Making a statement

MANAN LUTHRA wears his heart out on his t-shirt

Ilove my Justin Bieber t-shirt. Yes, that’s right – my Justin Bieber t-shirt. When I wear it, my sister warns me to be wary of girls, because she thinks they might attack me.

You see, the t-shirt speaks of my dislike for the guy.

Please don’t get me wrong.

Justin Bieber has many fans (mostly girls), and an equal number of non-fans (mostly boys). I am a proud non-fan.

I picked up my Justin t-shirt (see picture) in California. When I wore it to the Universal Studios in LA, a security guard pulled me aside. A big, beefy dude, he was offended that my simple t-shirt classified the (non)-singer as a terrorist. I had been warned by my sister that girls would throw things at me, but I never thought my new favourite t-shirt would get me pulled over by a guard!

Apart from that one incident, everyone seems to like my t-shirt. Even passers-by smile to themselves as they walk past me. Friends greet me warmly and say they like my t-shirt. It is a great conversation starter.

I love statement t-shirts. They advertise my thoughts and opinions. They ‘speak’ for me.

My first encounter with statement t-shirts was a Homer Simpson t-shirt which I bought in Rome. We were in a touristy shop which was filled with stuff made by the Italian master painters. My dad picked up a t-shirt of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting Proportions of Man (which I recognised from the movie The Da Vinci Code). Next to it, I saw kids’ t-shirts with the same theme, except the naked man was replaced by Homer Simpson: in his hands he held the classic Homerian favourites, a beer, a TV remote, a hot dog and cookies. I made my parents buy it for me.

It brought smiles everywhere I wore it. Once, in a restaurant, the waitress laughed so hard, she asked if she could take me inside to show the kitchen staff. I felt like a star.

It was my favourite t-shirt for a long time. Another time, my friend’s mum asked if I ever washed it, because I always wore it to their house.

I still have my Homer masterpiece. Maybe I will frame it and put it up on my wall, next to my giant poster of all Simpsons characters.

My sister has some cool statement t-shirts too (though please don’t tell her I said that). Her favourite one says Nerds are hot. Besides being a nerd, she is also a Glee fan, so she wears a t-shirt with the Glee logo and the words I’m a Gleek She showed me one the other day, which actually said, I HATE statement t-shirts! She thinks she is so funny.

But, back to me. My third favourite t-shirt has a design based on another of my passions, Angry Birds. It says simply, Piggies, why you no die? It offends the elders I meet, but kids my age usually love it. Hey, if someone doesn’t like my t-shirts, I will just turn up next time with my “If I’ve offended anyone” t-shirt. It says, If I’ve offended anyone, my efforts have been rewarded. Ha!

SeeKInG GROOMS

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