The Background
Ever since I was old enough to pick out my own clothes, I used what I wore to express myself. More specifically, I used my shirts to express myself. Whether it be a picture or a saying, I could show off my thoughts and interests.
I think the thing that really hit it home for me was watching High School Musical when it first premiered in 2006. I was OBSESSED with Chad Danforth. Handsome, smart, sometimes a jerk. And he wore graphic tees. Who can forget the “I come with my own background music” tee. That is my kind of shirt! Seeing a main character add some spice to their wardrobe in this way instead of the usual basic colors and patterns really made me feel seen.
The Categories
As I mentioned before, it could be an image or saying, as long as it displays my interests. I have owned many, many, MANY shirts with images from shows I like. I have some more niche type shirts, iykyk. *wink* And I have owned shirts that just have text that I either thought was clever or cute.
Pop Culture Shirts
I first noticed my obsession with pop culture shirts in middle school. As soon as I had my own money, I would go to Hot Topic and buy shirts with my favorite cartoon characters on it. I was hooked. Once in high school, I made a list of all my graphic tees to see if I was even wearing them all. I had so many it took me WEEKS to get through the whole list, I had so many.
I would also buy band shirts, but they had to be unique in some way. They couldn’t just have the band’s name in a specific font. One of my favorites in my freshman/sophomore year of high school was a red, white, and blue Lady Gaga shirt.
Niche
My favorite graphic tees are the niche interest ones, ones that only people with the same interests will know what it is. These days, that means a lot of Disney parks tees. Sonny Eclipse is one of my favorite animatronics at Walt Disney World, so of course I found a tee of him.
We all know I am a Disney fan, but I am also a huge Big Brother fan. I have had a couple tees of favorite houseguests or alliances. On of my favorite gifts I’ve ever recieved was a tank top of the chicken shirt that was worn on Roseanne. Roseanne is one of my favorite sitcoms, and I know the whole story behind the chicken shirt.
My Own Creations
Last year, I received a Cricut as a wedding gift. I was so excited!! Then, in the fall, I bought the EasyPress so be able to make my own graphic tees. What!?!?! Yes!! My own graphic tees!!!!! Now, I haven’t made very many…. yet. But I have made a couple and guess what? They really fit the above categories!
For pop culture; I made a Rust-eze shirt, aka the company that sponsors Lightening McQueen in Cars. I have realized how much I love Cars in the last few months, so I was SUPER excited to make this shirt to wear to Cars Land in Disneyland!
For niche; my favorite Christmas movie is Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas. I made a shirt with the actual name of Emmet’s jugband, which is actually only said once in the entire movie. For Christmas this past year, I bought my family tickets to see the Broadway show and made everyone this shirt to wear to the show. Unfortunately, we were not able to go.
The very first shirt I made to test out everything was a pocket tee with a ghost on the pocket. I drew this little cutie and was so impressed with how it came out (hence the excited face).
Do you like graphic tees? What is your favorite graphic tee you currently own or have owned in the past? What would you put on a tee is you could make one? Let us know in the comments!
