We love a little DC pride whenever we see it, and while an “I Heart DC” t-shirt might get the point across, these neighborhood and park-specific t-shirts are so much better.
The shirt design company behind the tees, Teerritory, is based out of a rowhouse in Bloomingdale and printed at DC Shirt & Print Company in Takoma Park. Teerritory’s founder, Toby Bokum-Fauth, originally learned how to silk screen in high school, and he returned to it as a hobby outside of his full-time gig at an environmental non-profit. After a few years fiddling with the colors and images on his neighborhood designs, Bokum-Fauth launched Teerritory (tagline: Wear You Live) in April.
Having grown up in small-town Vermont, Bokum-Fauth says he was inspired to design neighborhood-specific t-shirts for DC after noticing the connection he felt with anyone he ran across wearing a shirt from his hometown.
“People there don’t really buy ‘Norwich, VT’ t-shirts to rep their hometown, they buy [the local general store] Dan & Whit’s t-shirts,” says Bokum-Fauth. “I still spot people in airports across the country wearing the Dan & Whit’s shirt, and every time, I feel an instant connection with them. It’s a great feeling! When I moved to DC, I felt the strong communities that exist in pockets here and the love people have for those areas of town, just like in Norwich, but there wasn’t a way to show your affection and pride in the same way.”
Bokum-Fauth decided to begin with a small selection of neighborhoods and parks—places where he and his friends love hanging out—and then to expand the collection from there. Currently Bloomingdale, Adams Morgan, Rock Creek Park, Petworth, and Meridian Hill Park/Malcolm X Park t-shirts are all available on Teerritory’s website, and Bokum-Fauth says Columbia Heights, H Street, and Banneker Pool are at the top of his list to add next.
Rather than just focusing on neighborhoods, Bokum-Fauth also wanted to feature the District’s parks, as those are places many visit: “The parks in particular are very special to me and are a shared space for people who live all over the city, so I wanted to make sure and include them in the first line.”
If you’re eager to see a Teerritory shirt promoting your neck of the woods, there’s a suggestion box on the Teerritory website where you can recommend your neighborhood. The shirts are currently for sale on Teerritory’s website, and Bokum-Fauth says that Windows Café & Market also sells the Bloomingdale shirt and that “you’ll start seeing the shirts at a couple other local shops, bookstores, and bodegas around town soon.”
Related: Check Out These Colorful Posters of DC Neighborhoods
Caroline Cunningham joined Washingtonian in 2014 after moving to the DC area from Cincinnati, where she interned and freelanced for Cincinnati Magazine and worked in content marketing. She currently resides in College Park.
