Guys: American Apparel t-shirt perfect for Casual Friday

Gentlemen, may I suggest that you wear this American Apparel t-shirt on busy urban streets, paired with a nice, snug speedo? Also, it is available in only one color: see-thru "poopies" brown. Please discuss. (via Steven Leckart)

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

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lilbacon3

So THAT’S what Kip Dynamite is up to these days…
- MrsBug
  
  Dude (or dudette), you totally win.
  
  That shirt looks like it’s for some kind of fetish game I am totally unaware of. Eww.
cstatman

AA ads make me feel old, and slightly dirty.
hershmire

Read the back page of the “L Magazine” and you’ll find that AA is all about soft core porn and terrible taste. Yet I repeat myself.
Anonymous

The brand is getting more ridiculous by the day. I never buy their stuff but it’s just because they make their t-shirts too long, and I’m not into that. Otherwise I’d buy their shit all the time. Better to buy something made in the US than some shit made in another country. Yeah, they objectify women, but whatever, it’s not nearly as bad as budweiser.
blueelm

I hate AA. Hate hate hate.

So overpriced too.
Anonymous

Hey, back in his 90′s, drug-hazed, heyday, Trent Reznor rocked the fishnet shirt!

http://media.photobucket.com/image/trent%20reznor%20fishnet/erroneouss/rock/TrentReznor.jpg
- CheshireKitty
  
  Yeah, but he’s *Trent Reznor*.
  
  I was just thinking the only man I could think of who’d look good in this is a contractor who is occasionally called in at our building. As a nice coincidence, he’s a dead ringer for the recent built-like-a-brick-shirthouse-close-cut-hair incarnation of Mr. Reznor.
  
  d^_______^b!!!
wrybread

Sorry Jack, but as of now its a dead heat between papayasf/#22 and airkol/#24. If it comes down to it, I’ll be awarding the Best Moustache Joke award to Arikol since his or her comment actually contained 3 solid moustache jokes, with a zinger of a reference to Sweden.
Chocolatey Shatner

I find the model to be exceptionally attractive: I *like* his moustache. I’m even willing to look past the shirt, but only because it affords me a glimpse at his deliciously hairy chest. So all you haters, may I suggest you take another sip of Hater-ade on your way back to Haiti.

Oh, and Xeni: careful what you wish for….
Teapunk

I actually stopped buying AA because of their ads. The women always look like (soft?) porn and far too sexualized, combined with the sexual harrasment complaints about the lovely owner of the company: ew.
So it’s strangely fitting this guy has a porn mustache.
As for the shirt:
Ew.
Anonymous

Hm, not sure about… Not at all…
blueelm

By the way American Apparel is blocked by my workplace’s porn filter!

lol

And that mustache is a beautiful thing. The shirt insults it.
thequickbrownfox

Edwardian grunge?

Wrongness of the highest order.
anharmyenone

Waka chika, waka chika.
lewis stoole

weird. tonight i just passed a guy on hollywood and highland that was wearing a half-cut t-shirt, tennis shoes, and a fresh pair of underwear as pants (white fabric with red trim and ribbing).

i think they were a.a. as there is a store near there and these look the style, but i can’t seem to find white with red trim.

so if you go here:

http://www.americanapparel.com/men-underwear.html

and imagine the guy, not the one with the bvd’s, but the one wearing the colored jocks with white trim, walking down the street with tennis shoes and a half top t-shirt, you might see where i was wondering if maybe he was wearing american apparel. it would be the pair with the red fabric and white trim, but inversed.
Freddie Freelance

OK, to all the people comparing this guy’s “Background extra in CHiPs” meets “The Detour’s Mens Room circa 1979″ ‘stache to Greg Norton’s majestic Handlebar, just smack yourselves upside the head now. How could you even think that that anemic, “98 pound weakling” lip worm is worthy to even bear the Curry Comb for Greg’s proud Thouroughbred Stallion of a crumb crusher? I mean, that well waxed (but never pampered) soup strainer could stand in for him on Bass when he was too hung-over to make it on stage! It can get up early & perform the prep work in Greg & Sarah’s kitchen, stand up to a long day working the Grill Station, and finish the night winding down with a couple rounds of good Beer & Rye Whiskey with the crew. And you want to compare that to a “Hipster trying too hard”/”Freddie Mercury’s rolling over in his grave” attempt at a John Holmes Porn ‘stache? That’s like comparing a Hell’s Angels Poker Run to my Gran’Daughter getting her training wheels off, or a Bald Eagle swooping out of a clear blue sky to scoop a 5 pound Salmon from a raging river compared to that Damn Pigeon that keeps crapping on my windshield.
- Phikus
  
  I think you just won the ‘stache bash competition and became the all-time champ.
Mitch

Why does American Apparel make such ugly clothes? I don’t mind the racy ads and I like that their stuff is sewn in the US, but hardly anything they make looks good. Do they have to stick to easy to sew designs because they use more expensive American labor for sewing?
Anonymous

I like it.
Anyone who doesn’t is old or afraid of looking a bit different than everyone else on the street.
Nash Rambler

I got your “discussion” right here. Two words. Hell. No.
The Mudshark

I can think of only one person that would look dignified in that shirt: Freddie Mercury. Alas …
Phikus

Moose knuckle is still making me chuckle, way down here…
tmccartney

I want to make fun of this, but I know it’s just because I’m jealous that I’m not hot enough to work in one of their stores.
SimeonW

People should be happy and express themselves while they are young, so that they have something to look back in horror upon when they are slightly older.

And, for the rest of us, in these hard times, it feels like if it weren’t for schadenfreude, we wouldn’t have any freude at all. So, keep it up, young hipsters, keep it up. You are making the rest of us feel a little better about ourselves.
- Sekino
  
  People should be happy and express themselves while they are young, so that they have something to look back in horror upon when they are slightly older.
  
  I’m just so happy that my past fashion horrors didn’t include nipples. I am now much less worried about my HS friend refusing to burn our pics involving leopard print and suspenders…
  
  Thank you, American Apparel? o_O
Anonymous

Is this steampunk softcore porn, or is that venn diagram area not perceptable?
Anonymous

I’ve been fairly convinced that for the better part of this decade AA has been sewing their labels into some deadstock hideous 80′s clothes and re-branding them as “hipster” in an effort to completely ruin fashion. It could only get more repulsive if Crocs made clothing.
Anonymous

The really scary thing is that this item is currently out of stock and backordered. This must mean that they’ve sold some.
dolo54

I’m really disappointed it doesn’t come in a vneck!
TheSeanR

A lot of the clothes at American Apparel are to be worn by people whose judgment is impaired by cocaine, I believe. I think that also applies to a lot of clothes sold by H&M.
frase

If that came in black I’d be all over it. Actually going to check… Anyways, I’m somewhat disappointed with the tone taken in this thread. Comments fueled on a guy looking “gay”? Really? REALLY? If you don’t like the shirt you go “bonkers shirt, doubt I’d wear it” NOT “dude looks like a fag.”
Anonymous

The 80s really are back, aren’t they?
Anonymous

Gauzy + Smock = Gauck? Or Smouzy? This is pretty much for a person that can’t get away from the cozy feeling of a Snuggie while they’re away from home!
schmod

I can assure you that the neither the gays nor Derek Zoolander want any part of this.

Also, that mustache is veering dangerously close to a Hitler-stache.

(Also also: Does anybody else find it difficult to believe that these guys are the biggest clothing manufacturer in the US?)
- MrsBug
  
  schmod, they probably are only because the US’s clothing manufacturing has all been off-loaded to Southeast Asia.
Art

Funny and true!

A red Speedo and a big, fat 1970′s Biker ‘stache would certainly complete this modern and fetching urban male ensemble.

As an addendum…. “Moose Knuckle”! LOL
(Now I won’t get that phrase out of my mind today.)

Thank A LOT! :(
i_prefer_yeti

Mebby AA’s all done with showing us how to think of women and is moving onto men?
pinehead

I believe what you’re looking at is an ironic moustache. Which is a pity, really; in other circumstances, he could make the ‘stache work for him. But as a model for American Apparel, he just looks like yet another tedious, boring hipster. The way he’s standing is suggestive of a burning jock itch, as well.
Ambiguity

It’s STEAMPUNK! STEAMPUNK I tell ya! STEAMPUNK!

I mean look… it’s BROWN!
sswaan

Aaaaand, here’s why this is a “men’s” product…so that they will click on it to see the following (NSFW) gem linked below the product info:
http://www.americanapparel.net/flash/src/auto/492/index.html
Manny

American Apparel is the largest within-USA manufacturer. They don’t send any work offshore.
Galadriel

I know T-shirt materials are often getting cheaper and thinner, but thin to the point of translucency seems excessive.

Besides, the really thin ones shrink like anything.
SDukeEllis

Somewhere deep in an English cemetary, Freddy Mercury’s body is turning.
Anonymous

If I had read these comments first, i would have been expecting something a whole lot more revolting/ridiculous than that shirt. Hell that would have been popular in the 70s when people didn’t care so much about not looking “gay” and didn’t have a decent fashion sense (what a crime!)
InsertFingerHere

Put a NASCAR logo on it, and it will sell in the South.
IronEdithKidd

Well, at least it’s males being objectified. For once. What, no comments about the equally hideous leggings?
the boy

auuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh
ChrisGiarmo

xeni, i can’t believe you beat latfh.com to the punch.
Anonymous

I went to an American Apparel shop for the first time, four days ago. It was an incredibly uncomfortable experience: slow jams from the early 90′s, bad wigs and fish-net stockings on every other mannequin, male employees in short shorts… now this. i’m never going back. ever again.
spiderking

I don’t understand kids these days.
narrowstreetsLA

pinch it shut at the crotch with a binder clip for the ultimate male camel toe.
- awgrbr
  
  FYI: male camel toe = moose knuckle.
  and now you know…
Not a Doktor

Typically this boy would be wearing a tighter version with some chaps.
Jack Daniel

American Apparel is a practical joke on society.
inkfumes

Nothing wrong with that shirt, but that moustache is inherently offensive.
Anonymous

So do I get a cargo speedo, or strap my wallet over my mp3 player (guaranteeing that my playlist is G-rated?)
Zadaz

At least he finally found the shirt that matches his mustache.
Anonymous

also this: http://store.americanapparel.net/butttwl.html

in the top selling section for women.
katiepoche

What’s that odd stain over his left nipple? Is he lactating? Because that would make sense, seeing as he has utterly emasculated himself by wearing his mom’s threadbare pyjama shirt from thirty years ago as outerwear. I CAN’T UN-SEE THIS.
Anonymous

Girlz get this:
http://www.americanapparel.com/m304burn.html

plzthx.

nsfwish
gATO

Can’t believe no one has said this already, so here it goes:

Fucking hipster
Antinous / Moderator

Couldn’t they afford Gabe Delahaye?
suinabird

The worst part of this shirt is that it’s sold out and backordered.
EliZ

Never trust a man in a tunic.
PatrickPlan8

Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why …… WHY!
- Jack
  
  Why? Why? Tell us the reason why? Why are you putting people through this?
  
  Maybe this shirt is the reason that guy wanted to go shopping at the Eaton Centre?
Jack

If you sew off the head and arm holes it makes a lovely fishing net.

But folks, why the mustache hate? His is fine. I mean, you know I never really cared for Husker Du, but you know what sticks in my mind about that band? Greg Norton’s mustache. Best damned thing about that band as far as I am (literally) concerned. That guy looked classy anywhere/everywhere with that mustache.

Hate the shirt, not the ‘stache.
- Zadaz
  
  Mustaches are a fine tradition and I have nothing against them in general.
  
  This mustache, however. Oh, god, really? The only place this mustache belongs is on the face of a guest on Fawlty Towers where he is simultaneously emasculated by his overbearing wife and screamed at by Basil. I believe there is a tiny hat that goes with it.
  
  This shirt however needs a leopard print belt to really highlight it.
mgfarrelly

With the near-pornographic ads, the ridiculous prices on basics like t-shirts and underwear and now this shirt/skirt/dress/nightie-thing I really have to wonder if American Apparel is an actual company or some kind of elaborate form of performance art.
mellowknees

Seriously, of all the colors to make a semi-transparent, knee length abomination of a tee shirt in, BROWN is what they pick? BROWN? And not just any brown, but literally SHIT BROWN?

My theory is that American Apparel hasn’t shipped its work offshore is because even sweatshops have standards, and they refuse to make this crap.
eviladrian

What the?
We don’t have this company in Australia, so the only way I hear about it is from people taking the piss out of it on the Internet.

Is it like a successful brand in the US? Is this sort of thing normal for you guys?
- Anonymous
  
  We do so… there’s a store on Oxford St in Sydney. And there’s one in Melbourne too I think.
  
  And they’re the largest clothing manufacturer in the US.
- Anonymous
  
  ya mate.
  super popular, kinda hipster, teenageâ€”mid twenties crowd normally.
apoxia

The photos for the girl version are pretty much soft porn.
bluerabbit

I’ll take the matching trousers, please.
wrybread

I came here hoping for some good mustache jokes, but so far am left unfulfilled. Jack/#13 is winning at the moment, but he’s very vulnerable to one of the usual thread winners like Felton. I’ll check back tomorrow and award the Best Moustache Joke award then.
- Jack
  
  Wrybread (#21), I am not joking. Use Photoshop to get rid of Greg Norton’s mustache from any “HÃ¼sker DÃ¼” picture and what are you left with? Three pasty midwestern white guys. Without the ‘stache, “HÃ¼sker DÃ¼”, is a “HÃ¼sker DÃ¼n’t.’”
  
  Zadaz (#23), you sound like you’re in the UK, so let me explain it another way: Rollie Fingers! Dude grew the ‘stache as a joke for a bonus, but ended up loving it. AND AMERICA LOVED IT BACK! Read up (via: Wikipedia)…
  
  “On the first day of spring training for the 1972 season, Reggie Jackson showed up with a beard. In protest, Fingers and a few other players started going without shaving to force Jackson to shave off his beard, in the belief that management would also want Jackson to shave. Instead, Finley, ever the showman who would do anything to sell tickets, then offered prize-money to the player who could best grow and maintain their facial hair until Opening Day (April 15 versus Minnesota). Fingers went all out for the monetary incentive offered by Finley and patterned his moustache after the images of the players of the late 1800s.[9] Taking it even further, Finley came up with “Moustache Day” at the ballpark, where any fan with a moustache could get in free.”
PapayaSF

What is the target demographic here? Young men who are gay and yet have no taste? That’s a pretty small area on the Venn diagram.
awillett

The thing is, as a manufacturer of inexpensive, comfortable shirts that come in many colors and don’t billboard the hell out of you with their own logo, AA is kind of a good thing. Until… what is up with the hemlines on their shirts all of the sudden? The first T-shirts I bought from them were, you know, shirt-length; the one I picked up a few months ago could double as a racy minidress; and this is comparatively demure. Who needs a knee-length T-shirt, sheer or otherwise?
arikol

not only would I look damn sexy in that, but also FEEL damn sexy. Yup. And then it’s nice to stay at the YMCA.

Of course I’m referring to the ‘stache here. That shirt though, is an abomination and might sell well here in Sweden ;)
dbarak

I bet that shirt is cool. Not cool, but cool. You know, cool. But not cool.
Marcel

Where did I see that stache before? Hmmmmmm….

Ooooh Yeahhh!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q7FFjUpVLg
Birdseed

I’d consider it, at least, I might even have tried it on if I was at the store. Personally, as a rather full-framed male, I love tighter t-shirts with a bit of length to them, a combination that’s precious hard to find anywhere. The colour is nice and playing with transparencies is hot.
francoisroux

I have many gay friends, I respect them wanting to be gay and they respect me not wanting to be gay. In the same sense they will respect me not wanting to wear a shirt like this…

That American Apparel website is of the hook, now I can have porn at work under the auspices of looking for clothes… whooooohooooooooo
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  As far as I know, the only men in America who wear see-through shirts are the cast of Jersey Shore and their ilk. And they ain’t gay.
  - Jack
    
    I grew up with “Guidos” like that. I’m straight, but I assure you far more of those “Jersey Shore”-types are gay than let on; they love their “beards.”
    - Antinous / Moderator
      
      I dated one. He had three ex-wives, one of whom shot him.