We the people of Racket magazine don’t get much stuff. How do I know this? Because I had the mailing address forwarded to my house for a few months while The Emperor was between residences. The only thing I received in the entire 3 months that Racket Magazine resided in Riverside was a bunch of CDs to review (most of them metal- can you read the disgust in my voice?). Except for one non-metal bundle of joyt- the delightful dudes at Robert Earl Couture graced us with a glorious press kit! I claimed it as my own upon receiving a spectacularly scenester pink tire shirt (my inner emo coming out, perhaps), a few electric blue pins with their swan logo on them, an endearingly entertaining letter, and a magnificent hand painted mesh bag in which everything was contained.

The bag, letter, and pins have all been displayed proudly on my bulletin board, while the t-shirt was the subject of a slightly stressful photo shoot I helped put together for Robert Earl and Racket (stressful for me because I do not prefer to be in front of the camera). I hope they enjoyed what we put together for them as much as I enjoyed getting their happy little package. The cover letter proclaimed that I am now the owner of a one of a kind, hand painted t-shirt, and thus I should be happy and “high five a stranger.” The press kit even included instructions on how to take care of one’s new lovely shirt. My favorite was the statement at the bottom of the instruction sheet, boldly proclaiming in big letters to “LOVE YOUR WORK.” Not exactly an easy approach to take, but one can appreciate the upbeat attitude of the lovely staff of Robert Earl Couture. Check them out at www.robertearlcouture.com. Watch them hand paint the wheels of their sweet ass limo on the site, drop ‘em a line and tell them I said hi.

Article, photos and model – Caitlin Elgin