not my style

I hate to disapoint people who think I'm surrounded by haute-couture runway fashion, but I feel safe in estimating that there is more English on clothing in France than there is in the U.S.


French brand popular with middle-schoolers


For reasons unknown, 98% of French people own this sweatshirt.

Usually it's teenagers and adults sporting these English words and slogans, and they all speak enough English to know what their clothing says. Not the case with elementary schoolers. Today I was practicing introductions with a class of ten-year-olds, and they were really struggling. Their shirts, however, had a lot to say.

One girl's shirt: "Things I like: painting my nails, going for walks, talking on the phone. THINGS I LOVE: TEXTING JACOB!" Another girl's read "I'm way too young." I had no comment on either of these shirts.

The boy wearing a sweatshirt that said "MINNESOTA: a Camp the original sr0ike 173-4-" wasn't as lucky. "Where did you get that sweatshirt?" I kept asking. "You know that's where I live, right? That's the state I'm from, on your sweatshirt. Followed by some gibberish, but still." He'll probably never wear it again.