The T-Shirt... What Happened and Where Do We Go From Here?

I wear t- shits. I love T-shirts. So soft. So relaxing. So casual. So made out of cotton; 100% hopefully. The T-shirt is the great chameleon of the fashion world. Ok, that makes no sense. Too much hyperbole?

In this day of casual clothing, it seems that the T-shirt can be worn for any occasion. It makes me sad that formal dress is out the door but fashion is a bitch mistress that doesn't care what you want or at least what I want. No one wants to dress in collared shirts, ties and suits anymore. The days of dressing in your Sundays best to catch a ball game on Tuesday is no more. Thank goodness social convention still tells women that when going out to the bars or clubs, a t-shirt doesn't cut it. Thank goodness that there is still some amount sexism in this country. Please pick up on my sarcasm. It is a shame that men have become lazy, classless and unimaginative with their dress. Please note that the previous sentence about men's fashion was not sarcasm.

I love T-shirts as much as the next guy. T-shirts have been the essence of cool. They are indicative of their generation. It's no accident that when you see a white basic T-shirt, blue jeans, leather jacket and some Converse Chuck Taylor's one might think of the greasers in the 1950's. Tie-Dyed shirts remind us of hippies and the 60's. The huge slogans that would be placed on T-shirts during the 80's and 90's. The lasting images of Marlon Brando, James Dean, Bruce Springsteen in a white basic T. There was the Frankie Goes to Hollywood T-shirts of the 80's and the "Vote for Pedro" Napoleon Dynamite shirts of the modern era. T-shirts have a lasting impression on the social conscience. It's not mystery that T-shirts have become human billboards for self expression, corporate agendas and fashion design.

But as I walk the corridors of my local shopping mall or when I bust a move on in the club, exercise at the the local gym or enjoy a casual night at the bingo hall, it seems that T-Shirts have lost their cool. I'll say it less politely... modern T-Shirts fucking suck. Designed by douche bags and worn by guys who don't mind acting like douche bags. Yeah, I'm talking about Ed Hardy shirts or shirts that have slogans like, "Compassion is the Essence of love" or "Triumph is brought by Might." Let's face it, Ed Hardy T-shirts look like crappy tattoo designs over neon colored shirts. T-Shirts with crap slogans that don't really mean anything are like unimaginative Hallmark cards that promote nothing or suggest anything beyond a shallow attempt at self importance. I don't understand why some people need to spend $3o dollars on a some Under Armour or Nike exercise T-shirt when you can buy 5 cotton white shirts for $10. That just seems dumb. I don't get T-shirts these days. There are shirts with New York City designs all over them being sold in the Midwest, worn by those who have never been to the NYC. There are guys wearing shirts with flower patterns but refuse to wear a light pink dress shirt. There are T-Shirt designs with foreign languages written all over them and no one has a clue what is being said.

What is going on? when did T-Shirts stop being cool because their designs were trying too hard to be cool? Why have them become so expensive? Yeah, I'm looking at you Giorgio Armani with your black Cashmere t-shirt costing over $1,800. Maybe that is a bad example. It is cashmere. Fuck no, that isn't a bad example. It's too dam expensive. Is it because it was made with the human dignity of the sweat shop workers in Asia that stitched the fabric with human hair and despair? I don't understand fashion. Apparently I don't understand this world where a cashmere T-shirt could be the down payment on a car.

What is going on? When did the T-shirt stop being the symbol of cool and casual apparel and become the symbol of douche baggery? I don't know. Maybe I am just being close minded. Maybe I don't see how bedazzling or rhinestones can be good for t-shirts or even washing machines.

What kind of T-Shirts do I enjoy? I like the plain. I like designs but let's face it. It's a T-shirt. It's casual wear so why try hard to be cool. I don't want to say that T-Shirts should be this or that but maybe I am. I think I am. It's a T-Shirt, relax with it. Do you get the impression that when you try hard to be cool you just succeed at being an ass. I enjoy humorous shirts. I enjoy shirts that represent my personality, where I come from or what I like. Silly, humorous, casual and geeky is the shirt I prefer. I don't know many people who wear T-shirts tattered in skulls, cobwebs, slogans that rip off mythology or the bible or display half naked woman that truly represent their personality. Like i said, i just don't understand fashion and what has dictated this downward step in design.


oh well, now some gratuitous photos of me in t-shirts.