Message clothing is everywhere these days, from t-shirts to jackets, conveying all types of sentiments.
Sometimes the message is clear and relatable, sometimes it’s thought-provoking, and sometimes it’s cryptic—ala First Lady Melania Trump wearing a coat with the words, “I really don’t care. Do U?” on her way to visit detained immigrant children.
Without saying a word her wardrobe choice spoke volumes and sent the internet into a tizzy. Was she speaking of herself, someone else, or what? Who knows, but it was a statement nonetheless.
One thing is clear: words are powerful currency in any form.
These days there’s no allowance for thinking without speaking or just grabbing anything to throw on. People notice the message on your clothes as much as the ones in your social media feed.
So, the question is, “Do you mean what your shirt says?” Because the assumption is you do, which opens the door to either conversation or ridicule.
Message tees weren’t my thing until a couple years ago. I never saw the need since I express myself easily.
But after writing my first book about women relating to God as Father, Jesus prompted me to take some of those revelations and put them on shirts. Because many more will read the shirt I’m wearing than will speak with me personally or read one of my books.
So, authenticity is important to me.
Is what’s on my shirt something I would say to you in conversation? Does it accurately reflect what I believe about myself? About my relationship with my Savior?
Because those answers matter, I’m intentional about the designs I create and sport.
Your statement clothing either opens the door to conversation or ridicule. And either is fine—if you stand behind the message.
VANESSA A. HARRIS is a blogger, designer of inspirational t-shirts, and the author of DADDY’s Girl Forever and its devotional. She’s a physician turned stay at home mom, who’s never lost her NY wit. She needs it for the three inventive children she raises with her husband in Texas.
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