I do have reservations about going after international and hyper-local markets at the same time. And I have a concern that it sounds like you do not have a graphic designer to create the t-shirt designs.
However, I do like your idea of reserving the "cooler" t-shirts to more loyal users (because that, for the most part, solves my issue with requiring a relatively significant commitment from a user).
Again, I hope your idea becomes successful.