A SHIRT OR A STATEMENT?

I bought a new shirt the other day.

On the shirt hung a tag. On the tag was some text. The text said this,

In 2003 Original Penguin was recreated by a group of people who love great style and smart clothing. You, today’s style makers have evolved this legend and made it your very own. Thank you. We are proud to design collections for people with such great intellect, style and humor.

I don’t think I’ve ever been called a style maker before. Its not really my style. And how do they know that I am a style maker anyway? Purely by dint of me buying one of their shirts it would seem. But I bought it because it was cheap (the wonders of TK Maxx – “Designer labels, always up to 60% less”), and not because I thought it was a stylish thing to do. So does that mean I have style without even realizing how stylish I am? or just that I buy cheap shirts?

I’m also not sure how I have contributed to the evolution of a legend. Or made it my own. King Arthur I’ve heard of, and Robin Hood. The Loch Ness Monster, yes. And Bigfoot. I’ve never come across the legend of the penguin before though. It might be my own, but I’m not sure I feel inclined to conspiratorially pull people into the corner of my local pub, whispering, “Have you heard about the penguin?”

Its very nice to be described as having great intellect, style and humor, but in all honesty that’s probably only something my wife would say about me, and then only on very special occasions. I wonder how wearing a particular shirt demonstrates great intellect? I don’t think there is a copy of Aristotle or the Critique of Pure Reason sewn into the fabric – the “slim shoulder and lean through waist” design doesn’t allow much space for weighty works of philosophy anyway.

Perhaps they know it takes a sense of humor to be able to buy a shirt with just such a tag hung on it. Ha! A knowing, ironic joke – “Isn’t it funny that we write this drivel – it shows how funny (knowing, ironic) you are to understand what we are doing!” But somehow, while they are being funny, I don’t think they mean to be.

In a grown up world all such spiel would be considered a criminal offence.

I quite like the shirt though.