Orla Doherty writes...
Logo tees, they've been around for as long as you and I. I remember a particular surge in my pre-teen years that I happily lapped up - cartoon characters, little girls with catchy attitude-ridden phrases beneath, multi-coloured animals. While I left all that behind with my Barbie dolls I continue to see logo t-shirts popping up everywhere and in adult sizes no less. Am I missing something, or are we all being fooled?
Now, take the famed Katherine Hamnett t-shirts, while they aren't something I'd ever wear they are iconic and original. A true designer tee. And then we have the likes of this 'Mickey Joy Division' top from Urban Outfitters (pictured right).
To me this top signifies everything that I hate about logo tees all in one amazingly dull print. It combines an iconic album cover (Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division) with the single most defining image of commercialism in the Western world - Mickey Mouse. And it's exactly what ticks me off about ill thought-out fashion choices.
Firstly, as a music lover, I find it borderline offensive to use an image like this one in such a, dare I say it, cheap manner. As much as I love the Rolling Stones 'Forty Licks' t-shirts, I find it laughable that someone like Jessica Simpson could dare advertise fandom of a band I'm almost certain she's never heard (Well, except for 'Satisfaction', but who hasn't?). My point here is that these sorts of fashions are poaching a culture that most of its wearers don't understand. It's fair to say many Stones fans wore that tee, but they'd surely only join me in the annoyance at somewhere like Topshop cashing in on cheapening the image. And that's what it does, an image which was a succinct embodiment of the Rolling Stones's fingers to the world attitude is now nothing more than a tired Noughties fashion craze.
But putting band tees aside I ask you, who on earth wears Mickey Mouse anything past the age of 14? I don't know of a single fashionista who'd step out in what is essentially kidswear. For me, it just conjures up images of tragic ladies in Tigger tops. Yes, it's cute and you loved Winnie the Pooh as a child, but that's where he should stay. Your childhood.
So, do you think I'm being a muso who is getting carried away, or do you share my grievance? Tell me your take on the trend, and share the guilty secrets in your wardrobe.
Mickey Joy Division T Shirt, £14.99 ... If you must.
