How an Austin Bar Comes Up With Its Clever Parody Shirts

One of Austin’s greatest dive bars is Dirty Bill’s, which has been around the downtown area since 2008. The narrow space, decorated with string lights, stickers, and an iconic gnome, is oftentimes packed with revelers drinking, dancing, and having a goddamn good ol’ time.

If you’ve been in Austin long enough, you’ve probably noticed people wearing cheeky T-shirts and hats playing off the bar's name in inventive satirical ways, with references to pop culture, Texas lore, and political commentary. The genius behind all of that is Michael Perez, who oversees Dirty Bill’s marketing and branding.

Perez’s aesthetic approach to creating Dirty Bill’s merchandise is all about being tongue-in-cheek. The designs are (mostly) loving parodies so the bar doesn’t get into legal trouble, “You don’t want the people to think too much. It has to just be that you can see that, and be like, ‘Oh, I get that,’” he says pointing to a Buc-ees shirt (see below). “Right away, people have to get it and be like, ‘Oh crap, that’s clever. Why didn’t I think of that?’ The simplest thing is just the thing that’s sitting in front of your face 99 percent of the time.”

With Perez’s Dirty Bill’s art, he explores the fine line between being clever and insightful with recognizable brands. “You’re taking that design and adding to it. I’ve been entrusted to find the gray area,” he says. There have been times that Perez was worried about getting legal action from certain companies, but that’s never happened.

Yes, the shirts are a way for Dirty Bill’s to make money, but the bar also makes sure to give back to communities, organizations, and important causes. An MD 20/20 dog toy benefited animal nonprofit Austin Pets Alive, while sales from a shirt of Justin Timberlake’s mugshot after his DUI went to nonprofit Mothers Against Drunk Driving. There have been collaborations with local artists and studios, and money went towards feeding service workers and first responders through a shirt poking fun at then-Austin Mayor Steve Adler who had hosted an event even though there were pandemic restrictions.

While the shirts might be spontaneous, it takes a lot of planning by Perez. He calendars out designs a year in advance — with room for some spur-of-the-moment exceptions. The shirts are all limited edition. There are intentionally small batches produced by custom apparel company Oh Boy! Print Shop. Rarely do they ever re-print shirts, either. “So if it’s gone, it’s gone,” Perez says. It just adds to the whole if-you-know-you-know vibes of the bar.

Below, Perez runs through some iconic shirts he’s created for Dirty Bill’s.

Taylor Swift (Dirty Bill’s Version)

Dirty Bill’s

“This was the first Taylor shirt we did for the first-ever singalong seven years ago. The whole event had blown up beyond anything we could have ever imagined. Swift was coming off the Reputation era and going into the Lover era. It wasn’t a cool thing to be a Swiftie during that time. But Jenny Smith (Ed. note: the wife of a co-owner of Austin bar Latchkey, which also hosts Taylor Swift parties) and I were HUGE Swifties at that time and we said, ‘Let’s do it and see what happens.’ I remember a girl walking into the bar on accident and standing in front of me for 15 minutes not understanding why I was only playing Taylor Swift songs.”

Buc-ee’s

Dirty Bill’s

“This is one of those shirts where I tell people that sometimes, the idea is just so simple and seen every day that you wonder why you didn’t think of it earlier. I thought the idea actually was TOO simple and I sat on the design for a while. It was finally released as a summer shirt since Texas road trips and summer go hand in hand. I put up a picture of the road sign on Instagram and said, ‘We have a new shirt at the bar, it won’t be advertised.’ For some reason, that worked, and we sold out that weekend.

“It was only seen in December of that year when we announced it was the best-selling shirt of the year. Probably will never do it again in fear of it being so close to home with Texas lawyers.”

Disney

Dirty Bill’s

“Speaking of lawyers… the Buc-ee’s, Disney, and Nike shirts were the only shirts when I was scared of getting cease-and-desist letters. We all have heard horror stories of Disney lawyers taking down daycares because they had painted characters on their walls. One thing I learned in a seminar is that: PARODIES ARE LEGAL. As an artist and company, you have to find the fine line you are comfortable skating around with, but the worst that can happen is you get told ‘NO’ …well, that, and maybe a lawsuit.”

Astrodome

Dirty Bill’s

“Oh, I love this one. I personally did this one to help out the bar’s Hurricane Harvey benefit in 2017. I wasn’t a working employee of the bar yet, but they came to me to put together a fun shirt to help them out. It sold out at that event and in 2019, we did a re-release for baseball opening day where we also did them on a raglan shirt. It hasn’t been redone since that time, even though it is always requested.”

Chili’s on 45th and Lamar

Dirty Bill’s

Dirty Bill’s

“I think the biggest inside joke in Austin is the whole ‘45th and Lamar’ thing. They have Reddit posts about it. I tell people that spot is world-famous. Like, it really is. During South by Southwest, we have thousands of people coming into the city. We figured we should let them know what the best bar in Austin, Texas they should be drinking at. And it's not us, it sits at 45th and Lamar.”

D.A.R.E./Malört

Dirty Bill’s

“This is the perfect time to talk about Kate Litberg. She is new to the bar and is working with me to help and maybe take over as the new idea maker in the near future. She comes from Chicago where apparently Malört is a thing [Ed. note: yes]. She came in one day and said, ‘I want to start carrying Malört and have a Malört night and make a Malört shirt.’ We laughed and laughed and laughed.

“We now sell multiple bottles of Malört a week to everybody’s amusement. [For the shirt,] she wanted the D.A.R.E. logo [Ed. note: the design is an iconic logo for an education program about drug awareness] and it worked out perfectly. We only sell the shirts when we have the Malört night.”

Blink-182

Dirty Bill’s

“This shirt sums up where we are at in the bar — where the old and new people in charge clash, and sometimes, something great happens. Our shirts usually fit a theme and the time when we release them. During Austin City Limits Music Festival, it’s usually a music theme. The one I had in mind got shot down by Litberg. She fired back with what she wanted to do, and I shot it down. We argued for weeks with the deadline approaching. She called me while driving and said, ‘Why don’t we do a Blink-182 one since they are headlining? It fits the music theme and we already shut the bar down over the summer to go see them.’ It was so simple and right in front of our faces that it worked. It got the attention of the band and that’s amazing. It’s what it's all about — we are just a small dive bar on West Sixth.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.