Picture
Recently BBC 6 Music had a "Wear Your Old Band T-shirt To Work Day" and it got me thinking.

T-shirts. I love them. I have loads and I hang them in colour order in my wardrobe. I have had hundreds in my lifetime and, regretfully, I have thrown many away (or given them to charity shops). I am fussy about t-shirts. I think t-shirts should say something about you. They should say who you like, what you like and what you are like.

When Steve Lamacq recently held another "Wear Your Old Band T-shirt To Work Day" I was so happy to dig out a 1991 James T-shirt, wear it, take a photo and pop it on Twitter. I was unbelievably chuffed to find that I was the main picture on the BBC 6 gallery for several hours that day.

I am very selective about my shirts. They are about me. They may reflect films, bands, TV, artwork, science, comics, cartoons or whatever but most of all they reflect me.

But this passion for tees does manifest some negativity I am afraid. Hollister and Superdry t-shirt wearers really annoy me.  It's not just those 2 brands, there are other similar ones. They just have the brand name printed on them in one place or another and sometimes a pretend design number. Seriously, what do these items of clothing say about you apart from "I am a hollow shell for you to hang your brand on"? What is it that people see in these bland, bland, bland rags?

Others that piss me right off are ones you get in all the high street fashion chains that bear the logo of a made up club or organisation. They say things like "Florida Shark Fishing Club '83", "Memphis Jake's Blues Bar" and "Alaskan Sea Plane Repair Shop". What can I say? Utter bollocks. You shouldn't be allowed to wear shirts with place names on if you haven't been there or if the shirts haven't been brought from that place for you.

Then there are the ones that printed to look like they are old and faded. You must have seen them, old band names, album covers and TV shows. If you didn't first hear Dark Side Of The Moon on vinyl should you be allowed to wear the t-shirt? No!

There is no way to wrap this up nicely. I am a t-shirt snob and if you are happy to wear a Superdry, Hollister or similar tee then expect my disdain.

Julie-ann Newman
7/4/2013 10:16:22 pm

Dear Mr T-Shirt snob

Where did you get the T-shirt featured in the picture....it's got my name on it :-)

J-a x

Reply
Chris Allan
7/4/2013 10:50:01 pm

Ha ha. Lovely to hear from you. I thought you had disappeared. I hope life is treating you sweet. I tried contacting you through twitter but no joy. Will try again when I get home (in Miami at the mo)

Reply



Leave a Reply.