by Lanie Edwards

Stillers™ Season 02 Available Now /  by Maxwell Young

Releasing the first fall drop.

Embroidered left chest designs for Season 02, available under ‘Stillers™’ tab. Photograph by Alex Young

Embroidered left chest designs for Season 02, available under ‘Stillers™’ tab. Photograph by Alex Young

Season 02—the fourth overall Stillers™ collection—celebrates a number of foundations in Stillers tradition. Embroidered left chest designs first executed in the inaugural collection, Post Season 01, are updated with a new colorway and slogan, “Bend Don’t Break,” a mantra uttered by Stillers icons like Mike Tomlin and Terry Bradshaw, and embodied by a resilient city. The khaki long sleeve is reminiscent of the team caps former head coach Bill Cowher sported in the early 2000s. It also represents InTheRough’s first foray into graphic print, as the back of the garment features an idyllic rendering of Three Rivers Stadium before it was home to The Steel Curtain, The Terrible Towel, and four Super Bowl championships.

The back graphic of the Khaki Stillers™ Logo Long Sleeve

Season 02 was conceptualized and designed by InTheRough staff including Maxwell Young, Alex Young, Quaishawn Whitlock, Alex Hersh, and Justin Berk. Manufacturing was executed by Touch of Grey Tees & Public Print House.

Shop Season 02 through the Stillers tab located above this article or at Senseless on Penn Avenue. Stay tuned for drop two.

Senseless

5124 Penn Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15224



What Mac Miller Meant to Our Youth /  by Lanie Edwards

I was 15 years old the first time I saw Mac Miller perform at the iconic 18 and under venue, Club Zoo, in the Strip District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was the kind of club where kids would chain smoke cigarettes, it smelled musty at all times, and you didn’t tell your parents you were going. You thought it was cool to go to the bar and get a Red Bull, and you couldn’t wait to dance to “Like a G6” with your friends. This night was special because unlike the usual trash music blaring from the DJ booth, there was going to be a performance. It was 2010.

I was with my older sister and her best friend. They already knew of Mac, but I had never heard his music. I hesitantly stood in the corner not knowing what to expect.

“Everybody please put your thumb in the air!” was the first thing this 18-year-old white kid said as the lights came up. I put my right thumb up with a straight face. It felt stupid, but as soon as the beat from “Knock Knock” dropped, I was hooked. That set the tone for the rest of my adolescence in the Steel City. 

I remember bumping K.I.D.S and Blue Slide Park in the car nonstop when I got my license at 16. Pittsburgh isn’t necessarily the most exciting city, but riding around listening to Mac was an activity to look forward to on its own. We would listen during long bus rides before a tennis match, bullshitting during a free period, and getting ready for those terribly awkward high school dances. I remember when Blue Slide Park debuted at number one on Billboard. He wasn’t just Pittsburgh’s anymore, he was the world’s. It was amazing to see the world fall in love with him as much as we did. 

I was 20 years old the second time I saw Mac Miller perform, this time in Washington D.C. at the Fillmore for his GO:OD AM Tour. Now in college, I felt like I had grown up with him. He and his music had matured, but the concert was just as exciting as my first experience—just add more fans, mosh pits, and a different city. I went with my closest friends from Pittsburgh, and we all rocked our Steelers jerseys and Terrible Towels with pride. I’d be lying if I said we didn’t feel like we had a stronger connection to him in a sea full of D.C. natives.

Scenes from Mac Miller’s vigil at Blue Slide Park | footage by InTheRough

It’s been one week since his passing. I’m 23 now, and I’ve been thinking about it constantly. For me, no other artists’ death has hit as hard as this one for many reasons. As a kid growing up in Pittsburgh, it was inspirational to see Mac Miller make it out of such a small, overlooked city and always remain true to himself and humble. With that unmistakable Pirates logo tatted on his hand, he repped the city wherever he went. Not only did he have a strong impact on the kids from his hometown, but he touched the hearts of so many worldwide with his music and soul. I never got to meet him, but we all felt like we knew him. 

There’s this saying that no one loves Pittsburgh as much as Pittsburgh. When one of our own makes it, the whole city is proud. When one of our own passes, the city mourns together. It rained for 3 days straight and the Stillers tied with the Browns after Mac left. That’s how you know.

Steelers running back James Conner honors the late rapper Mac Miller on his cleats this Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs | photo via Conner’s Instagram

Any time you listen to Mac Miller’s old music it’s a nostalgic experience. You think of great times with friends. You think of driving through Fifth Ave and dodging all of its potholes while blasting “Party on Fifth Ave.” You appreciate places like Blue Slide park even more. Life was simple back then. When you listen to his music now, you think of how much he had grown. You think about how hard life gets. You think about how we all go through the same things at some point, and he was never afraid to talk about them. 

Through it all, we always saw him smiling. We always saw him being a goofball and putting on an amazing show. We saw how real and full of life he was despite whatever he was facing. He made us even more proud to rep black and yellow and to never forget where we came from. He made us feel 15 again. No matter what, Mac Miller will always be there to remind us that we’re just some motherf*ckin kids.

Lead photos right to left by G L Askew II and Christaan Felber

Stillers Post Season 02 /  by Maxwell Young

Stillers Post Season 02 printed at Artist Image Resource Inc.

Stillers Post Season 02 printed at Artist Image Resource Inc.

The third Stillers collection, Post Season 02, is now available.

The motivation and anticipation surrounding the Stillers' playoff hunt is palpable as we ready ourselves for number seven.  We're fighting for our football family and brethren this year, playing in the spirit of Mr. Rooney and in the strength of Ryan Shazier.  

Playoff demons stemming all the way back from 2002, and made painstakingly fresh thanks to Week 15's heartbreaker at Heinz Field, will be exorcised in Foxborough, Ma.--20 years since the last time the Stillers were able to knock the Patriots out of championship contention.  We will get seven before they get six.

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'SteelSpeed' is inspired by the change of focus and precision that occurs in January and February.  We're no strangers to playoff football--it is expected--but the pulse of the locker room becomes elevated and the roar of Stillers Nation becomes much louder on the stairway to seven.  We have kicked into hyper-drive.

Post Season 02 is a collection of sweatshirts and sweatpants designed and screen-printed by InTheRough staff.  Green sweats and the re-purposed 'Eye' logo made popular by our 'Enjoy the Goods' t-shirts solidify the collaboration between Stillers and InTheRough, for they are one and the same.  Post Season 02 would not be possible without Quaishawn Whitlock, the technician and artist behind the atelier--Artist Image Resource Inc.  Thank you also to Justin Berk, Lanie Edwards, Alex Hersh, JR Walker, and Alex Young.

Stillers sweats are available for purchase individually or as a set here.  May they bring good fortune in this year's hunt for a seventh Super Bowl title.

Stillers bend, they don't break.

Stillers Season 01 /  by Maxwell Young

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There's not much to harp on about the Stillers' previous season.  Super Bowl runs is what we've come to expect in the Steel City, and a team we all thought was capable of hunting for Pittsburgh's seventh Lombardi Trophy fell flat on their faces in Foxborough, Massachusetts--getting out-played and out-coached by the Patriots.  The Patriots have been the Stillers' kryptonite since I was a kid, ruining our championship hopes on several occasions in 2001 and 2004.  If you ask me, the pursuit of a world championship isn't complete until the Stillers avenge these epic losses.  If you ask me, Ben Roethlisberger's major blemish is that he can't seem to topple Brady in the postseason.

The good news is that the Stillers know what kind of issues the Patriots cause.  Blossoming playmaker, Ryan Shazier, thinks the League "has a Patriots problem" that the Stillers "intend to fix," he says.  Coach Tomlin has clearly heeded these words this offseason, completely revamping the Stillers secondary featuring another Florida Gator from the Tebow-era BCS Championship runs--shout out Joe Haden.  Our offense, though potent, especially with the return of Martavis Bryant, who came back to camp after a year suspension looking like an absolute ball-hawk, is not enough to stop the Super Bowl defending champions.  Not when mastermind Bill Belichick is shrewd enough to put his team in position to score every-freaking-drive.  Just ask the choke-king Atlanta Falcons.  Defense wins championships, people.  The young Stillers on the defensive side of the ball must grow up.  Stephon Tuitt should be a constant force in the backfield.  Bud Dupree should have double digit sacks.  James Harrison will be James Harrison, but it'd be nice if the Watt-family pedigree panned out in TJ, which so far, it looks like.  And Artie Burns must be ready for man-to-man coverage.

Listen to Stillers Nation. 

Listen to Stillers Nation. 

The Stillers have a relatively easy first eight games, facing the likes of the Browns, Bears, and Jaguars before the end of October.  Knowing the Black and Yellow though, we'll find a way to lose some of those games as playing down to the level of competition is a favorite Stillers past-time.  This volatility is the impetus behind the first collection of Stillers Season 01.

Available under the Stillers tab. 

Available under the Stillers tab. 

From the inevitable injuries that sideline Big Ben for at least one game to the late season, divison clinching heroics, the 'Rollercoaster' t-shirt is inspired by the dramatic nature of a Stillers season. That's what makes football so captivating in Pittsburgh.  We win, but it's often through much adversity. 

Unlike Postseason 01, this collection of t-shirts was designed, screen-printed, and dyed in-house by InTheRough staff.  Color is important to Season 01 because it is contrary to Stillers tradition.  Black and yellow is the norm, but look closely at the hypocycloids within the Stillers logo to find primary colors. The green hit on the multicolor 'Rollercoaster' t-shirt is a nod to Three Rivers Stadium's Gate D marker that still stands at Heinz Field today.  The vision would not be possible without contributions from Justin Berk, Lanie Edwards, Alex Hersh, JR Walker, Quaishawn Whitlock, and Alex Young.  Stillers t-shirts are now available for purchase here, and may they bring luck in this year's hunt for a seventh Super Bowl title.

Stillers bend, they don't break.

Female Muralists Transform the District /  by Lanie Edwards

Colorful mural walls have flooded all of our Instagram feeds at some point. See one that goes well with your outfit? Picture. Spot one with your favorite musician, athlete, or actor? Click. If you don’t have at least one highly saturated image posing in front of one, are you even a millennial? While these intricate designs painted on public walls serve as great photo ops, they also have a far more important purpose. They can empower a community, bring in more business, and make a statement.

In Washington, D.C., two badass female muralists are taking over the district one wall at a time. Been to the Fridge Gallery in Southeast and noticed the colorful mural of four women on a black wall? That’s Rose Jaffe. Snapped a great pic in front of the Chuck Brown mural in Anacostia? You can thank Maria Miller for that. While Jaffe and Miller have different styles and techniques, both are prominent women in the street art scene who are not only transforming boring walls around the nation’s capital but giving a voice to communities and causes that otherwise may not be heard. 

“I love if my work has a message,” says Jaffe, born and raised in D.C. “I do a lot of social justice and activism work, and I think that it’s really beautiful if a mural can reflect the community that it’s in, and uplift the voices that are there in that community.” 

Jaffe does it all: painting, sculpting, graphic design, and illustrations. She’s a full-time artist who favors portraying the female form in various ways (i.e. The breast mugs, obsessed). She is fascinated by people, faces, and the stories that they tell, which is evident when looking at her murals. With the flick of a paintbrush, Jaffe can make any wall come to life. 

“Street art” is considered to be a male-dominated scene, and the few women who are involved can often feel tokenized. However, Jaffe doesn’t define herself as a “street artist.” She refers to herself as a “mural artist,” and does not consider murals to be graffiti. Instead, she believes they are more like public art pieces.

As a female mural artist, Jaffe feels she has gotten tremendous support from everyone – male and female artists, as well as from D.C. as a whole. She is the recipient of numerous grants and is able to fully support herself through her work.

You can view the completed mural Rose was working on in the video at the Femme Fatale Pop Up Store along the H St Corridor at 1371 H St. NE until the end of July 2017.  

Maria Miller, a muralist in D.C. and Virginia, has felt that same support in the district. 

Originally a canvas painter, Miller’s first mural project was in Richmond, VA in 2013, which led to her growing interest in public and street art. Unlike Jaffe and her paintbrush, Miller uses spray paint. 

“It’s become something not so much just about myself, but I love the feeling of painting in a community and them telling me how much they love it,” says Miller. “It’s such a gratifying feeling.”

Miller’s current project is a portrait of Chuck Brown for the Legends of Go Go Mural in Southeast D.C. It is a publicly funded mural that users will be able to interact with by scanning the pieces with their smartphones. When completed, it will be the first mural in the district to honor the legacy of musicians such as Brown, Little Benny, Fat Rodney, Byron “BJ” Jackson, and more. 

“Go Go is such an important part of the community so people are receiving it well,” says Miller.

As far as being a female mural artist in D.C., Miller has had a similar experience to Jaffe. She feels very supported and encouraged. 

 “I think for the most part a lot of people are very open and receptive to seeing more female artists around… especially other females,” says Miller. “I think catcalling is the most uncomfortable thing, but other than that I just take it as I go. I’m seeing more and more female artists and everyone wanting to see more of them.”

Check out the video to learn more about these fantastic artists and see some of their work. 

To donate to the Go Go Mural, visit: Gofundme.com/go-go-mural-fund