I Like T-Shirts And I Cannot Lie

Karen: Hello, my name is Karen, and I have a t-shirt problem. OK, maybe not a problem. But I have to admit, I have acquired a lot of t-shirts. And by a lot, I mean way, way too many. 

Karen: I began wearing t-shirts at a very early age, as the photo below demonstrates (hey, it's Peanuts, so it's comic-related and demonstrates good taste). Now back in those days, t-shirts were not nearly as ubiquitous as they are now. They were still more occasional wear, and selection was fairly limited. You might see t-shirts for a few tremendously popular comics characters -like the Peanuts gang, or Batman, who was huge after his TV show -but by the time of this photo, circa 1970, pickings were still limited, especially for a little kid.

Your host circa 1970

Karen: But in a few years, t-shirts had expanded on the scene, and by the time I was 10 or 11, I was thrilled to have several t-shirts featuring Marvel characters, which I had ordered from advertisements in the comics. Exhibit A shows me around 11 years old on a couch with my grandparents and brother (I'm pretty sure my brother has just said something goofy, based on our expressions). I'm wearing a shirt with the cover of Incredible Hulk # 152 (and  as a bonus, a Planet of the Apes rifle is resting on my lap -ah, the 70s).  Soon I would also have a sweatshirt with the original Star Trek cast standing in the transporter room, and when Star Wars hit, well, I had to have a t-shirt, and there were tons of them to choose from.  I got one with Luke Skywalker and C-3PO. It was so cheaply made the applique began peeling off after the first wash.

Karen: The love of t-shirts continued on. Heck, in my old job, working  as a research scientist in a wet lab, t-shirts were almost expected attire. But things began to change several years ago. Around about the time I hit forty, I started to feel that perhaps it was not proper for a woman my age to wear t-shirts any more. Perhaps that was for the kids. So I got rid of many of my shirts, gave some away, used others only for night shirts. I had to be an adult, I told myself. I had to dress respectably.

Karen: Well, that didn't last too long. I dress respectably at work now, but as soon as I am away from there, the t-shirts come out! I just love them too much.

Exhibit A

Karen: There is so much variety now - I really can get a shirt for almost any comic, movie, tv show -anything I can think of. It is mind-boggling. I think that is the reason they are so popular (that, and they are just so comfortable). The t-shirt is a medium of expression -it tells people what you like and/or what you think in a passive way, but sometimes solicits a response from others. When I was younger that response was often negative -"Star Trek is stupid" - but today I am often complemented on my shirts, even when I am not in a geek-populated area, and I've had people ask me where I got my shirts. Yes, things have changed.

Karen: I have looked through my shirts and decided to name (and show) a few favorites. I've sort of broken my "collection" (Ye Gods, not another collection) down into categories. So there are the comics shirts, the monster shirts, the Star Trek shirts, the Star Wars shirts, the Disney shirts, the sports shirts, the music shirts, the sci-fi shirts, and finally, the Bruce Lee shirts. There's some miscellaneous ones in there too but not really of interest to this blog.

Karen: One of my favorites is one I picked up a couple years ago at Rob Zombie's Halloweentown in Burbank, and have shown it here before -it's the Captain Kirk vs. the Gorn shirt. It's just an awesome shirt, designed so well, like a classic boxing poster. However, in this picture, I have achieved some sort of cosmic balance by wearing the shirt to Vasquez Rocks in southern California, where the actual Star Trek episode "Arena" was filmed! This is the very spot where the Gorn heaved a (styrofoam) boulder at an outmatched Kirk, although the captain ultimately used his chemistry skills to create a cannon to shoot diamonds at the Gorn and defeat the big lizard. Unfortunately we did not find any diamonds lying around, but we did get to tour the place, and the ladies volunteering at the park were delighted -"you're Trekkies!" -and they told us a bunch of stories about the actor who played the Gorn (Bobby Clark), who sometimes does signings at the park.

At Vasquez Rocks, 2015

Karen: Bruce Lee has always been an icon of mine, and I found the Bruce Lee store through the Facebook page run by his daughter. They have a lot of great t-shirts there, although they are a bit pricey. But I really wanted to have a nice shirt with Bruce, so last year I ordered one. I have since purchased two more...

Bruce and Dr. Funk!

Karen: I want to share some representative shirts that I think the BAB crew will like. First up, this Planet of the Apes design from the Famous Monsters online store. The artist, Jason Edmiston, is very talented and a super-nice guy. I met him this year at Monsterpalooza and bought a Planet of the Apes print from him and spoke with him for a bit about his art and his process. You should check out his site -he has a lot of great stuff!

Karen: This Star Wars Tee was from the 2007 San Diego Comic Con and so is somewhat rare. I don't wear it too much now because it is starting to fade, but what a cool shirt. Illustration by Adam Hughes.

Karen: Probably my favorite Marvel shirt. All-new, all-different X-Men. Classic Dave Cockrum illustration. I can't recall if I got this at target or from an online store like Superhero Stuff or Stylin Online. But a great look, one that I've had several people comment on.

Karen: Most of my Disney shirts are from the parks, but this one was a special order. For a limited time a few years ago, they had this Hatbox Ghost shirt available online. Now that the spook is back in the Haunted Mansion, I am sure there's a ton of merchandise for him, but at the time, it was pretty rare!

Karen: Finally, this one is an oldie but a goodie. It seems like everyone digs it, from the old farts to the youngsters. When I first got it, I thought it seemed a bit odd, with the slightly off-center positioning and all, but I think that makes it more dynamic. But really, it's just because the Creature is eternally cool.

Karen: I'd love to hear your thoughts on the role of the t-shirt in pop culture, as a tool for self-expression, or just some of your own favorite t-shirts!

POST-SCRIPT: We got a great follow-up to this post from our pal Humanbelly. We post it here a bit late but hope that all of you will enjoy it, nonetheless. Take it away, HB:

HB: My first superhero t-shirt.  Or its remains, to be more precise.

There was a big, rather crumbling warehouse clothing "outlet" store in nearby Elkhart, IN when I was a kid, and apart from TONS of irregular designer jeans, they also were set up to do cut-rate iron-on t-shirt transfers.  This was in the early/mid 70's, just as that craze was kind of coming into vogue for adolescents and young teens (at least, small-town, mid-western young teens) as a personal fashion-statement option.  They had Spidey, Cap, and the Hulk available.   Got Cap for Bryan and Spidey for his little brother while I was there.  I made the mistake of choosing appropriately colored shirts for each (blue for Cap, Red for Spidey), rather than white.  And if you look at this image, you can see that the design(s) assumed the white of your average t-shirt would take care of any necessary white in the image.   I had to use fabric paint on the other two to make them look even remotely correct... 

But I loved this shirt to DEATH, regardless.  It was really big on me when I got it at (probably) 13 years old-- and I may have not fully given up on it until high school.  Man, those transfers never laundered well-- and the thing shrank after the first wash (my Mom wasn't so careful about cold-water items-- she shrank everything).  I think I may have used it as an off-beat track/X-Country shirt once the sleeves came off.  It ended up in the rag bag more than once. . . ended up in the bottom of a memorabilia trunk for several years. . . and is now safely stapled to the wall as part of the Hulk Corner in the comic book room downstairs.

The image is one that, for some reason, has had enduring popularity-- Hulk #123, with the Leader and the, heh, Murder Module.  

I had a couple of those ubiquitous poly/silk paisley disco shirts that were all the rage in the late 70's.  One of them was purple and orange, so this is the shirt I would wear underneath, with the silk shirt unbuttoned to just above navel-height.  (And the T was plumb ragged and faded at that point, make no mistake.)

I have no idea how anyone dated me during that period.  The list of Well-He's-Kinda-Cute-In-Spite-Of's must have been absurdly long.   Or perhaps I just posed no threat whatsoever...