In this installment of Les Stuff You Should Really Know More About, we nudge you towards the sharp shirts and accessories you're seeing at this summer's sceney street parties and social hours. If the hip company you keep is already swaddled in the cotton embrace of Revel and Riot -- good on ya. If you're just arriving to the scene, read up to get smart, then go get one of your own. While we can't promise to look the other way while you slip into your new tank, we do pledge to tell you when your shoulders are getting burned. And if you're cute, we'll even rub lotion on them.

THE EXEGESIS:
rev-el |ˈrevəl| - verb:
get great pleasure from (a situation or experience) i.e. reveling in newfound freedom and good fortune.; engage in lively festivities, i.e. [as n. ] a night of drunken reveling.

riot |ˈrīət| - noun:
public disorder; a noise, uproar, or disturbance made by revelers; tumultuous disturbance of the public peace by three or more persons assembled together and acting with a common intent, i.e. The news about the fixed election caused a riot in the city.

The Revel and Riot Website is not just a storefront of steeze. Also hosted at R&R's HQ is a comprehensive, timely and eponymous LGBT news blog that is split into two clashing halves. One one side of the page lives the headlines to revel in -- the favorable and constructive dispatches our community can celebrate. On the other side lies riot-worthy reports -- matters deserving our contention and malicious movements that must be challenged.

THE MASTERMINDS:
Emy Storey is the Canadian artist who has designed album covers for beloved bands, Tegan and Sara and Death Cab For Cutie. Sarah Fobes is a Canadian writer and web consultant. Marry their beautiful brains together and we get shirts, pins, posters, totes and other deliciously smart displays of fashionable activism.

THE MERCHANDISE:
Consider saving your dollar bills for a Life Goes By Too Quickly tee, v-neck or tank, a stylish sneer at Fred Phelps with the "God Hates Bags" tote made from 100% recycled plastic bottles, a Trans Snowflakes poster, or the We Are The Gay Kids button. [I bought three of these. One for me, one for my gay sister and one for my gay brother to show off to our straight siblings at the next family holiday.]

Know. Go. Click. Buy. Support. Steez. Smile. Lather. Repeat.

Mary Buckheit is a freelance journalist based in San Diego. A long-time columnist and correspondent for ESPN, her essays have also appeared on NPR, Boston Spirit Magazine, FlawLes Magazine, AfterEllen.com and GayTravel.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryBside.