What’s On Your Graphic Tee?
I am wearing a graphic tee from Monkey: Journey to the West, an awesome operatic play composed by Damon Albarn (of Blur and Gorillaz) that we got to see in New York around this time a year ago! My husband actually bought it for himself, but it just got a tad small on him (he is beefing up, I suppose!)… so I get to wear it! Yesss.
I don’t really wear graphic tees much like I used to when I was in middle or high school. When I wear it now, I like it to say something accurate about me or what I like. I used to just put something on that looked kinda cute or cool without really thinking about what the graphic or words on my shirt say. I remember back in middle school I had this bubble gum pink jersey with glitter that said “Tiki Beach. Clothing optional.” I mean, what was I thinking? I was a Spice Girl.
Debbie Harry from Blondie
Graduating from lameness, I decided that I was going to be more intentional about graphic tees. I’d wear images of my favorite bands, albums, philosophical ideals, conspiracy theories, etc. Of course, I also thought about being mentally apt about being approached and questioned more than usual about the messages literally being communicated through my clothing. Would I be prepared? It’s definitely happened before at a grocery store when a gentleman approached me about my Beatles shirt, which is the most typical graphic tee of the most celebrated band. That was too easy. I generally stay away from the obvious, just because I am a soul always looking for something unusual in common with people! That is why Rob and I click :)
Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins
PET PEEVE. I’ve been seeing a lot of girls wear iconic rock bands on their t-shirts, have you? I don’t like to judge, but I know I’d be so ticked if they didn’t know much about the band. There are other sacred or sinister symbols that are so misunderstood that a lot of people like to wear fashionably–the cross, the masons, the evil eye, illuminati, etc. I would wear any of these symbols only if I was prepared to say anything other than, “I don’t know. It looks cool.”
Vocal graphic tees on anyone though can be just as annoying as bumper stickers plastered all over an insecure car. Can your entire personality be summed up on to the space on your chest or the butt of you car? Probably not. That is probably why a lot of us misunderstood individuals like titles of our own choosing, because it’s nice to belong, to associate sometimes. However, these things always fail to summarize the complexity of any individual, and I am usually still left misunderstood :-/
It cracks me up that I used to own shirts with Japanese Engrish on them. It was charming at first, until I realized that I could easily be mistaken as someone who can’t speak English just because I am Asian!
Do you like wearing graphic tees? What kind of graphic do you tend to pick?
