I grew up wearing J.C. Penney's clothes. It was always the place to go if you needed a white blouse or blue slacks for a school event. Now, as a parent, I go there to get decent-looking jeans for Phoebe, who, at 15, wears pants I can only get one leg into.
Not long ago I was made aware of this little gem being marketed by J.C. Penney. Oh, cool. Well, sure, if you're pretty it would be untoward to also be smart, right?
Quick. Somebody tell Phoebe she's got to dumb it down to go with her looks. Oh, wait. This shirt will do it for you. I understand J.C. Penney yanked the shirt when enough people squawked. Well, good. We wouldn't have bought it anyway.
So imagine my delight when I found this similarly erudite shirt being touted as a back-to-school garment by, uh, J.C. Penney.
Yep, that's the message I want my kid to wear on his chest for the first day of school. Go Penney's.
Actually, I probably have little room to complain. Liam is running around today in a vintage Tom and Jerry shirt. One of the teachers stopped him at lunch, studied the picture (which has Jerry shocking the bejabbers out of Tom with some kind of cartoon zappy machine), frowned and shook her head at Liam.
He was unfazed. It's his favorite shirt, and I'm afraid she cemented his fondness for it with that disapproval.
I think, for reasons that make perfect sense only to me, that wearing a shirt showing a mouse shocking a cat is fine. I don't think walking around with FAIL on your chest is fine. Because my kids won't fail, and if Liam ever falters, Phoebe swoops in as his in-house math tutor. So much for having your brother do your homework for you because you're too pretty.
Never mind the supercool skull overlain on Liam's polo. Like I said, morbidity and electrocution: suitable shirtfodder. Failing, or acting dumb on purpose, unsuitable.
These are my standards, and I'm sticking to them.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
19 comments