Don’t Tread on Me: Teen Fashion for Rebellious Conservatives
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Yesterday, we were walking along State Street when we saw a couple of retro-punk teenagers wearing trendy t-shirts that were, umm, patriotic.
We did a double-take and then followed them into a clothing store where we learned that for forty dollars (!) we could buy "Don’t Tread on Me" brand t-shirts.
Don’t Tread on Me brand t-shirts aren’t the Gadsdon Flag silkscreened on a standard white Hanes t-shirt that you may have seen at tea parties, but some kind of vintage-sized, aged cotton-polyester blend that looks unique, cool, and full-of-attitude while feeling softer and lighter than a typical t-shirt. The graphics are American in the manly, self-reliant sense, but they are also edgy and young.
When we went home, we visited the web page where we learned that the company, which doesn’t shy away from celebrity musicians, doesn’t hide from their aggressively patriotic feel, either. The website contains a long history of the rattlesnake as an American icon and notes “never shall we forget the bravery of those who have gone before us in the pursuit of liberty… We are Americans and this is our legacy.”
Now, there’s a teen fashion we can agree with.
We’ve been told that sizes run small. Examples designs include:
Feel free to post comments with links to alternatives that are less expensive. You should also feel free to post your favorite examples of conservative wear for the young… or just the young at heart.
