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72 T-shirts

The set-up

I own 72 t-shirts.

I’ve always been a t-shirt collector. Band concerts, festivals & trips have all added to my collection. I’ve gotten rid of several t-shirts that I stopped wearing years ago, but I’ve still got a remarkable amount that I regularly wear. What am I going to do with them all while I’m away on my big trip?

I don’t know what’s going to happen. Some will probably go to friends who’ve expressed an interest. Some will be donated. Some will be stored. Some I can’t bear to part with.

Each one has a unique story & I thought it’d be interesting to share the stories & shirts with you. I know it’s impossible to keep my possessions forever, but I wanted to have a record of some of the t-shirts that have held a special place in my history. Click on the thumbnails to view each photo on Flickr with their full & proper captions.

Or just revel in the extensive amount of color that can be found in my dresser drawer.

The World Welcome to Sunny Manchester Tennessee What the Fluff Peter Bjorn & John Bloc Party Equality Passion Pit Great Escape Festival Boston University American University Lollapalooza 2006 MailChimp The Killers Rock the Vote Peace Still Works The Magic Numbers Plain White T Gap Texas Football B&W Stripes The Wombats Bookman Design will save the world Max Inspi(red) Gulf of Manico Dave was adopted. The Kooks Berkeley Butterflies Peter Bjorn & John Ireland Puffin Sorbonne Cannes Youth Group Green Skinny stripes Nike GHS Seniors Guatemala Great Barrier Reef Singha Corona Gap Northwestern Be bold. Be bald. Metric Polish Snoopy Spanish bull Color Wheel Bush/Cheney '04 MailChimp "Simplify, Simplify" Rhode Island Tri Go to Hel Hammer & Sickle Sigur Ros Harvard University Spooning Leads to Forking From Jay Jay's I'm Going Underground Iron & Wine Praha Australia Cool as FCUK Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics Promise Hope Cure Chiang Mai London Barcelona

  1. Abbie says:

    I'm impressed you took the time to photograph all of those…

  2. Adam says:

    Yeah, it took some serious effort.

    But I knew if I didn't have something to remember these shirts by (not including the memories), I'd regret it. Plus, I'm a graphic designer so it's pretty much required that I keep a collection of my inspiration. What better way than photographing my t-shirts!

  3. Adam says:

    I actually looked into getting a quilt made about a year ago. Problem is I was still wearing the shirts but maybe I'll consider it again now that I'm leaving.

    Is your quilt super comfy? How many t-shirts make a quilt?!

  4. Heather says:

    Have you thought about finding someone to make you a t-shirt quilt? I have done this with lots of my concert t-shirts and I bet if you ask around, one of your friends probably likes to sew or knows someone that does. It's a thought, though I like the pictures, too.

  5. Adam says:

    Hah! Who said anything about these shirts being clean?!

  6. unbjames says:

    How long does laundry take for you? :O

  7. Stephanie says:

    The main things I took away from this:

    1. you have a lot of girls who send you t-shirts.

    2. You met the Kooks and I am SO SO jealous!

  8. Adam says:

    Haha! You just keep learning more and more about me.

    And The Kooks are excellent. I've seen them 2 or 3 times here in Boston. I first got into them while I was in London.

  9. Candice says:

    Hahahaha, this is awesome. I totally vote t-shirt quilt.

  10. Stephanie says:

    I also fell in love with them in London but I seem to keep missing them in concert! Soon hopefully…

  11. I must agree with what abbie said “I’m impressed you took the time to photograph all of those…” lol

    That is a lot of shirts, I especially like the wombat one – at least I think that is a wombat.

  12. I must agree with what abbie said “I’m impressed you took the time to photograph all of those…” lol

    That is a lot of shirts, I especially like the wombat one – at least I think that is a wombat.

  13. Adam says:

    haha! I must've bought so many t-shirts in Australia. They were cheap and I never wanted to do laundry while I was there.

  14. beersNbananas says:

    Can I have the Australia shirt when you leave? Okgreatbye.

  15. Rob Blasko says:

    I dunno dude, but that Killers shirt is awesome!

  16. Aly says:

    This is great! Now that you've saved their image for ever you can safely start your collection up again while traveling!

  17. Heather says:

    Oh boy, that depends on how big the designs are on the shirts. Most of my quilts are a queen size, so probably 20-30 shirts per quilt. They can be made to be really comfy and I really like mine because they kind of tell a story about a certain period of time in my life. I have friends who have offered to do the quilts for $200, including materials, I think. They are kind of labor intensive, but once you get the routine down, I think are fairly easy to make. My mom made my last three, but I think she's burned out on making them. :)

  18. Adam says:

    Yeah! Have you seen them live before?

  19. Adam says:

    I'll definitely have to buy clothes while on the road, but hopefully not too many because they can take up a lot of space. T-shirts are practical, so I'll probably have to pick up a few!

    :)

  20. Nisha J says:

    That's an awesome collection. I too collect them and take photos as well but you took lots of pain by putting them on hangers individually.

    The idea of quilt is excellent, will try to do with remaining T-shirts since I have already donated some. :(

  21. Adam says:

    It's from Iceland! I bought it to give it as a gift, but never ending up parting with it :)

  22. I love the puffin one :)

  23. Haha, I can totally understand that, Ill do the same if I were you :D Do you actually spot some puffins there?

  24. NickLaborde says:

    I've got a bit of a T-shirt fetish my self, mostly rock bands. I'm going to have a hard time getting rid of most of them, but I can't possibly take them all.

  25. Adam says:

    Band t-shirts are some of the hardest for me to refuse. I end up with so many!

  26. Adam says:

    Hahah Hannah,
    The shirt is already gone. If I remember correctly, I donated it to Boomerang's in JP. See if you can find it there!

  27. Bhannahjane says:

    What's your size? I live in Boston and I vote you give the Puffin one to me :)

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  29. Tom Stockwell says:

    Chiang Mai, Wombats & Polish Snoopy are my faves!

  30. Bobby SHABL says:

    You actually travel with those? PROPS

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