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Our Inspiration - It is what we are about
When our children see vehicles such as trucks and trains they are just AMAZED and captivated by them. We share that feeling at Shirts that Go! All vehicles are interesting, but certain ones are really noticed by kids and tap into their imagination and wonder about the world. Let's consider a few examples that have inspired us.
We take our boys to watch the trains go by at a local train line. We park in, of all places, a fire station parking lot! The parking lot happens to be right on the rail line and only 50 feet from a railroad crossing (with the gates and everything). We know the times roughly for when the Amtrak comes by on Sunday mornings, so we sit in our van and wait for the train to come. Soon, a train horn can be heard off in the distance... the boys start to get crazy excited. The excitement builds as we hear a few more train horns as the train approaches other nearby crossings on the way toward us. Then... the crossing gates start to come down with the familiar "ding ding" warning bells. We are all at the windows now and the boys are riveted. Then - here comes the diesel engine at about 60 miles per hour. It's loud, it's HUGE, and the ground is shaking a bit. WOW!! Boys are there with eyes wide open and just blown away by the experience of this incredible machine. Soon, it is gone, and we are kind of spinning as the energy level comes down a bit. We all have a bit of adrenaline surging from that experience for the next 20 minutes or so, and we are so excited about our day.
Sometimes we find ourselves at an intersection in our van and there is nothing too exciting going on. Just sitting there waiting for the light to change and the kids are in the back chatting. Suddenly, a siren is blaring and a massive bright red fire engine is trying to get through the intersection. The boys forget whatever it was they were fighting about and are wide eyed with WOW! They have seen this before, but it never gets old. What an amazing machine!
There are many examples of this that we all see with our children. What we are seeing with these experiences is their sense of wonder about the world being brought right to the surface by these amazing vehicles. So, what is Shirts that Go! all about? Cool designs on t-shirts... or is there something more? We are trying to connect with that sense of wonder about the world with our line of kids t-shirts. We understand that we cannot bottle that energy and put it down on a shirt somehow. What we can do though is provide awesome shirts with realistic vehicles shown in motion to let the kids share their love for these vehicles. To us this is all about adventure, travel, transportation, early concepts about careers, imagination, dreams, possibilities, awe, and of course FUN!
Lets take a tour of our current toddler and kids t-shirt lineup. Currently we have a set of train shirts, truck shirts, and airplane shirts. You can quickly jump to the product pages using either the links on the left or the links included below if you want to see actual product pictures and pricing. Our initial 9 designs feature our favorite "core" vehicles. We plan to add additional vehicles in the future. If you have suggestions please share your ideas using our
contact form.
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The Diesel Train t-shirt "Diesel" is a kids t-shirt that I knew my son would love. There are entire websites dedicated to train shirts
but I was never able to quite find the right one. The vision for this t-shirt came from watching the trains at our usual spot and a norfolk southern diesel engine blasted by us at quite a high speed. The ground was shaking and there was a wall of air that hit us just as the train went by. We also noticed that there was fine cloud of dust in the air as it passed by us. It was quite amazing and I wish I could bottle that moment somehow. This train shirt is all about the diesel train and the raw size and power of this amazing vehicle. I have found that toddler boys (even baby boys!) first find Thomas the Tank Engine and then start to go for the more realistic trains "trains without faces" after that. Take a peek at our Diesel
train shirt.
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The F15 is one of the most well known aircraft by kids because of the twin vertical stabilizers. If you have been to an airshow and seen the F15 showing off as part of a team of aircraft or seen an F15 demo it is hard to forget. Kids love it because it is sleek, fast, and just flat out LOUD. Seeing the F15 blast by at close to the speed of sound is just AWESOME! We have looked around on many kids clothes, boys clothes, kids t-shirt, and
airplane shirts
websites and there are a few other F15 t-shirts out there. We think your kids and toddlers will love ours though. Take a peek at our F15 "Eagle"fighter jet kids shirt
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The Cement Truck t-shirt "Mixer" is a classic American cement truck. We selected the standard rear discharge model because it is the first kind most kids see first and begin to like. We could easily add a few other configurations in the future. The idea with this design is to show a cement truck on the move. Kids and toddlers love these machines for the usual reasons but the cement truck creates added interest with the cool shape. There is no other truck quite like it! We have looked on lots of other kids clothes and boys clothes websites and cement trucks are really hard to find so you have come to the right place. Take a peek at our Mixer kids truck t-shirt.
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 | The Tanker Truck t-shirt "Tanker"is a kids t-shirt design inspired by the big road going trucks (big rigs) that we have seen while travelling in Utah. Out west the trucks are just bigger and that means doubles are common there and triples are seen quite a bit as well. Double tankers are really impressive and when they are chrome that seems to connect really well with the kids and toddlers. For this truck shirt design we chose a beautiful red tractor pulling a set of chrome tank trailers. Tankers are especially cool because they are a key link in the transportation industry moving important goods including the fuel that we all need from our local gas station. Take a peek at our tanker truck kids t-shirt. |
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The Electric Train t-shirt "Electric" is a train that is inspired by the fast trains found in the north east US and over seas. We are talking about the Amtrack Acela, Bullet Train, TGV, and other fast electric trains. These are not as well known to kids that do not live in areas that have a fast train service though they are seen on videos and train shirts. When kids see these for the first time though they like them right away. There is a different kind of power and sense of awe with these machines. Because they are so sleek and modern looking they invoke thoughts about the future and even space travel. Monorail trains have a similar impact (hmm, this could be a future shirt design that we will do). This kids train shirt is intended to capture this feeling. Have you ever travelled on the TGV and just been AMAZED at how fast bridges and telephone poles are swooshing by?? Yes, it is really something! Take a peek at our electric train kids t-shirt. | 
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 | The Jet airplane t-shirt "Jumbo" is inspired by our awe and love of air travel. When toddlers and kids go on their first trip by air for the first time or to an airport observation area they love it right away. Watching a huge airliner leave the ground never ceases to impress us here at Shirts that Go! and our kids sure do like it. There is a sense of adventure that comes from any trip that involves airplanes. If the airplane is a large boeing and the distance is great then it is even more exciting. When kids see airplanes departing first it is just wow and then they start to wonder about the destination. Very cool stuff. We are trying to capture a bit of that feeling with our jet airliner t-shirt. Take a peek at our airplane shirts. |
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The Steam Train t-shirt is inspired by the classic steam engines of the old west. We all know these well though we may not know what differentiates one steam train for another. These are the old wood burning steam trains that are featured in the old western movies so the tender is full of chopped wood instead of coal. These trains tend to have big funnels, a couple of domes, large lights on the front (this is is from the pre-electricty days folks so a big reflector is needed to make a little flame light up the tracks at night!), and big "cow catchers" on the very font to keep the odd buffalo from derailing the train. There is a famous place in Utah called Promontory point and the trains seen there are the look we are going for. Kids and toddlers love these trains and we do too + everything that they represent. A classic steam train is just perfect for a boys first steam train shirt.
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 | The Fire Truck t-shirt is inspired by the fire engines and rescue vehicles that our children love. We all like to see a fire truck but kids and toddlers just love these like no other vehicle. Perhaps it is the color, or the size, or the lights, one thing is for sure it is hard to miss a fire engine with lights on and sirens screaming. When kids see these machines and the other vehicles we feature in our kids t-shirt line it is for many their first wonderings about careers. How many of us have young kids that want to be a police officer or a pilot? These jobs make sense to them even at a young age because the amazing vehicles give them a window into what it is about. Our kids fire truck t-shirt features a realistic looking fire truck blasting along at speed.
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Shirts That Go! is located in Chapel Hill NC. Chapel Hill is of course known as the home of UNC Chapel Hill and the UNC Tar Heels. A quick trip to the fire station will tell you that you are not in red fire truck country. Here the fire trucks are painted a beautiful Carolina Blue. For the kids and toddlers that are Carolina fans and also love the fire trucks this shirt is the way to go. This awesome fire engine t-shirt will make a great gift for the little tar-heel fan in your family that is for sure. Just like our other shirts the design is printed HUGE on soft American Apparel tees that your toddler will love.
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T-Shirts for Kids Birthday – Great ideas for Kids Birthday & Toddlers Birthday
When planning birthdays for the young kids and toddlers, especially the boys, there is often a theme that you know will be a hit. This often involves vehicles or transportation for those aged 10 and younger. Our train shirts, truck shirts, airplane shirts, and fire truck shirts can play a central role in that theme or they can serve to augment the theme of the kid’s birthday party you are having. For example if you are having a toddlers birthday with a Fire Rescue theme then you could order a set of the Fire Truck shirts for the kids that are going to be attending. They could be given when they arrive to be worn during the party or they could be included as the parting gift with the “goodie bag”. Can you imagine how happy those kids will be when they get to take home their very own Fire Truck t-shirt! Sure it was fun to see the Fire Truck when they stopped by the house, and yes the play Fire Hats are great, but the t-shirt will be a HUGE hit! I am 40 years old and I still have very fond memories (before I turned 10!) about birthday goodie bags and special birthday parties when the host had a special gift for each kid.
Another good example would be a toddler birthday party. Maybe your young toddler boy is just starting to take notice of trains and does not have a train shirt yet. Or maybe he does not have an awesome train shirt yet with realistic designs printed big like we do here at Shirts That Go. You could order a set of the train shirts (steam train kids t-shirt, diesel train kids t-shirt, and electric train kids t-shirt) for the birthday boy so that he could have all three favorites. Alternatively you could have a toddler boy age 2 and he has loved trains since he could sit up in a “bumbo” seat. For that boy the Steam Train kids t-shirt is beautiful and is the ideal first train shirt for a toddler just getting started with the love of trains.
Even if you are not having a theme birthday then Shirts That Go t-shirts can still make a great individual birthday present. If you are searching the web looking for kids birthday gift ideas then you have definitely come to the right place. If you have a young boy or toddler that loves vehicles we have just what you need to make his birthday party the best ever.
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NEW! Here is a view of our complete train shirts, truck shirts, and airplane shirts lineup at a local retailer.
Thank you for visiting us! We sure hope that you enjoy our t-shirt designs and share our inspiration. This is what we are all about. The Shirts that Go! team |
