Why do people still wear their college t-shirts YEARS after graduating?

LoneStarXC wrote:

I thought t-shirts would be worn out after about five years. How could they last 20? I’m not thinking about if they still fit, just that the wash/dry cycle would make the letters fade at least.

One of my favorite t-shirts is from a 1989 road race. At 29 years old, it still looks great and has held its shape. Faded lettering gives it a true vintage look. My 1988 college XC shirt is a prized possession for special occasions. T-shirts from 25-35 years ago were often constructed of better quality material. You rarely get an old-school 50/50 blend as today technical fabrics are more common.

LoneStarXC wrote:

I don’t get it. Are they that proud of where they went for college? Or just want to show off?

Because they need to put on a shirt and that's the one that's on the top of the pile in their drawer?

Guess I have too many shirts. I'll try to give some to goodwill.

I went to Cornell. Don't know if you've heard of it. It's a little school in upstate New York. Happens to be Ivy League, but no big deal.

My time in Ithaca (where Cornell is) is a big part of who I am, so I like to wear the shirt just to communicate a little bit about who I am.

Are you NOT proud of your school?

It is a big deal.

In the South it pretty much defines you...

If I see a guy in a Clemson shirt, I go out of my way to harass him.

SEC wrote:

Are you NOT proud of your school?

It is a big deal.

In the South it pretty much defines you...

If I see a guy in a Clemson shirt, I go out of my way to harass him.

I feel sorry for people like you. And I am a fan of my alma mater's sports teams. However, it does NOT and never will "define me". If it defines you, you have nothing going on in your life. If you "harass" (sic) people based on a shirt they wear, you have serious personal problems.

Seriously, I feel sorry for you.

People wear their things decades after school. My beat up college stuff is reserved for around the house work. Also use old running shoes for working in the yard.

Texas HS Coach wrote: People are proud of their colleges.

This ^

To each his own, but I guess I'm one of "those" guys who takes great pride in having attended the institutions from which I hold degrees. I probably have a minimum of a dozen t-shirts from each of the three universities where I studied. A few simply display the university name, but most are specific to their sports teams (I'm a big college sports fan, and I also ran XC and track at the university from which I earned my undergraduate degree).

As far as that goes, I don't understand the poster who was griping about university license plate frames. If people want to prop up their college in some way...t-shirts, license plate frames, window decals, garden flags in front of their house...what's the big deal?

But in the interests of full disclosure, I admit that I probably own 100 (or more) t-shirts. In addition to all the college tees, I have them for the pro teams I support, bars and microbreweries that I like, countries I've enjoyed visiting, etc. Never mind all the road race t-shirts that I haven't thrown away yet. I'm a fashion disgrace, but I enjoy dressing comfortably.

fatbody wrote:

I think generally people are done buying t-shirts by the time they graduate college. Whatever you’ve acquired at that point is your t-shirt inventory for the rest of your life.

Spot on.

If I see a Baylor shirt I think rapist

jsteinfeld wrote:

Also alumni license plate frames. Lame.

Also, what's up with Americans and license plate frames? Especially frames that advertise the car dealer. You probably got ripped off on your car and you still give them free advertising? And apparently I'm other states it's common for the dealer to paint their logo on the trunk. Gross.

I agree with this view. Wearing a t-shirt you still have from college is a passive decision but installing a license frame is premeditated lameness.

Especially the dealer frame. When you receive your plates in the mail you have to remove the dealer frame anyway. Why put it back?

LoneStarXC wrote:

I don’t get it. Are they that proud of where they went for college? Or just want to show off?

Yes, pride. Next question.

jsteinfeld wrote:

Also alumni license plate frames. Lame.

Also, what's up with Americans and license plate frames? Especially frames that advertise the car dealer. You probably got ripped off on your car and you still give them free advertising? And apparently I'm other states it's common for the dealer to paint their logo on the trunk. Gross.

Go Euro style. No license plate frames. Also, stop with the bumper and window stickers. Ok, so you like the NRA and think that the second amendment is "the original Homeland security" and you've got a quote from Thomas Jefferson. I suppose I know to avoid you now.

Geez, that's a great - and funny - point about dealer license plate holders. Oblivious to getting ripped off? In any case, too lazy to take it off....for years? Weird.

it gets worse wrote:

A lot of people who never went to college wear college T shirts. A lot of people who aren't on the team wear college football jerseys.

In no particular order:

- "Pride"

- Immodesty

- Reminder of good times

- Like the colors/designs

I'm some combination of these..... Go Blue.

Variousness wrote:

it gets worse wrote:

A lot of people who never went to college wear college T shirts. A lot of people who aren't on the team wear college football jerseys.

In no particular order:

- "Pride"

- Immodesty

- Reminder of good times

- Like the colors/designs

I'm some combination of these..... Go Blue.

Oh, and I suppose that providing your school with free advertising could be another.....

Harvard T Shirt wrote:

My favorite is the Harvard/MIT shirts worn by people that obviously didn't go there.

My favorite is the Denver Broncos No. 7 shirt worn by someone who obviously isn't John Elway.

Cornell Guy wrote:

I went to Cornell. Don't know if you've heard of it. It's a little school in upstate New York. Happens to be Ivy League, but no big deal.

My time in Ithaca (where Cornell is) is a big part of who I am, so I like to wear the shirt just to communicate a little bit about who I am.

If all that info is on your Cornell shirt, that would be a weird design.

I hear ya.

In fact this morning I wore my NY marathon shirt from 2012 while running. Gotta stop living in the past!

I wear old tshirts to run in. Also, alumni can buy new tshirts from their college bookstore, or anywhere if they went to a big name school years after graduating.