T-Shirt Times

"My name sounds great screamed" may sound like a pickup line whispered in an ear by a throaty voice as the mob screams for the band to rock on. But it’s not. It is just a phrase printed in curly letters across the front of a light pink T-shirt, the latest of the naughty T-shirts you might see people wearing around campus.

The popularity of these shirts exploded in the late 90s when the heavy hitters of mall fashion - Abercrombie and Fitch, American Eagle and Hollister - started mass producing the shirts as humorous novelties. However, these tees have evolved from novelty to fashion statement.

The T-shirts are casually worn in public, though Warren Pierce, a sophomore at USA, feels people should be mindful of where they wear their favorite naughty T-shirt.

"I don’t wear them places where they’re inappropriate," Pierce said.

Farren Day, a USA freshman, has a favorite. It’s a T-shirt with a martini glass and the text, "I like it dirty." Nevertheless, she agrees that not every shirt should be worn everywhere.

"It is fine when you’re with a group of younger people, but you really don’t want older people reading it and getting offended," Day said.

Even though the shirts are a form of self-expression, some people wearing them are still mindful of social boundaries and realize that others make judgments about them based on what they’re wearing.

"We do make assumptions because of what people wear, whether or not they’re accurate assumptions might remain to be seen," Nicole Flynn, assistant professor of sociology at USA, said.

Being a teacher, Flynn sees many students every day and sees what all of them are wearing. A lot of today’s fashion trends catch her eye because they enhance or stress the wearer’s sexuality. She sees these T-shirts as no different. A T-shirt is not overtly skimpy, but the suggestive text makes the sexual undertones unmistakable.

More…
http://www.usavanguard.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/03/30/442c7dc5894df

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