Welcome to Notorietees, a new column here at Hide Your Arms that will chronicle “problem” shirts that fall a bit further afield from the general programming you’ve grown accustomed to. Tees in the news, tees making waves, tees raising hackles, tees giving pause, tees with an edge — all are fodder for discussion (and snarky commentary).
>Our first controversy conteeversy (groan…) wrestles with the sticky nature of identity and authenticity. NYC & Company, “the official marketing, tourism and partnership organization for the City of New York,” has partnered with Aéropostale on a product range that celebrates city agencies such as the NYPD (sample embedded below).
Home is where the art is.
The program’s goal are moderately laudable; a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the T-shirt collection “will benefit the New York City Police Foundation and the FDNY Foundation,” but as critics have noted there’s one glaring problem: the tees are manufactured and screened in, gasp, Central America. Embarrassing… [DNA Info]
>Embedded below is a bootlegged design of noted curmudgeon Jim Leyland puffing on a cancer stick. Leyland, the manager of the Detroit Tigers (American hardball), has been reported to sneak a cig in the dugout between innings, much to the dismay of Major League Baseball and its image conscious handlers. [Detroit News]
Drag Bunt
>UK-retailer Topman posted a pair of dodgy slogans last month only to later remove them in the wake of a wicked (if predictable) backlash. [Jezebel]
Doggone
>Glimpsed on a television broadcast earlier this month at a Toronto Blue Jays game: a pair of enthusiastic fans and their randy puns that riff on baseball verbiage (and proposition the team’s studly catcher, J.P. Arencibia). [Deadspin]
The hits keep coming.
>Another week, another Urban Outfitters controversy… [Gawker]
Starpower
Update: the print has been removed, but the blank garment can be yours for a cool $100.
>On a related note, UO is also peddling a curious creation that filters Obama through the Tim Tebow phenomenon (in the Oval Office, no less). [Buzzfeed]
Commander-in-Belief
>Trend fatigue at Coachella. [Buzzfeed]
Summertime Sadness
>Love pizza? Keep it close to your heart with this amazing print that’s been bouncing around the web aggregators. [Laughing Squid]
Nom Nom Nom
>Finally, the King’s Court is apparently home to a photobombing jester. [Deadspin]
Box-and-one
For the record, this is now the second such anti-LBJ shirt to make an appearance here on HYA.
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Read more of Travis’ work at It Goes To 11.
