Why I Started Stay Offended Artwear at 63

I spent nearly 40 years in public education.

Teacher. Administrator. Principal. Superintendent.

And then, suddenly, I wasn't.

Retirement is a funny word. It sounds like you're supposed to be finished with something. Maybe slow down. Take it easy. Enjoy having nowhere you have to be on Monday morning.

I had a different idea.

At 63, I wanted to create.

I've been an artist for most of my life. I paint. I draw. I love music, old record stores, vintage graphics, places with personality, and artwork that looks like it has lived a little.

So I started making designs.

Not because a computer told me what was trending. Not because I wanted to slap another clever saying onto a cheap T-shirt.

I started creating things I would actually wear.

And somewhere along the way, those designs became Stay Offended Artwear.

Why “Stay Offended”?

The name isn't really about being offended.

It's about refusing ordinary.

We're living in a world where everything seems increasingly polished, filtered, focus-grouped and designed to please everybody.

That's not particularly interesting to me.

I like art with imperfections. I like faded signs, old album covers, beat-up record shops, strange roadside places, vintage photographs and things that make you stop and look twice.

Stay Offended came from that attitude.

Original Art for Those Who Refuse Ordinary.

That's more than a tagline. It's pretty much the entire idea.

Every Design Starts With the Art

Stay Offended isn't a clothing company that occasionally makes artwork.

I think of it the other way around.

It's an art brand that happens to put the work on clothing.

Some designs are inspired by music. Some by New Jersey. Some come from imaginary record stores that should have existed but never did. Others begin with a photograph, painting, sketch, memory or ridiculous idea that gets stuck in my head.

The shirt comes later.

The art comes first.

That's important to me.

Starting Something New at 63

Maybe my favorite part of this whole experiment is that I really didn't know what I was getting myself into.

I've had to learn e-commerce. Shopify. Printing. Product photography. Video. Instagram. TikTok. YouTube. Shipping. Marketing. And about 500 other things nobody warned me about.

Some days I know exactly what I'm doing.

Other days I'm 63 years old staring at my phone wondering why a TikTok got four views.

But that's part of it.

I've become convinced that getting older doesn't mean becoming less curious.

If anything, I want to become more curious.

Try something you're terrible at.

Learn something you don't understand.

Make something.

Start something.

Risk looking foolish.

That's a pretty good way to stay interesting.

Welcome Behind the Art

That's what this section of Stay Offended is going to be about.

I'll show you where some of the designs came from. We'll visit the imaginary record stores I've created. I'll talk about music, art, New Jersey, vintage culture and whatever else works its way into the artwork.

I'll also show some of the process—the sketches, ideas, mistakes and finished pieces.

Because there's a story behind this stuff.

And now there's finally a place to tell it.

Stay Offended. Stay Interesting.

— Brian Betze
Artist & Founder, Stay Offended Artwear