Our Creation Story
WearTheSaints.com is a Catholic print-on-demand apparel brand, with the symbols and emblems of the saints at its heart.
Each emblem is hand-drawn and the clothing is embroidered (not printed), with the emblem sewn high on the left side of the chest.
The Untidy Conception
My name is Tim (or “Timothy of Pimlico” if you got here from X)!
I became a Catholic in 2023 and am a historian by training. I became fascinated with the ancient "language" I saw at work in our churches, cathedrals and shrines.
There is a sea of symbols, icons and decorations at work in our faith.
But none of it is wasted.
Every single detail is there for a reason!
The past is communicating God’s wisdom to us constantly, but we’re forgetting the language!
In seeking to learn more about the saints and this language of symbols, I realised:
Not only does every saint have his or her own emblem...
But they are out there right now in the world all around us and we don't see them!
In the middle ages and ancient world, without photography, there was no way of knowing what someone looked like, so to portray saints in statues, stained-glass windows or icons meant giving them things to hold relevant to their lives and their stories.
St Peter for instance is always depicted with the keys of heaven. St Paul almost always with a sword and scripture. Even more modern saints have become associated with certain emblems (for example, St Thérèse of Lisieux is usually holding a cross and garland of roses).
I started drawing these emblems. I wanted to share them. I wanted to share the excitement with people and renew our country’s faith!
So I explored ways of adding them to stickers… then to cards… then finally I came across print-on-demand embroidery.
Inspired by the way upmarket high street brands like Fred Perry and Crew design their gear, I envisioned a new, sleek brand:
Upscale, cool, but the opposite of fast-fashion.
And instead of being decorated with some meaningless logo from a fashion house, I thought it would be far cooler to have something with depth, inspired by a real saint, worn over my heart!
That’s how Wear The Saints was born!
A Rebuke to Random Logos
A saint's emblem is so much more interesting than a random logo - it has a depth to it, like an ancient coat of arms.
It's almost guaranteed to start a conversation about what it is, why it's interesting, why it matters, and draw people into a wider conversation about Christianity and even probably the meaning of life.
So it’s a subtle evangelisation method, as well as looking pretty cool.
The emblems also serve as a refresher to believers too. First, that in this subtle way we are is openly signalling our faith in an increasingly faithless world – saying “you’re not alone”. Believers who see it and know it will be reminded to pray.
But it also serves as a reminder that our history is all around us - that by seeing this on someone's sweatshirt, we ourselves will start to actually be much more aware of the presence of the saints around us, their lives and their wisdom, as well as how past generations would have physically represented them and believed in them in a way that we seem to have forgotten, but can re-learn.
5 Reasons to Buy from Wear The Saints
I get it, obviously, there's lots of print-on-demand stuff out there.
Here’s your 5 x 5 on 'why buy from me' :
#1 - It’s unique. All the emblems are designed and hand-drawn by me, slowly, and with prayer over multiple iterations, referencing historic saints icons.
#2 - The designs are not printed, they are embroidered on the left side of the chest in a very elegant, “non-print-on-demand-looking” way. The products themselves are high quality – the sweatshirts are a soft blend of 50% cotton / 50% polyester, air jet yarn for a softer feel. The t-shirts are deliberately a heavier fabric for durability.
#3 - I’m a practicing Catholic. I have a particular devotion to St Joseph, St Francis De Sales, the saints of my home nation (England) and am fascinated by every saint’s individual life and journey to Christ.
#4 - I started this project as a vehicle for greater almsgiving. In 2023, I ran a half-marathon, raising money for my local parish - that inspired me to find ways to do it again. At least 10% of all profits from WTS will go to Catholic charities, with my aim to be periodically driving for particular churches.
#5 – It turns consumer culture on its head. If you need a new sweatshirt, why buy another piece of meaningless fabric from a big ol' megacorporation - why not buy from a small business in your community, have a saint associate with it and wear it intentionally?
How does it work?
- Well, you see something you like, and you place an order.
- It will be fulfilled by a warehouse local to you. They already have a set of high-quality Gildan sweatshirts, t-shirts, etc, of the various colours and sizes we have available on the website.
- They will embroider my design onto that garment, and then they will ship it to you!
- Then, it’ll arrive, and I hope you’ll be well pleased with it!
- I will also be opening for custom designs soon too.