The "Climber" Tee by Bottom Line Apparel

About this piece

The Climber Tee is for the gay man who has, let’s be honest, climbed his way through the borough. Maybe it was the social ladder. Maybe it was a guy named Marcus on the tenth floor of a Bushwick walk-up. Maybe it was both, in the same week, after pre-gaming with his roommates in a group chat that no court of law should ever see. This is queer-owned NYC apparel for the chronically ambitious — the brunch crew that schedules its own afterparties, the dating-app power users who turn small talk into rooftops, the boys whose Notes app reads like a Grindr leaderboard.

We made this statement tee in soft Bella+Canvas ring-spun cotton because nobody wants to scale anything in scratchy fabric. The cut runs unisex — order your normal tee size, or size up if you want it to sit oversized over your favorite shorts. The silhouette breathes through August humidity, layers under a denim jacket through October, and survives whatever happens to it on the way home from a warehouse party in Bushwick. The graphic itself is unapologetic, large enough to read across a dimly-lit dance floor, and tight enough on the front print that the message lands before the eye contact does.

Everything about this gay statement tee is engineered for visibility. You’re not climbing if nobody sees you climbing. Wear it to the rooftop with the unflattering string lights. Wear it through Sunday brunch with your massive hangover. Wear it on the subway when you want a stranger to wonder if you’re flirting with them or just yelling at them. The Climber works in every direction.

Bottom Line Apparel is queer-owned and based in NYC. Every drop is print-on-demand, made when you order, and shipped from a certified facility — no warehouse waste, no fast-fashion shame spiral. Add this to your cart, climb whatever ladder is in front of you, and report back from the top.