Tame Interview

It’s all hollow eyed owls and chain saw kitties for James Olstein and Ellen Metro, the mystical combo behind Tame Clothing. The clothing line, specializing in hand silk screened tee shirts, hoodies, and pillows, relocated several years back from Pittsburgh and has since been embraced by the Philly art scene. After selling out several locations, the line is now exclusively available at Mew Gallery in the Italian Market. I’ll tell you first hand that these two have brains filled with brains. James’ complex sketches come alive on these wearable pieces of art. I mean if you think about it, we all knew a robot would puke nuts and bolts if he’d had a few too many...



Louisa: When did the idea for Tame Clothing come about?

James: This kid in Pittsburgh had opened a store of his own silk screened shirts and prints. They were 40 dollars for a shirt and 200 for a print and he was doing it out of this loft his parents had bought him. Every print was just garbage and I realized I could do better than him. So the next day I bought my first screen and started to teach myself to screen print. I figured if this kid could do it I could do it better. Ellen and I have been at it ever since. We won't stop until we put Sears out of business.

Ellen: Jim has been really into t-shirt design for a long time now and he wanted to make shirts that would appeal to us, as well as unique designs that would appeal to people like us.


L: Do you and Ellen hand silk screen all the pieces?

E: Yes, we do. Jim is MUCH, *MUCH* better at it than I am and honestly, I have only screened a few pieces. I have helped him screen a few shirts and I did my entire last set of owl pillows.




L: Where are the pieces currently available?

J: Mew Gallery has been a strong supporter of ours since they opened. They probably have the most stuff. Jinxed on 4th used to carry us too, but sold out. I just haven't had time to make anymore. I've been busy with the responsibilities I've been given after being voted Miss Teen USA.

There's no time to screen print when your Miss Teen USA.

E: I am also going to be dropping off more owl pillows soon [to Mew Gallery].


L: I've seen some awesome pillows you have made. Any plans to expand your reach past shirts and pillows?

J: No not really, there are so many great ideas and designs I have for just those two things. We have hoodies, there hard to hold onto. That's as diverse as we get. We always sell them all. The designs keep getting crazier. I lose a lot of sleep over them. Ellen loves doing the pillows and is really great at it. people love em like kittens and yarn. We have new stuff finishing production now and soon a new website too.

E: Jim is the brain behind the t-shirts and he has come up with basically all of the designs, with a little bit of input from me. I would love to do some square pillows that feature some of our new designs and Jim's artwork on them. I get psyched about making pillows. :)




L: Even though they are printed, each item is a one of a kind piece of art. Do you feel pride when you see people wearing your clothes?

J: I love it. It's always so weird to see someone on the street wearing one. I gave my mom one and she won't let me take a picture of her wearing it for the website. I wanna see them on astronauts.

E: Yes, DEFINITELY. Tame Clothing is something that I would love to do full-time one day if possible. I am much better with and much more interested in the management side of the business. One of my main goals in life is to be self-employed one day, so when I see people wearing our shirts I feel as though I've come a little bit closer to meeting that goal.


L: Did someone really get a tattoo of one of your drawings?

J: Apparently just owning the t-shirt wasn't enough.


L: Where do you draw inspiration for your drawings?

J: Peanut Butter and memories of growing up in the woods.


L: You sell to some great local spots. Do you think of Tame as a Philly company?

E: I do, yes.

J: Yes I do. I love Philly even when the shirt company or an art show fails miserably there is always an opportunity too do better here. We've been a company for over two years an the majority of it has been in Philly. I am in Texas right now and i can't wait to get home to where no one has an accent and everyone hates you right off the bat.


L: Have you gotten good feedback from local businesses?

E: We have. We had our shirts at Jinxed Clothing and we still have shirts and pillows at Mew Gallery. We have a good relationship with both shops and hopefully, we will pick up more shops that want to carry our stuff in the near future! A high point for me was the R5 Productions Punk Rock Flea Market in December 2006. That was the best feedback from the public that I feel we've gotten thus far. Our table was quite popular that day and I don't think the popularity came from the fact that I brought bags full of homemade owl-shaped sugar cookies and sold them for only $1 a piece that day. :) It was the shirts and pillows that got the people psyched.

Tame Clothing can be found at Mew Gallery between Ninth and Tenth on Christian. Check Tame’s myspace www.myspace.com/tameclothing for updates on new pieces and their forth coming website.


Written by Louisa Engle, Photos by artist