MTAR wrote:Wear whatever the fuck you like and forget about what other people think.

One incident that happened to me...

A few years back I had a beard. I am not of full European descent, so I have an olive complexion. I bought an m-65 field jacket, because it is a versatile jacket (it has a removable liner, a hood, and lots of huge pockets). So I go to some party with a lot of friends and also a lot of people I don't know... With a huge, full beard (not the scraggly independent rock "haven't shaved for a few days" thing) and a military jacket. Some people thought I was an Al Queda sympathizer. I hate those a-holes. Nonetheless, I heard an earful about it, and it was just annoying. I just wanted to drink and enjoy the company of my friends. Someone ended up tying a yellow ribbon to my jacket, so I became the "support our troops" guy... Honestly if you sign up for that shit, and vote for Bush while you are in Iraq (as the vast majority of our soldiers did), then you get what you ask for... I feel sorry for the ones that did it to get some money for college. I don't feel sorry for the idiots that think they are doing this for 9-11... They are doing it to make old men wealthier and give Kuwaitis, Saudis, and Israelis regional security. They were the only ones threatened by Iraq...

Anyway, anyone who has studied sociology will tell you that what you wear does matter, and people make a judgement on you before you even open your mouth.

So, being non-white, having a beard, and wearing an m-65 field jacket is about as smart as cross dressing and going to a shit-kicker bar.

I also remember going to a show in this garb, and the bartender REFUSED to serve me. He must have also felt that I was pro Al Queda. To me, this is visceral racism. Nonetheless, when I go to this venue (which shall remain nameless) I bring vodka minis. I pee all over the floor in the bathroom...

To quote Peter Gabriel "Old man says you are what you wear... well well"

It's an unfortunate world we live in... I wish I could wear my Yes t-shirt and just live in peace. But wearing it means being ridiculed by people who know not the majesty of 70's Yes. In a sense, I feel sorry for them. Their cultural awakening peaked out in 10th grade...

The Yes t-shirt has it's place... In 2008, Yes will be 40 years old and will most likely tour with all the O.G.'s. There is where I will feel free to wear my Yes t-shirt with pride... It will come out of the closet and we will all rejoice!

Yes wrote:Relayer
All the dying cried before you
Relayer
We've rejoiced in all their meaining
Relayer
We advance we retrace our stories

I always thought this was pretty lame unless you were on tour. Even then I wouldn't be wearing the band shirt as we were playing. I think it's perfectly legit if it's a part of something bigger and not exlusively a band, like a movement/organization/zine/etc that shares a name. For example all the c-squatters in NYC wearing the circle-v stuff that became Choking Victim merch.

Someone should start a band called Fruit Of The Loom.

The t-shirt printing costs would be pretty minimal.

a musician wearing his/her own shirt to promote his/her band is by an order of magnitude less lame than using a car commercial to promote the same band, and yet the former gets gets him/her in a lot more shit from people than the later. weird.

I'm still confused about this idea of there being an age limit on wearing band t-shirts. What should I be wearing? Chinos and an oxford shirt? I wear jeans and t-shirts because they're comfy and I can get away with it in my job. Why shouldn't that t-shirt have the name of a band I like and for whom I bought a shirt so they could put some gas in their van? How are they somehow not "big boy" clothes? I refuse to wear collared shirts or "slacks" if I don't have to. Jeans and t-shirts are unarguably more comfortable.


Maybe it goes like this:

pre-25 = band t-shirts
26-33 = Green Party t-shirt
34-42 = EA t-shirt
43-55 = NPR fundraiser t-shirt
56-62 = financial services provider logo t-shirt
63+ = dingy, plain white v-neck t-shirt above sandals with socks

NOT CRAP.

You can't wear it on stage. I agree with that. But, are you not a fan of your own music? Do you not listen to your own albums? If not, why bother even playing in the first place?

Other questions to ask: Would you wear a T-shirt for a humanitarian organization you are part of? Would you wear a T-shirt for the company you work for, if it were, say, a magazine or design company? Or even further, would you hang your own art on your wall?

Anyway, you just made the mistake of purchasing 100 shirts that no one wants to buy, might as well wear one of them.

I think it's more pompous to not wear your own band shirt because you think it's a faux-pas than just wearing something that you put a lot of work into creating. Why put those limitations on yourself?

I just think it's silly to have something silk screened on a t-shirt. If you like REO Speedwagon, does everyone need to know? Is it such an important message to convey? Is it so critical that you must display your message of appreciation of this band everywhere you go throughout the day?

Hey, butcher -- give me a pound of bulk Italian sausage, and by the way -- REO SPEEEEEDWAGON RUUUUULES!!!

I think it's childish. I don't wear any silk screened clothing or anything of the like. No polo shirts with allegators or bill blass emblems or whatever. Disco Stu doesn't advertise.

I still have some old band shirts, but I typically wear them only when I have nothing else to wear.

Then again, I take my fashion cues from this guy:



I like loose fitting garb that allows my chest hair to breathe.

I think the thing that got me off the t's with silkscreening is going to prog rock shows. All of these bloated geeks always have to share the fact that Jethro Tull or Opeth or whatever is their favorite band. I don't really care.

The last independent rock show (really heavy metal, I guess) I went to was Don Cab. Very few people were wearing band t-shirts. It's a more mature crowd. If I went to see The Killers, I would see a lot of band t-shirts.

I think there is a sense of self-importance in this act. Like a guy going to a Tortoise show who wears a Mogwai t-shirt. Maybe he does it because he enjoys the t-shirt (he would need to look at himself in the mirror constantly to do so, so I think this is bullshit). The essense of the act is to say "I'm hip... I'm in the know... I'm into the post-rock for the long haul and didn't just see the Tortoise video on MTV with the slow motion flowers and stuff. I'm into all the post-rock stuff... You know the post-rock where they play music with guitars and drums"

Feel free to wear your silk screened t-shirts. It's just not my thing... If you don't know what else to wear, I can't help you... I can assure you, however, that there is a plethora of clothing other than silk screened rock band t-shirts...

I just think it is silly to have to think "What band shirt do I wear to see this band? Should I wear a Mudhoney t-shirt to a Melvins show?". I suggest that you show up wearing whatever it is you wore that day, and forgoe the costumes and labored appearance of rock hipsterism. In the end, what you wear has little to do with the music. To me, it seems a bit desperate. Like a way to constantly convey "I like this band" in the hopes that someone else will care or interact with that or even buy an album by the band.

You can say people wear what they like, but how is what they like informed? And if they like that band t-shirt so much, they will not be able to view it while wearing it.

yut wrote:I just think it's silly to have something silk screened on a t-shirt. If you like REO Speedwagon, does everyone need to know? Is it such an important message to convey? Is it so critical that you must display your message of appreciation of this band everywhere you go throughout the day?

I'd agree with you if every band shirt consisted of block letters with the band name on it. (Actually like the new Don Cab shirts...) But believe it or not there are some really cool looking designs on t-shirts out there. In fact I can't think of another object that has as many different looks to choose from than the t-shirt.

yut wrote:I just think it is silly to have to think "What band shirt do I wear to see this band? Should I wear a Mudhoney t-shirt to a Melvins show?".

WHO DOES THIS?!?

I wear band t-shirts almost exclusively. And because I don't have a huge selection there have been times when by chance I end up seeing a band in their shirt (a major faux-pas!). Whatever, with the odds it's bound to happen.

I'm sick of the anti-anti. Many people at more "mature" crowds of rock shows don't wear band t-shirts, but is it simply because they are more mature? Could the fact that they're in a scene full of people who look down on wearing band t's have something to do with it?

There's nothing immature about wearing what you want without concern if you'll look juvenile.

Band Shirts: Not Crap!
Your Own: Undecided.

Ty Webb wrote:63+ = dingy, plain white v-neck t-shirt above sandals with socks

Don't forget the pee stains.

yut wrote:If you like REO Speedwagon, does everyone need to know?

Yes

yut wrote:Is it such an important message to convey?

Yes

yut wrote:Is it so critical that you must display your message of appreciation of this band everywhere you go throughout the day?

Yes

It's REO Speedwagon.
They need all help they can get.
It's 2006.
No one cares about REO Speedwagon.
They haven't even been CRAP/NOT CRAPped.