At ooShirts, we do
custom t-shirts; it's what we know. However, as supremely awesome as getting a shirt with your WoW Night Elf ranger's stats on it can be, a simple t-shirt isn't always enough. Sometimes you gotta spice things up with a fly jacket or a smokin' vest. Here is a list of six people, real and imaginary, who knew how to pair a t-shirt with additional threads to create truly unforgettable outfits.
6- Michael Jackson
No one wants to be defeated, least of all the eternal King of Pop. And what's the best way to stay in the game? Zippers. Lots and lots of zippers. Jackson's iconic bright red jacket, seen in the music video for Beat It, is unique and eye-catching. And in a design choice that may be seen as a commentary on American excess, it rocks upwards of twenty zippers. To this day no one knows if any of those zippers actually opened into any pockets. What were you hiding in there, Michael? Whatever it was, your jacket was amazing and will continue to be a staple of 80s Halloween costumes for decades to come.
5- Steve Urkel
Steve Urkel: that lovable character from Family Matters who simultaneously set nerds both forward and back about a decade. In addition to his now-hipster-embraced over-sized glasses, Urkel's defining feature was his suspenders. Honestly, I had never even heard of suspenders until Steve Urkel; I think they went out when children of 1950s fathers grew up and rebelled. Urkel's broadly horizontal-striped shirts highlighted his geekyness, and his suspenders solidified it. Jackson's red zipper jacket is to 80s costumes as the suspenders are to every single "geek" costume. Whether worn ironically or...ironically, you cannot deny the cultural impact of Steve Urkel's popularization of the suspenders. Did he do that? Yes, yes he did.
4- Ash Ketchum
Ash's goal is simple: catch all of them. But once you've caught 'em all, where do you keep them? Ash has a solution: a weird jacket-shirt thing with infinitely deep inside pockets. It has short sleeves and doesn't look like it keeps him very warm, but it looks like a jacket nonetheless. And shoot, when he paired it with his Pokemon League hat, something about it just worked. That simple undershirt, hat and jacket-shirt thing made Pokemon training look fun and stylish.
3- Han Solo
Han freakin' Solo. His outfit may not look like much, but its got it where it counts. A major character with such a big personality should have a "big" outfit, right? Absolutely not. Han Solo is cool, possibly the coolest. He never tried to impress anyone (except for the Princess, but that was for gold so we forgive him), and his outfit spoke to that while still looking great: a simple white long-sleeved shirt with a plain black vest. A vest! In space! And he made it look great. Han Solo is one of the original space cowboys, and he looked the part with his vest and side holster reminiscent of the gunslingers of the Old West. Most people look pretty dorky when they wear a vest, yet somehow Solo looked even cooler with the vest on; I'm looking at you, blind sans-vest Han from the beginning of Return of the Jedi.
2- Marty McFly
Marty from the popular Back to the Future franchise knew how cool vests were, but he took it one step further (and things got pretty heavy) with the life preserver vest. Who knows why Marty insisted on wearing this bulky, red, absurd example of a vest? Maybe his chest was always chilly while his scrawny arms were constantly a-flame? Maybe he really did just get in to port? While it may not make the most sense, who could imagine a complete Marty McFly costume without the vest? That bulky red mess is an iconic piece of film costume history.
1- Mario
Mario, king of the sewers of the Mushroom Kingdom, bane of Bowser, devourer of mushrooms, collector of coins, and missing persons expert. Mario's feats are innumerable, and have been recounted in over 100 stellar titles. But the most impressive feat of all? He did it all while wearing overalls. I don't know if you have ever worn overalls, but they are not comfortable. Like, at all. They're either too baggy or too tight and all up in your business. Mario runs and runs for hours in a row in his overalls, jumping, flying, pounding and skating his way to the princess. If you were ever impressed with something Mario did, be impressed that he did all of it in overalls. If you're not convinced, go to your local Goodwill, grab a pair of overalls, and try to run a mile with your junk all in a bunch. Next time you flip on Mario 64, kick back, stretch your legs out, and be thankful Mario is wearing the overalls so you don't have to.
