Tuesday, June 4, 2013

The Threadless/Woot Conundrum

Those of you who see me daily (or even see me rarely) know that I don't really wear tshirts anymore.  Sure, I wear long sleeve jersey something almost every day, either with a skirt or a dress, but very rarely do I wear anything with graphics or logos.  Exceptions are made for volunteering and Christmas pictures (I love my Lake Sanborn shirt!)...but not much else.  They're just not...me anymore. 

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Jumping religious men - a priest, a rabbi, a buddhist monk, and an imam.  Called "Best Friends Forever," I just loved the irreverence. 

They were certainly me back in the day, I adored having a collection of somewhat snarky, cute, pretty shirts to wear.  Most of them were from Threadless or Woot, which is why I have a collection of me eight years ago doing goofy things while wearing them---you used to be able to get extra points to earn new tshirts by uploading pictures of yourself wearing their products.  It was definitely a very grassroots sort of company that long ago.  It still is, after a fashion.

But nowadays, as a decrepit old 27 year old, they're just not me anymore.

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"Peace and Hate, Can You Tell the Difference?"

But here's the problem.  Three of my dresser drawers here in Boston are filled with nothing but tshirts.  Sure, they're the most difficult-to-get-to drawers at the foot of the bed, and they're out of the way, but they're in the same place they were when I moved to McCormick four years ago.  And that's kind of ridiculous.  Last week I was shamed into opening the drawers and investigating when a good friend talked about her pre-moving cleaning binge.  "I don't ever really wear sweaters...so why do I have so many?"

...Eesh.  I counted, and I have 83 tshirts.  As I said, it's a problem.

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"The Downside of Genetic Engineering"

But as my mom will tell you, I have always been a pack rat.  And I always counter with some absurd rationalization about not forgetting about things, keeping them a part of my life, so on and so forth. 

But I don't think that will cut it anymore.  At least when it comes to tshirts.  So I think---maybe a tshirt quilt.  I am always cold, after all.  I paid $200 for the cost of material and labor to my aunt for my last tshirt quilt, with shirts from high school...online, they're about $400.  Do I really want to pay $400 to remember 25 shirts?  It's just so much money!  That's almost a plane ticket home!  Should I just finish the photoshoot I started in 2005? 

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Or should I just find a digital copy of each one and let someone else enjoy the shirts?  They are in good shape.  (I can hear my mom now, "Goodwill, Bridget!   Seriously.  What is the matter with you?")

I just wish they sold art cards of their shirts - a postcard version would be perfect.  I could make an awesome art piece of it, and there would be this part of my college wardrobe, right there on the wall...and it takes up a whole lot less space.

Sigh.  First world problems. 

2 comments:

Aimee said...

Yep, I wore threadless shirts almost exclusively in college. I've gotten rid of almost all of them at this point.

It's so strange seeing you in jeans! Not the Bridget I know.

bridgetwhoplaysfrenchhorn said...

Ah, another member of the "I used to wear Threadless all the time!" club. I knew I'd find someone else! :)

And I wore jeans far more in undergrad, mostly because our labs had more stringent regulations (all pants, no tights/skirts). At one point, I think I had four pairs, shocking! Lab also forced the transition from exclusively contacts to rarely contacts and at this point, you've probably never seen me without my glasses! Ah, I cannot wait until work rules less of my style. I'm sick of wearing tired clothes because of my daily chance contacts with chemicals. But one day, you'll see---I'll be the spitting image of Chuck on Pushing Daisies!