A glimpse into mcjazzie’s world of tee-shirts.
Are you a collector? What do you collect? Where does your passion come from?
I definitely like having ‘stuff.’ As much as I claim to be a person who wants to unclutter their life, I most definitely have an attachment to things, whether it is emotional or financial. I used to have clothes hanging in my closet that still had price tags on them but I wouldn’t donate them because I was attached to the money that was spent on them. I have, thankfully, moved on from that phase in my life.
I want to collect Star Wars items. I do. I have posters that are still rolled up and sitting in the corner of my new apartment (that I moved in six months ago) because I can’t find the right frames for them and I have little collectable items I came across in garage sales or second hand stores that are still just piling up, accumulating dust.
For this reason, I have relinquished figure collecting, and I suppose, put a halt on poster purchases as well. (I genuinely have a Legolas poster still sealed up in my room that I bought back in 2004!). However, I still do have a passion for one thing, a star wars related thing (most of the time) a passion for artsy – mash up – tee shirts. When I first discovered sites such as teefury, riptapparel, or WootShirt, I had gone crazy with making at least two to three tee-shirt purchases on a weekly basis. My obsession for Star Wars is fairly new, but when I had made the conscious decision of throwing myself in this obsession, I wasn’t really ready for what was going to happen (I have been a Star Wars fan for more than half my life, I have been Star Wars obsessed since 2008). This is pretty much what happened to me when I became obsessed with buying Tee-shirts.
When I started buying tee-shirts so regularly, I was worried that I was going to be an equivalent of the social stigma of being “a cat lady.” I would just be old, single, and living in my Darth Vader tee-shirts. So, I had to make a decision of where these shirts were going to be worn. I couldn’t justify spending so much money on a weekly / monthly basis just so I can have tee-shirts to sleep in or wear during laundry days. I have a 9 to 5, which is not casual. I still needed to fund professional clothes for business meetings and outreach events that my company does occasionally. So I was in sort of a dilemma (Although, it should be noted, this didn’t stop me from making the occasional tee-shirt purchase. My prized possession is still the Bat Fett tee!)
It started with “Casual Fridays” at work. This was a great opportunity to wear my shirts with pride and be made fun of at work (It still happens). Then there was my social networking night on Wednesdays. I used to really get dressed up for these events. Honestly, you’d think I was going to a party or on a date or something. That eventually got phased out to wearing a Star Wars mash up tee with jeans. Although I still do the Indian flare and throw in a pair of fancy earrings. My debut tee-shirt for Casual Tee Wednesday was “Star Wars Rock band” on a cold New England night in November 2009 that was tastefully paired with a matching scarf (Yeah, that’s a whole new topic, for those that aren’t already aware).
Over the past year, my purchase frequency has dramatically reduced. Mainly because I do have a few shirts hanging in the closet that I haven’t worn extensively even though I love the design. As a mass purchaser, I really needed to justify each item’s existence eventually, and I gathered that I should only buy tees in colors I like to wear, and would wear. I have a few beige tee shirts that I tend to deviate from wearing out in social events and have mainly used them in the collection of “sleepy time tees” or “laundry day tees.” Additionally, the still striving fashionista in me wears beige tee-shirts with blazers or hoodies mainly reserved as part of Fall / early Winter collection.
So, what does my collection say about me? Or, rather, what do I hope my collection says about me?
I definitely do not have the interior design talent or money to dedicate a section of my house to a museum theme, Star Wars figure collection mecca, so I collect tee-shirts. Why do I collect tee-shirts? Because, what good is an obsession, if you can’t share it with the world. I am not going to invite the world to come and view my collection (not yet anyway), so I go out in the world and share my passion. I buy tee-shirts that I would wear, that I do wear, it makes me happy, and it gives the general public a bit of a chuckle. We all win!
So what do I really want it all to say? That I am a fiscal conscientious fangirl with a drive for nerdy fashion being incorporated into daily life. I support “Her Universe” although I cannot afford it!
(On a side note, I have also noticed that my favorite Star Wars tee-shirts are the ones that are vague in description. So it really takes a true geek to get them. This is indeed my favorite kind of geek in existence. Here’s an example – Scum & Villainy)
Perhaps when I am old and gray, I can get these shirts woven together in quilt and be buried with them. Who knows, but so far, I think that’s an excellent idea.
- Answer my Star Wars Question of the Day! So, what does your collection say about you? Let me know!
Also definitely looking forward to wearing some of my favorites at Star Wars Celebration!
