This ain’t your run-of-the-mill sweat shop.

For awhile now, I’ve been wanting to customize a T-shirt for myself with “Caroline on Crack” but couldn’t think of a catchy tagline to go with it. Some ideas? “Have you had your crack today?” or “Be a crackhead.” But they just don’t seem right. In any case, I finally decided that “Caroline on Crack” is its own slogan. So then I just had to find the right place to customize said shirt.

And while I was running around Hollywood & Highland looking for Beard Papa, I came across Neighborhoodies. This straight-outta-Brooklyn store itself appears like any hip clothing store with the big posters and loud music but then you notice that all their clothes have funny sayings on them: “Fonzarelli,” “I am Chaos,” “Mad Mex.”

Unfortunately, once inside, I couldn’t figure how it was supposed to work. There was a counter in the back and employees standing around talking to each other but no one answered my bewildered look or my aimless wandering around the store. True, I could have walked up to someone myself but I really didn’t want to commit to customizing anything just yet…and I’m lazy.

Instead, I went home and looked up the store’s Web site. What’s cool about it is that you get to shop at your own pace, perusing the different style hoodies, T-shirts and whatnot as well as the many different fonts and even graphics. I just wished the site had the ability to show you what your order was going to look like. As it is you just have to judge by all the pieces you pick out separately and hope that they all look good once put together.

I decided on a maroon Classic hoodie with stitched double-layered white McFunky lettering and a lips graphic. The total cost is about $72. Eesh! But if I kept it simple without the graphics and double-layer text and pressed rather than stitched, it would have been about $23 less. I guess that’s what I get for wanting it my way.

If you’d like to create your own customized clothing line, you can also order up T-shirts, baby clothes, bags, underwear, belts and even doggy tees, all with your name and/or snazzy sayings. Get a bunch of your friends together and make your own club. The Pink Ladies! Or be a psychotic bf/gf and label your significant other yours. So many possibilities.

Neighborhoodies has been getting rave reviews from the blogosphere for their good quality stitching and material. They don’t sell their stuff in other stores but their own so there are no markups for you to deal with.

6801 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, California 90028
(323) 960-0330
Hours: Sun 10am-7pm; Mon-Sat 10am-10pm