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T-Shirt Hall of Fame

August 11th, 2010 - Uncategorized - 43 Comments »

There isn’t enough being done to celebrate and honor the iconic t-shirts that helped define our generation. Until now, that is. I present to you the 2010 inductees to the T-Shirt Hall of Fame.

1. Big Johnson
These classy threads made their debut when I was in middle school. That’s right. Middle school students – most of whom hadn’t even entered puberty – walked around the halls engaging in their earliest acts of false advertising. I was none the wiser, though. I just thought Big Johnson was some large, Paul Bunyan-esque man that the popular kids looked up to.

2. Hypercolor
Upside: This was a great idea for elementary school students and a sure-fire way to gain popularity during those formative years. Downside: Wearing this shirt beyond elementary school and into the stage of life where you’re haunted by perpetual pit-sweat results in the most embarrassing sweat rings possible – white on purple.

3. ____ is life. The rest is just details.
Really? Basketball is life? Every other thing is a meaningless detail that gets in the way of your precious life-giving basketball? Sadly, I can predict your Facebook statuses for the next 20 years.

4. Bart Simpson Underachiever
My mom wouldn’t let me get this shirt due to its blatant endorsement of underachieving. It’s OK though. She did let me get the Bartman t-shirt, as well as a Simpsons notebook, two Simpsons Nintendo games, and a Simpsons comforter for my bed.

5. Big Dogs
“If you can’t run with the big dogs, stay on the porch.” I wore this shirt proudly. I’ve had a serious change of heart over the years, though. Who would want to run with the Big Dogs when you could just sit there on the porch? Chances are, the porch is screened in and there’s a television in view. No doubt there’s WiFi. Yeah, no question. The porch it is.

6. And1
There’s no better way to talk trash than through a t-shirt. I had the one that had “Were you guarding me?” on the back with a picture of a guy dunking. Unfortunately, none of my opponents ever got to see the back because they were guarding me so well. It would’ve been good though.

Which ones did I miss? What others need to be inducted into the T-Shirt Hall of Fame?

Post sponsored by Atlanta Personal Injury Attorney, Robert N. Susko

  • David

    you're gonna have to add the No Fear t-shirts. you know – the ones with some quote like – "the man who dies with the most toys, still dies" – No Fear.

    • Brack

      I had a "You can't hit what you can't see" No Fear shirt that was blurry. I am still a little fuzzy myself on what it was referring to.

    • Tyler Stanton

      Great call. How could I have forgotten "Bottom of the ninth, two outs, bases loaded…No Fear"

      • realbryanrule

        2nd place is only 1st loser – No Fear

    • http://www.pofgblog.com joerob577

      David, I think you're actually thinking of the Christian 'No Fear' knock-off shirts, 'Real Fear'. I had a couple of those. For that matter, we could add all the cheesy Christian-ized versions of other stuff… "Tommy Hellfighter" (Hilfiger), "OneWay" (Subway), geez there must be like a million more…

  • http://www.hopenoelle.com Hope Noelle

    The underachiever shirt is so classic. When I worked in university admissions, that was a t-shirt we'd see all the time. Seriously? I'm the person who is going to admit or deny your college application. You really want to broadcast that you're an underachiever? REALLY?

  • Peter

    Spudz McKenzie. The original Party Animal

  • http://mysunkcosts.blogspot.com Erin

    Everybody at my school (myself included) had one of the plain gray or navy or white logo tees from Old Navy when it first opened. It just said "Old Navy Established 1994" on it. What on earth?

    • Tyler Stanton

      What about the Old Navy 4th of July shirt? I had a severe love/hate relationship with those.

  • chad

    i little dissapointed that you didnt throw in some of those classic knock off christian tees like
    "tommy hellfighter" and Jesus stood in the GAP for me and instead of No Fear it was FEAR NOT
    i mean come on

  • dustinuga

    Salty Dog Cafe? Stussy?

  • Debbie L.

    What about the Coca-Cola t-shirt? I believe everyone had one about the time that we were all wearing our hypercolor shirts & sporting our Swatch watches. You could pair them with a brightly colored pair of Umbros & you were set. Of course if you were really cool your Coca-Cola shirt wasn’t a t-shirt at all but collared. Wonder what happened…Coca-Cola is equally as popular now but you just don’t see cool kids displaying it across their chests anymore,

  • http://spmvs.com wvpv

    Eskimo Joe's?

    @Peter beat me to Spudz Mckenzie. Hang 20!

  • Ryan

    How about those wonderful Fudpucker shirts? "Aberpucker and Fud" and the ever popular "How much fud could a fud pucker puck…" – Get the shirt on spring break with your buddy and then you mom won't let you wear it. Kudos to the knockoff Christian tees "1 Cross + 3 Nails = 4Givneness"!!

  • http://www.umconnection.com brad

    Coed Naked and for sure No Fear!

    • Tyler Stanton

      Wow! Coed Naked. I wonder if those were made by the same people as Big Johnson. They seem to go hand-in-hand.

  • rich

    the duck head / duck tail shirts. 1989 throwback!

  • Javin

    "budwiseUP"

  • amber

    i think theres a special place in the hall of fame for all of the personalized airbrushed tshirts out there. how else will everyone know who i went to spring break with?

  • mewrite

    Panama Jack.
    Nothing says fashion like honoring a Central America sugar cane magnate decked out in white linen and a pith hat.

    • Tyler Stanton

      I'll be honest. You reading/commenting on my site has made my day. Doesn't even matter that your comment was brilliant.

      *To those wondering what is happening right now, this man was my hero in college.

  • stephaniekandray.com

    Let's not forget about the Kriss Kross style Looney Toons shirts. http://quarterlifewellness.files.wordpress.com/20…

    • Tyler Stanton

      Oh my. Taz with one-strap overalls. I hated people that had that shirt – mainly because I wanted to be them.

      • stephaniekandray.com

        Yeah, I had one but it was like flea market generic. They were on the front of the shirt, but not on the back :(

  • http://www.ajpassman.com AJ Passman

    I'm thinking you need to do a car decal list next. Ron Jon, DMB, Calvin, whatever else. It's like wearing the same shirt every day for 7 years.

  • Jeff Crain

    Any Joe's Crab Shack tee.

  • Kim S.

    Do you remember seeing Austin 3:16? all over the place
    Don't the forget the big smiley face shirt that was yellow too!

  • lsubeliever

    OK, gotta mention the OP shirts (and OP gear in general)…. back in the day Ocean Pacific was IT!

    Oh, and on a side note: I remember white kids at school wearing t-shirts with the Public Enemy logo, or kids who had the "X" shirts after Malcolm X came out…. made it feel like my high school was a hallmark fo activism or something….LOL….

  • Jamie

    Frankie Says Relax

  • http://mattmcpheely.com matt

    this shirt right here is on my list. available for purchase with your own mustached face : http://bit.ly/ceRmwx

    • Tyler Stanton

      I prefer your face.

  • …adam

    My No Fear shirt said “Second Place is the first Loser,” which made it harder for me to celebrate my third place finishes in field day. Fortunately I did get to cash in my BookIt as a consolation…

  • Kyle

    The “Blurry Letters” T-shirts that always had corny jokes about eyesight on them.

  • http://www.pjs-til-noon.com jennybek

    "Bad spellers of the world untie!" …would have to be the best shirt I've ever seen.

  • Matt Riggins

    The Far Side "Bummer of a birthmark Hal" t-shirt was a classic in my mind, but maybe because our principal's name was actually HAL! Haha
    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Z9_Dp3QcBZU/S4bEjJEJzLI…

  • http://www.kevinkeigley.com Kevin Keigley

    God's Gym.
    'Nuff said.

  • Tweena

    It was the Choose Life shirts that George Micheal sported in Wake me up before you go-go that became the tshirt of choice in 5-6th grade for me.

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  • http://www.thechurchofnopeople.com Matt @ The Church of No People

    Those Big Johnson shirts were classy. I also remember a lot of “No Fear” shirts. Man, wearing one of those made you tough…just like a Starter jacket.

  • Allyn

    The Mossimo "Blurred Vision" shirts that made you think you had…well..blurred vision. Those were cool. Or at least I thought they were because I had one. And I was really cool in middle school. Yes. I was.

  • colejennette

    Dixie Outfitters.

    I was a full blown redneck in HS and these were the shirt of choice for everyone I hung out with. It's embarrassing. I know.

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