They’re everywhere. Exhausted; ragged. Hanging by a thread, really.
You see them on the subway, a vague sadness to their identicality. Carelessly flung this way and that, stretched thin, canvas coming apart at the seams from the tribulations of daily life in its namesake city.
New York needs many things. Yet another New Yorker-branded tote bag isn’t one of them.
The Real Deal’s official merch store has elevated the game with premium-quality clothes worthy of the dedicated readers who wear them. Our standards are high in the newsroom and the fitting room, so there’s not a stitch of fabric we could sell you that is anything less than the finest.
This isn’t the oversized free Gildan shirt you got at a trade show years ago, the painted-on logo cracking and peeling with every wash. This is, well, the real deal.
I am The Real Deal
Our editors like this one because it’s everything this sentence isn’t: sharp, succinct, the correct number of adjectives and not a single letter more. Slap on some punctuation and buddy, you’ve got yourself a lede!
And why bury the lede when you can wear it? Let the English-speaking world know what you’re all about with the I am the Real Deal sweatshirt.
In its long-sleeved embrace, you’ll be unstoppable. In a shade of grey that’ll make you forget the other 49, you’ll be a force to be reckoned with.
In the permanent state of un-pilled New Sweatshirt Feel, you’ll know what they mean when they say you get what you pay for. And in the mirror during your morning affirmations, the words may be backwards, but it won’t make them any less true.
Harry, Gary, Larry
What can I say? If you know, you know.
In the world of shirts with obscure references, some rise from the depths and become culturally ubiquitous — like that squiggly Joy Division album cover (you’ve definitely seen it before).
Listen, I’ve got three Nirvana shirts in my closet and one in the wash, and I’m sure there’s a faded AC/DC tank top somewhere in yours. What neither of us have, though, is some Harry, Gary and Larry merch.
Nobody says anything about my Nirvana shirts anymore — why would they? Everyone and their Gen-Z little sister has one. But in a sea of floating sartorial signifiers, this tribute to three legends of New York City development still means something in the real estate scene. Wear it to the office, whatever that means for you; I can guarantee you at least one “Hey, nice shirt!”, followed by that I-get-the-reference smile.
There’s also a sweatshirt version, if you prefer (I recommend getting both). The sweatshirt comes in two colors; a sophisticated dark grey and a deep, saturated blue. Get both colors and a t-shirt and you’re set — one to wear, one to spare, one to wash.