| I am sitting in the food court of a very busy | | | | rarely saw the same t-shirt twice. There were funny |
| shopping mall on a Saturday with a pad of paper. | | | | t-shirts, animal t-shirts, Christian t-shirts, patriotic |
| What am I doing? Counting how many people are | | | | t-shirts, and all kinds of novelty t-shirts. And, I wasn't |
| wearing t-shirts, what kind of t-shirt they're wearing, | | | | surprised to see a few crude or offensive ones in |
| and about how old they are. This is my 4th Saturday | | | | the mix either. |
| conducting this survey at 4 different malls. | | | | Younger kids, those between 5 and 12-years-old, |
| Before I began doing this "t-shirt survey" at the malls | | | | wore a lot of tshirts. That age bracket was closer to |
| here in Dallas, I was expecting about 30-35% of the | | | | 90%. Most of them had some kind of "cute" picture |
| people would be wearing a t-shirt. Was I ever wrong. | | | | or slogan (like a Disney tshirt), or something to do |
| I had no idea just how popular t-shirts actually are. | | | | with sports. Most teenagers and college students |
| First, who is wearing t-shirts? I counted a total of | | | | wore tshirts that seem to match up closely with their |
| about 4,000 people over 4 weeks in this survey. In | | | | identity. |
| total, about 60-65% were wearing t-shirts - twice | | | | More than anything, it became apparent that wearing |
| my expectations! There was a variance in the age | | | | a tshirt is a way to express oneself. Whether |
| groups. For those under 25-years-old, about 80-85% | | | | supporting a sports team, a university, or country, |
| wore t-shirts. For those 25 to 40 years old, about | | | | people wear tshirts to express themselves and make |
| 60% wore t-shirts. And, for those over 40, about | | | | a statement. But, some people wear them just |
| 35% wore t-shirts. | | | | because it looks good, it's trendy, and they're |
| While I expected the younger crowd to be wearing | | | | comfortable. The t-shirt industry is a huge business. |
| tshirts, what I was not expecting were those ages | | | | While I don't have the exact statistics, it made up |
| 35 - 50 wearing them. These are mostly parents, | | | | 60% of the tops worn at the shopping malls around |
| business people, and maybe a couple grandparents. | | | | Dallas, TX over the last 4 weeks. |
| Most of their tshirts were sports or college tshirts, or | | | | After arriving back home, what did I do? I went to |
| a brand name like Tommy Hilfiger, Nautica, or Polo - | | | | my dresser, opened the drawer, and counted about |
| nothing crude of obnoxious. | | | | 25 t-shirts of my own. I put on my alma mater tshirt |
| Second, what kind of t-shirts were they wearing? I | | | | and sat down to watch the baseball playoffs. |