This idea started with our buddies Brad Kinder and Ben Coll (Taxx Dog Thousandaire and Krooshal T. Doggins, respectively) over at Big River Records. We'd be hanging out and they'd say that something "likes to party", meaning that it is an thing of excellence and utmost quality - e.g. "Van Halen likes to party!" This caught on pretty quickly, and entered into the lexicon as a way to say that something was awesome. Those guys, being the wordsmiths that they are, are doing this sort of thing all the time.
At first, we wanted to do a really simple design, so that the phrase itself "West Virginia Likes To Party" was the focus. You can see an early draft (the green one) here. We might still do a sticker of that version, actually. Still really like it... We ran the idea past Ben since he provided part of the inspiration, and he was immediately insistent that it needed a great deal more of our illustrative flavor, hence the WV PARTY SEAL was born.
This shirt is meant to not only celebrate the fact that we like to party here in WV (which we totally do, and do it well) but the fact that we do it in so many different ways. We do it through music, we do it through adventure, we do it through our connection to the land under our feet. A rafting trip is a party, a dude nailing a kickflip is a party, a gnarly guitar riff is a party, hanging out in a field looking at the starts with solid friends is a great party. All these things, and an innumerable others, LIKE TO PARTY. We can make a celebration out of anything, and the fact that we're surrounded by the beauty of WV and amazing people only make it easier.
Speaking of amazing people, we were lucky enough to snag local musician, bartender extraordinaire, and philanthropist Tyler Grady for our model for this shirt. If there's a guy that embodies the ethos of liking to party, Tyler fits the bill. He's got his fingers in all kinds of amazing musical projects here in WV, namely Sleepwalker, and Goodwolf. The video for "Last Year" by Goodwolf captures the feeling of kicking around WV in the summertime so well, we knew that Tyler was the perfect fit. Get into local music, people! To start with, check out Twin Cousin Records, and the aforementioned Big River Records. AMAZING music is being made in WV.
We're so honored that people like our designs, you guys really keep us going. To return a little bit of the love we've received, we're doing a few requests!
We've always had people ask about alternate colors, and we're finally here to deliver! Out WV Crest is now available in Blue/Gold and White/Green! Same goes for our Mountain Mama shirts! A little something for everyone. We're really happy to be able to get some alternate color versions of your favorite designs out there. We're going to try to keep these options available for the future, and finally get cracking on some NEW designs. We hope you like 'em, thanks so much!
We've put together an informational poster celebrating the growing craft brewing scene here in West Virginia. We're brewing some top-notch beers here, and thought we'd get a poster together to point that fact out. We'll try to keep it updated as the industry grows, and as the culture embraces our new brewing tradition. So excited to get this out there, and let the world know what they're missing. So, check the poster, and go get yourself a delicious WV Beer! Drink Local!
For immediate release, free to use to the public. Maybe just let ‘em know who put it together.
I’ve wanted to do something for the WV water crisis since it happened a MONTH ago, and finally got the idea out of my head. Hopefully these can be used as tools to raise awareness of an ongoing situation here. We need reminders in a world that moves as quickly as ours. So please, if you care about the issue, and need a way to let someone know about it, feel free to use these.
Thank you and keep in mind the West Virginians that don’t have any damn water because of a careless industry that’s been doing the same thing to us for 100’s of years.
Hey Ladies! Thanks to our manufacturer, and fellow WV Business, Sustain U, we've gotten ahold of the latest Women's Size Chart for all of our Women's V-Neck shirts. Check it out!
A big part of Made In West Virginia is to provide "non-tradtional" t-shirts and avoid the ridiculous stereotypes that most places associate with us. We set out to make shirts with interesting designs celebrating the history, culture, and bright future of our beloved Wild and Wonderful West Virginia.
...Then we went and made a West Virginia Moonshine shirt.
Moonshining and Moonshine in West Virginia is not a stereotype or a slight, it's a stone-cold fact! One that we're very proud of.
We've been making alcohol (as has pretty much everyone else) in these hills since and before that glorious day on June 20, 1863 when we broke off from those jokers in plain-old-Virginia. Not only have we been making it, but we've been making it better than most. WV's Moonshine, White Lightin', Rocket Fuel, whatever you want to call it, has always had a reputation for being superior to other mason jars full of Mountain Dew.
Where do you think the "Mountain" part came from? On top of that, we still do it. Right now, today. We personally have family and friends (and you probably do to if you hail from the Mountain State) that are carrying on the tradition handed down from our forebears, of distilling quality, powerful, paint-stripping Moonshine. We could call those guys up and have a jar of shine, or a bottle of homemade wine easy as snapping your fingers.
To us, that's just one more of the magical things about WV. When we have friends come in from out of town and we pull out that mason jar, the room gets quiet and the eyes get big and glassy. A hush rolls through everyone in awe, anticipation and a little pinch of fear. "Oh man, I didn't know you could still get this stuff!" It's a moment that you get when you're partaking of something truly special, something one-of-a-kind.
It speaks of our history, as outsiders, as rebels, as outlawas and of one of the most individualistic of peoples in this nation. This is ours, this is a special thing that we do... but we couldn't be quicker or happier to pass that jar to our friends near and far and let them see what all the fuss is about.
Yes you can get "moonshine" at your local liquor emporium, but that stuff is mass-produced watered-down, sugar flavored garbage. Hence the "Hills & Stills, Absolutely Not Available In Stores" running along the banner at the bottom of our art. So while this design revels in our love of all things good-timin', of high-test, high quality shine, of a lineage of a craft that's been built over the last couple hundred years, we're proud to have made our West Virginia Moonshine Shirt, and we hope you like it as much as we do.
The local news contacted us interested in what we do, and ended up interviewing us and our manufacturers, Sustain U. It's very cool that the station took an interest in what we're doing, and what our mission is. Check out the video below! (That pic behind my gigantic head is the originial artwork for the WV Crest shirt!)
That's right! We've now got 4 designs available for purchase in the Morgantown SustainU location at 63 Wharf Street, Morgantown, WV 26505. The WV Crest (men & women's), Mountain Mama and WV Moonshine are now on the floor, awaiting some awesome person to come scoop them up and take them home!
So not only is SustainU still providing us with amazingly comfortable, 100% Recycled, Made-in-the-USA shirts, they're also the only place that you can walk into and get our shirts! Go check 'em out!
We we wanted to put together a design for all the beautiful Mountain Mamas out there, and finally got it done with a bit of helpful inspiration. This is a preview of the completed shirt, which will be coming soon! With this design, we wanted to express what we feel is the epitome of what a "Mountain Mama" can be, a natural, carefree, talented, no-nonsense, lovely woman – as at home on a front porch or a mountain top as she is in evening wear and heels. A versatile, strong, West Virginia Beauty. I had this ideal in my mind for quite a long time, but wasn't sure how to represent it graphically. That was before I saw this picture...
This photo hit me like shot when I first saw it somewhere in the depths of Tumblr. From what I can find out, it's from a 1967 issue of National Geographic that has a big feature about West Virginia in it. There was a copy of it on-line that has since disappeared. I DO know that the girl in the picture is a native West Virginian who was just getting into playing the fiddle, and mused about its time-honored tradition in our state. If I can ever track down the article, I'll add more details to her story.
Seeing this image, it instantly hit me that this is it! This is the personification of what I had in my mind as a pure WV girl. We've illustrated it for our Mountain Mama design, with some modifications. We decided not to include the little shirtless fella there (sorry bro), even though being an actual Mama is another aspect of the ideal, he just looked out of place in the design.
The shirt will be a white and yellow print on a green women's v-neck. The words "West Virginia Mountain Mama" will accompany the illustration. We're super stoked to get this out to the public, and we'll be debuting it at this year's Cheat River Festival!
The phone backgrounds seemed to be a smashing success, so I figured I'd put up a full-on desktop background. It's the never-before-seen full color rendition of our Baked In WV design.
You can get the high-quality, full-size version over on our Flickr feed.
Welcome to Made In West Virginia! We're an apparel company making specialty designs celebrating our homeland, West Virginia! We mean to represent WV in our own terms, a non-traditional, from-the-mountains-up celebration of our fierce pride and independent spirit, devoid of the tired stereotypes so often associated with our state.
