Comments on: Looking through my wardrobe …

By: Doug K

Doug K — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:06:57 +0000

a large collection of running and triathlon t-shirts. I used to keep them all, then moved to an annual cull; now anything I don’t care for doesn’t even pause in my wardrobe, just keeps right on moving out to Goodwill. I’ve never actually bought a t-shirt.. suspect they’re breeding in there.

By: Helen

Helen — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:49:24 +0000

Would love to have a T-shirt with Tony Hancock glumly staring out, or Morecambe and Wise cheerfully grinning, but doubt any such things exist…

Why ever not? You can get anything customised these days at these instant print places. Just find a picture with Google Images and get it scanned and t-shirted.

By: dc

dc — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:54:50 +0000

Over the last year all my old punk t-shirts have migrated into my 14-year-old daughter’s wardrobe, where they seem to be enjoying a new lease of life.

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 01:08:07 +0000

My favourite is my Balmain rugby league club shirt from 1994, not long before they got mergerised. Occasionally, people recognise it at London matches.

There’s also the Lo-Fidelity AllStarz one that’s ruined by banana sap stains.

By: dilbert dogbert

dilbert dogbert — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 01:00:37 +0000

In 40 years of small boat sailing and racing I collected about a 6 foot by 1-1/2 foot stack of tees. This wonderful historic collection got trashed because we sold the house and cabin we are moving to does not have space for anything but my wife’s clothes. I did get to keep some of the tees from horse events and volunteer organizations. I get a duffle bag to live out of.
Moving out of house you have lived in for 35 years is and interesting experience in how much stuff Americans collect.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:51:47 +0000

My wife and a friend came up with the idea of the “resume quilt” – making a quilt using the logo bits of all the t-shirts from previous employers, vendor partners, major customers, etc. The industry I work in isn’t so free about t-shirts, and prolebaseball caps are terrible for quilting.

By: Glen

Glen — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:39:34 +0000

My non-generic/n0n-cheapo T-shirts are from airports in the cities I’ve been through/gone to: Bermuda, Boston, Columbus, Denver, Houston, San Antonio, San Francisco…. (I will never own one from Atlanta.) Captive-market pricey, to be sure, but most have been pretty cool and usually well made. Some have lasted up to a decade.

The “free advertising/thanks for attending our conference” T-shirts I wear for sleeping. Human eyes are closed and the cat doesn’t care.

By: Bill Gardner

Bill Gardner — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:31:07 +0000

“they refused to let me work out in the gym without a shirt with sleeves”

Yeah, what is it with athletic costume puritanism? I seem to recall a past CT rant session about tight fitting road cycling gear.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:19:31 +0000

I once got a T-shirt made for my husband for Valentine’s Day that said:

Roses are #FF0000
Violets are #0000FF
All my base
Are belong to you

I got many geek points, and I suspect it will be worn until the day he dies.

By: Eszter Hargittai

Eszter Hargittai — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:09:46 +0000

Like Maria, I have way too many T-shirts I’ve gotten for free that I’ve barely ever worn, because they’re made for men and look pretty ridiculous on most women’s bodies.

I also have a collection of T-shirt parts, that is, the front or back of shirts from college with various college groups or events on it. My long-term plan is to (have someone) make a quilt out of it. I think that would be fun, but I have yet to get around to working out the logistics of that.

By: Annie

Annie — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 16:55:53 +0000

I’ve never been fond of t-shirts: the necklines are too confining. But I do still have a t-shirt from the Univ of Minneapolis. I was there for a conference one year and they refused to let me work out in the gym without a shirt with sleeves : I was wearing my usual tank top, but the rules of this gym were that everyone must be wearing a shirt with sleeves. So I was forced to buy a t-shirt to work out : ironically, the “large” women’s t-shirt they sold me (clearly a scam) was quite form fitting, and not very long, especially compared to my sleeveless, but blousy and longish, tank top. If the reasoning behind this rule was to prevent those working out from looking too “sexy” then why are their t-shirts so form fitting around the breasts and short enough to reveal a lower back tattoo (if I actually had one)?

By: Joel Turnipseed

Joel Turnipseed — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 16:13:31 +0000

Reinder—No worry: my anxiety lasted well into the fourth minute of the conversation (and then switched to trying to determine which was going to happen first: the terabit home Internet connection or the petabyte wireless NAS for SOHO).

Meantime, we could pitch a show: “Gimlet Eye for the Smart Guy.” Because, you know: who wouldn’t love to spend an hour watching Kieran and Henry’s closets exhumed by Fonzworth Bentley and Carson Kressley, with catty cross-chat about Bourdieu, Veblen, and the permanent fashion forwardness of artful dishevelment. I mean… that show would be a hit, right?

By: Bill Gardner

Bill Gardner — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 16:03:03 +0000

My all time favorite was a yellow t-shirt with "Annapurna" in big type, a picture of said mountain, and the slogan "A Woman's Place is On Top". I bought it from Arlene Blum herself. I was shopping for nuts and cams in a Salt Lake climbing shop and struck up a conversation with the person next to me. She was raising funds for the climb, and she sold it to me right out of her bag.

By: Matt McIrvin

Matt McIrvin — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:23:07 +0000

Dead software companies.

By: harry b

harry b — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:18:54 +0000

Oh, fantastic. Kenneth Williams too. Dad’s Army for the daughters! Thanks, I’m now 40 quid poorer.