Tee shirt summer

There was an article in the New York Times about how versatile white t-shirts have been on movie stars.  It made me laugh because this summer I am all in on the wearing off t-shirts.  Not white ones, mostly black, some navy and a couple of red ones. The reason: they are cheap, very available, comfortable, reasonably cool and totally disposable when they reach the end of their lives. 

I am a sloppy person at heart. There is no way I can cook anything without getting some of it on my clothing and let's not even talk about dripping food all over myself.  So many times I have walked out the door, looked down at what I was wearing and swore out loud, turned around and changed shirts. Going out in public with spaghetti sauce dribbled down the front one one's shirt is socially unacceptable once you are over the age of 3. And let's not talk about grease stains which totally ruin any kind of shirt.

Enter the cotton t-shirt. There are a few that I wear purposefully when I cook because one more stain isn't going to matter. I don't wear them off my property so no one sees how messy I can be. Once they are too disgusting even for my messy mind they get turned into dust rags or car-washing cloths or simply tossed in the trash. They are all cotton, they will eventually compost into nothing, and that process will be a lot quicker than the plastic bags we use to pick up dog poop that are supposed to be compostable.

T-shirts are not offensive,  no one can really hate a t-shirt.  They can be bought singly at a store like Kohls for under $10 or in a pack of 3 or 6 for even less.  Washed out in the sink and hung out to dry on a hot day means a clean shirt is always nearby. And if you are a woman of a certain age (meaning me) and you have that slack, flabby arm thing that wobbles around, the t-shirt hides it.  Yes, one ends up with a farmer's tan (tan forearms, lily white upper arms) but who cares?  Woman of this certain age and arm flab don't wear sleeveless shirts anyway so no one sees the farmer's tan.

That's my tribute to summer t-shirts, but they aren't just for summer, of course. In the winter they are another layer of warmth when worn under a sweater or flannel shirt or with flannel pajama bottoms when sleeping.  I am never giving them up, fashion or not.