Short Assignment 5

I purchased this shirt recently from Depop. Depop is a clothing resale application that I frequent. The idea is that you can buy and sell pieces, and buyers are able to ask to lower the price by writing a counter-offer. I thought this shirt was a great deal because this person was selling this vintage odd future shirt for only seven dollars! This is a piece I have wanted in my clothing collection for a long time. Though shirts like these are not very rare, the price is never this low. I suppose the seller just wanted to get rid of it. Now I am the happy new owner to a piece that means a lot to me and my generation of Odd Future/2010’s hip hop fans. I also know it will appreciate in time, and I would never be able to make a purchase like this in ten or twenty years. 

Odd Future is the name of a music group started by Tyler, The Creator, which is no longer together. Since they released their first mixtape, Odd Future began releasing merch. They started the clothing brand GOLF WANG in 2010. The hip hop group’s full name was Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, and GOLF WANG is an anagram for WOLFGANG. Odd Future was always more than a hip hop group, and GOLF WANG was always more than music merch. Their songs were on the cutting edge, spitting grotesque rap verses, often using obscenities  which some people would find upsetting. However, a closer read reveals insightful social commentary on the black gay experience in America. Their music was accompanied by videos of friends messing around, doing teenage shenanigans, pranks, improv skits, skateboarding, even eating cockroaches. 

I will group the components of this shirt into three categories: Design, production, and distribution. 

DESIGN

The shirt itself seems like a simple striped shirt logo tee, but it means so much more within fashion, music, and culture. The context is important, because Tyler, the Creator, himself is the main designer of the clothing. Not all musicians personally design their clothing, pick out the fabric and the colors, or even care as deeply as Tyler has done from the beginning with GOLF WANG. Their status in pop culture is just as much an element of the design, and ability to sell the item as the visual appeal of the shirt. The members of Odd Future exude the stylish, cool, misfit energy which heavily influenced the trajectory of fashion in the 2010’s. In a recent interview Tyler, the Creator says, “I remember being 17 and I was the outlier… everyone was like what the f**** are you wearing? And then a few years later people were doing it too and saying n**** you know that’s cause of you!” (Frugal Aesthetic). 

Post-ODD FUTURE there was a palpable shift in what young people wore. Preppy, fitted clothes in subtle colors were replaced with bright-colored baggy streetwear. Wearing clothing against the norm on purpose actually turned into the norm. The clothing brand continued to grow and evolve ahead of the fashion brands that attempted to emulate uniqueness. The idea of making noise against the mainstream in order to push your own voice remained synonymous with ODD FUTURE. The shirts which simply say ODD FUTURE, like this one, are not necessarily cutting edge design wise; however it directly spells out the wearer’s affiliations with the brand’s purpose and history. 

I wanted this shirt specifically because they do not make ones like this anymore. Tyler, the Creator has since handed the company off to another ODD FUTURE member, Jasper, who then gave all creative rights to Zumiez. True ODD FUTURE is no longer being created.

A few examples of Tyler, The creator’s eclectic style over the years.

PRODUCTION

Now that the and history conceptual essence of ODD FUTURE has been established, I will dissect the physical attributes of my new shirt. After doing some research on striped clothing, it is most likely that the stripes were from separately dyed threads that were then woven to create a pattern next to each other. Some shirts have stripes which are created with dye after making the shirt, but with the quality of this shirt and the multicolored variation, the former is more probable. The tag says not to iron the graphic, however the “ODD FUTURE” text seems to be stitched directly to the shirt. Perhaps this warning only applies to garments which have decal prints on them.

The tag reveals that the shirt was made in China. I have tried to research exactly where the clothing is being created, but since this is an old piece I cannot track the exact whereabouts of production at the time. The people who did the stitching and embroidery on this shirt did a fantastic job, whoever they may be. Overall, the quality is excellent and you can tell that it is not an ultra-fast fashion garment. It is 100% cotton. There are a few small holes in the neckline from the previous owner. I do not mind about these small defects.

DISTRIBUTION

Finally, the way I personally received this item of clothing was through the app Depop. The seller was @qweengisselle or Giselle’s Closet. Depop is a really convenient way for people to buy and resell clothes, and in this case you can see that this seller is also interested in simply trading clothes. I received my package very quickly, you can see on their page it reads that their sales are often shipped in 3 days, which is even faster than some retail companies.

The package was shipped within the United States through USPS. I must mention the time spent to package and ship the item from Giselle, the hard work of the people at the post office, as well as the post office delivery workers for bringing it to my doorstep.