready to hit the streets or museums, with this outfit you can go anywhere (not talking about hiking for example).
Or everyone’s favorite outfit: jeans with a t-shirt and finish it with the nude pumps. And why not to get you t-shirt custom printed this time with just two words: Get Naked?
nother trend which I honestly think has never been out of the fashion is the red colour. This season perhaps more than ever because same like the white colour you can wear the whole red outfit. Well…if you do then maybe you should not wear the red shoes as well. Black, white or the best choice will be the nude pumps or wedges – anything what makes you feel comfortable but also not destroying the outfit!
For someone it can be too much wearing only red, especially if it is not his or hers favourite colour. Usually people are used to wear only one red part of the outfit – t-shirt, jeans, shoes or bag.
But why not to combinate it together?
Custom printed t-shirt with a nice picture or words around the sleeves with ¾ red skinny jeans? Shows how confident and great you feel, that you are not afraid to step up from the crowd. If the weather is not perfect you can add a red blazer and that is it. Finish it with white flats, big scarf of any colour you like and have, white or black handbag. Another awesome thing about red is that you can easily combinate it with other colours and it still looks super stylish and unique! When it comes to the jewelry I would recommend gold ones – gold watch, ring, earrings. It just looks more elegant and let the red stands out more than the silver jewelry.
The truth is that red always lights up your whole look.
Perfect combination for guys would be the custom printed polo t-shirt with jeans – simple but very sexy!
If you do not feel good in red, you can at least use red in your accessories – custom printed backpacks or book bags if you travel for example.
Of course there is big range of red colours – so if you do not feel like wearing the shinny red you can use the pale one to start with.
And do not forget: everything you wear, wear it with confidence!
Final tip: Wearing red colours with anything made of fur or leather will make you look very classy.
The Garment Printing blog is a space where we share tips and tricks, news updates, topics of interests and other things that inspire us on a daily basis all related to the t-shirt printing and promotional clothing industry.
Because this colour is so easy to use with everything you have in your closet – honestly, with everything! The best combination this and next season is with the pastels, you can’t go wrong with it! Not even mentioning the combinations that are always IN – with black, with white and with red.
nother trend which I honestly think has never been out of the fashion is the red colour. This season perhaps more than ever because same like the white colour you can wear the whole red outfit. Well…if you do then maybe you should not wear the red shoes as well. Black, white or the best choice will be the nude pumps or wedges – anything what makes you feel comfortable but also not destroying the outfit!
For someone it can be too much wearing only red, especially if it is not his or hers favourite colour. Usually people are used to wear only one red part of the outfit – t-shirt, jeans, shoes or bag.
