You can tell a lot about a person by the way they dress. For example, white-collar workers are identified by their dress just as easily as blue-collar workers. You could say the same thing about t-shirt wearers. Your t-shirt choices tell the world a lot about you. That is not a bad thing, by the way. It is something to be celebrated.
Umai is an apparel company whose products are aimed at the anime and manga markets. They sell everything from anime t-shirts to posters displaying the company’s original anime-inspired artwork. From their perspective, there are five kinds of t-shirt wearers.
Which one are you?
The Plain Jane
The plain jane t-shirt wearer is pretty self-explanatory. They do not wear graphic t-shirts.
Instead, solid colors do just fine. A plain jane is happy to wear a white t-shirt under a jacket or on its own. They appreciate plain t-shirts in pastel colors that nicely complement their skirts. If a plain jane is ever forced to wear a graphic tee, the graphics themselves will be as subtle is possible. No need to be loud.
The Dead Head
A deadhead is a person whose t-shirt collection is made up mostly of band t-shirts and others related to music. This particular group gets its name from the Grateful Dead. If you are not familiar with the iconic band, they were one of the most popular acts of the 1960s and at 70s. Surviving band members still enjoy a cult following today.
Incidentally, fans of graphic t-shirts owe a debt of gratitude to the Grateful Dead. It was the band and its promoters who first decided it was a good idea to sell graphic t-shirts at concerts. They were marketing pioneers at the time, and they helped make the t-shirt a legitimate choice for everyday clothing.
The Jock
This next type of t-shirt wearer probably needs no explanation. Nonetheless, the jock owns a t-shirt collection dominated by anything and everything related to sports. If the jock has a favorite team, you can bet most of his t-shirts display the team’s name and/or logo. And if it is not a favorite team, it’s a favorite sport.
The jock is a lot more likely to wear his t-shirts exclusively with athletic shorts and sneakers. Once in a while, a sports t-shirt will be paired with jeans, but you’ll rarely see one combined with more formal clothing options.
The Nerd
Next up is the nerd. This is a t-shirt wearer unafraid to don shirts displaying everything from anime to obscure science trivia. If you are familiar with the Big Bang Theory TV show, you probably know that Sheldon Cooper was the consummate t-shirt nerd. If his t-shirts didn’t directly address physics, they were likely to reference the Green Lantern, the Flash, or Star Trek.
The Pundit
We round out the list with the pundit. The pundit is a t-shirt wearer who feels it is their responsibility to continually offer social commentary via loosely fitting garments. One pundit will buy only political t-shirts. Another will combine political slogans with pop culture memes. Pundits may or may not demonstrate passive-aggressive fashion choices.
Do you identify with any of these five t-shirt-wearing types? If not, you probably see graphic t-shirts in an entirely more unique way. No worries. There is room for everybody in the t-shirt pool. Thankfully, there are enough t-shirt manufacturers out there to provide the right choices for nearly every consumer. We would not have it any other way, would we?
