Last summer I took my dad to a Portland Pickles game (collegiate wood bat baseball) and he bought a tshirt AND a hoodie after the first inning. Merch = unbridled enthusiasm = cringe = love.
You can pry my merch out of my cold dead hands. It is fun to be in another state or country and connect with someone on something they’re wearing.
I am concerned about how some influencers, YouTubers, and podcasts make merch that will likely make its way into a landfill because of the pressure to be a ~brand~ Sometimes when I watch YouTubers do this, it feels like they’re trying to make fetch happen so they can market it.
Yes, absolutely - another merch distinction I should have made (obviously could have gone dissertation length on this, lol) - that is the most depressing type of merch in my opinion, when it’s obviously not designed with care or thought out
I love merch! the more ironic the better. and I love repping my home state of KS in NYC. And yes, I have thought about wearing my "Thank god for abortion tee" when I visit family in Nebraska, but I am too chicken. Context definitely matters! Great essay!!
I went to KU and played Ultimate Frisbee there. Some of my most treasured “merch” are my jerseys from that team and our home tournament. I haven’t worn them in a while, but I loved repping Kansas (even though it was the weird island of Lawrence and DoCo) in the Chicago metro area.
i also struggled with this article. i don't own/wear much merch, but pieces i do own are often representative of a friend or loved one's project, whether it's their band, their art, etc. i wear these items when i am willing/in the mood to engage with strangers who may ask about it - it allows me to lean into a social mood if i'm having one, while also talking up art that i love/support. funnily, i was anti buying any college logo merch when i was an actual student (i lack that sort of team spirited nature) but i now own and wear one college sweatshirt (via poshmark) because i work in the field of college access. also, since i am quite removed from the college experience age-wise. it feels like a nod to my youth and i quite like the nostalgia.
My most-used piece of merch is quite signifier-ish (the New Yorker tote that came free with my subscription) and it evokes interesting reactions (at least one person has asked me if I actually read the magazine 🙄, and other people have asked where they can buy one not knowing even knowing what New Yorker mag was or that it was merch). But I do love the magazine and it is one of the cutest, most well-made freebie totes I have ever received, so I'm going to keep using it.
I hadn't read the article, because I expected it to be like that Kyle Chakya + Ezra Klein podcast about taste ("Oh no, now everyone has the same stuff and I don't feel cool anymore"). And I went to read it because of your newsletter and yep, it kind of feels like that, though actually better than I'd expected, haha. I agree that merch is best when it is sincere and specific, because these are the ones that we will feel nostalgic about in a few years.
I also use the New Yorker tote all the time because it is truly well-made!! I definitely feel like a cliche walking down the street when I pass like 100 other people also using it, but at this point it’s almost so ubiquitous here in Brooklyn that it isn’t as much of a signifier. I didn’t listen to that podcast, but I was excited about the Kyle Chayka book before it came out and then felt a bit disappointed after reading. Maybe because it feels like there’s SO much more to say and so much nuance esp around class and place that was left out
When I graduated college in 1987, I thought "I must be mature now" and got rid of just about every concert t shirt I had. I had many, many deep pangs of regret starting the year Lara Flynn Boyle wore a bedazzled Bob Seger concert t shirt to the Emmys (WHAT HAVE I DONE!!!)
I'm no longer the same size I was in high school or college, so they would never fit me now. But they were truly vintage, as opposed to the fake ones you can buy at any department store or chain store now. I told my young adult daughter to save all her concert merch, even if she no longer listens to the band.
What did I save? Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA tour, Prince's Purple Rain tour, The Jacksons final tour.
Yes! I think the concert tees are the one thing people should always hold onto - I got rid of a couple early on that still haunt me… so cool that you have Bruce Springsteen and prince still!!
I almost reached out to ask you if you would consider writing about this while merch thing! I should have know you were already on it and delivered so much better than I could have even imagined. Love the diagram breakdown - it’s so spot on!
This was a great read! In a way, all fashion choices are a kind of 'merch'. Personal style is a lot about being honest with what we're into and expressing that through what we wear. And it's really meaningful that the actual merch that you bought and hold onto years later tells a personal history. Team merch!
I have a roll of Reynolds aluminum foil that was rebranded as Rizzo Wrap after Anthony Rizzo, former Cubs first baseman (I’m pleading willful ignorance to his current whereabouts), won a bet with the manufacturer. I can’t wear it, but I’ll never part with it!
I haven't been brave enough to eat the crunchtastic TB offering ... yet. But I did just get a special delivery from eBay containing a Miami High Class of 78 T shirt, which has a skate on it. Is that merch-ish?
My favorite piece of recent merch is a ‘Brian lehrer show’ hat I got from wnyc. Not a unique or controversial love here in NYC, but I really do love his show and every time I wear it I hope someone talks to me about it!
I have an Early Music Festival t-shirt, complete with puckish bearded recorder-playing man figure, from a Medieval/Renaissance music camp I attended in middle school. I wore it as a nightshirt in the 2010s when looser t-shirts were definitely not the thing, and I wear it with jeans now. Will never give it up!
Though I wonder, are these items — swag from events we actively participated in — merch in the sense described? Or are they rather tangible memories of participation? I do still love Henry Purcell and William Byrd compositions, but even if I didn’t I would still wear the t-shirt, for the memory of being a dorky middle schooler playing the harpsichord for fun. I also have a sweatshirt of my college, whose public politics I’ve since distanced myself from and don’t want to represent, but I do love that sweatshirt as a memory of good college friends and thoughtful classroom discussions. Hm.
You’re so right ! I think there’s a distinction between true “merch” and items associated with a specific event, but I’m not sure where I would draw the line (maybe the matrix needs a 3D element to include that, lol)
Last summer I took my dad to a Portland Pickles game (collegiate wood bat baseball) and he bought a tshirt AND a hoodie after the first inning. Merch = unbridled enthusiasm = cringe = love.
You can pry my merch out of my cold dead hands. It is fun to be in another state or country and connect with someone on something they’re wearing.
I am concerned about how some influencers, YouTubers, and podcasts make merch that will likely make its way into a landfill because of the pressure to be a ~brand~ Sometimes when I watch YouTubers do this, it feels like they’re trying to make fetch happen so they can market it.
Yes, absolutely - another merch distinction I should have made (obviously could have gone dissertation length on this, lol) - that is the most depressing type of merch in my opinion, when it’s obviously not designed with care or thought out
I love merch! the more ironic the better. and I love repping my home state of KS in NYC. And yes, I have thought about wearing my "Thank god for abortion tee" when I visit family in Nebraska, but I am too chicken. Context definitely matters! Great essay!!
I went to KU and played Ultimate Frisbee there. Some of my most treasured “merch” are my jerseys from that team and our home tournament. I haven’t worn them in a while, but I loved repping Kansas (even though it was the weird island of Lawrence and DoCo) in the Chicago metro area.
I went to KU too! Love you have your tees from Ultimate frisbee
Thanks, Kara!
i also struggled with this article. i don't own/wear much merch, but pieces i do own are often representative of a friend or loved one's project, whether it's their band, their art, etc. i wear these items when i am willing/in the mood to engage with strangers who may ask about it - it allows me to lean into a social mood if i'm having one, while also talking up art that i love/support. funnily, i was anti buying any college logo merch when i was an actual student (i lack that sort of team spirited nature) but i now own and wear one college sweatshirt (via poshmark) because i work in the field of college access. also, since i am quite removed from the college experience age-wise. it feels like a nod to my youth and i quite like the nostalgia.
My most-used piece of merch is quite signifier-ish (the New Yorker tote that came free with my subscription) and it evokes interesting reactions (at least one person has asked me if I actually read the magazine 🙄, and other people have asked where they can buy one not knowing even knowing what New Yorker mag was or that it was merch). But I do love the magazine and it is one of the cutest, most well-made freebie totes I have ever received, so I'm going to keep using it.
I hadn't read the article, because I expected it to be like that Kyle Chakya + Ezra Klein podcast about taste ("Oh no, now everyone has the same stuff and I don't feel cool anymore"). And I went to read it because of your newsletter and yep, it kind of feels like that, though actually better than I'd expected, haha. I agree that merch is best when it is sincere and specific, because these are the ones that we will feel nostalgic about in a few years.
I also use the New Yorker tote all the time because it is truly well-made!! I definitely feel like a cliche walking down the street when I pass like 100 other people also using it, but at this point it’s almost so ubiquitous here in Brooklyn that it isn’t as much of a signifier. I didn’t listen to that podcast, but I was excited about the Kyle Chayka book before it came out and then felt a bit disappointed after reading. Maybe because it feels like there’s SO much more to say and so much nuance esp around class and place that was left out
When I graduated college in 1987, I thought "I must be mature now" and got rid of just about every concert t shirt I had. I had many, many deep pangs of regret starting the year Lara Flynn Boyle wore a bedazzled Bob Seger concert t shirt to the Emmys (WHAT HAVE I DONE!!!)
I'm no longer the same size I was in high school or college, so they would never fit me now. But they were truly vintage, as opposed to the fake ones you can buy at any department store or chain store now. I told my young adult daughter to save all her concert merch, even if she no longer listens to the band.
What did I save? Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA tour, Prince's Purple Rain tour, The Jacksons final tour.
Yes! I think the concert tees are the one thing people should always hold onto - I got rid of a couple early on that still haunt me… so cool that you have Bruce Springsteen and prince still!!
I almost reached out to ask you if you would consider writing about this while merch thing! I should have know you were already on it and delivered so much better than I could have even imagined. Love the diagram breakdown - it’s so spot on!
😊
This was a great read! In a way, all fashion choices are a kind of 'merch'. Personal style is a lot about being honest with what we're into and expressing that through what we wear. And it's really meaningful that the actual merch that you bought and hold onto years later tells a personal history. Team merch!
Grateful Dead merch from aerie rising to the top right for me
Omg no
I have a roll of Reynolds aluminum foil that was rebranded as Rizzo Wrap after Anthony Rizzo, former Cubs first baseman (I’m pleading willful ignorance to his current whereabouts), won a bet with the manufacturer. I can’t wear it, but I’ll never part with it!
I haven't been brave enough to eat the crunchtastic TB offering ... yet. But I did just get a special delivery from eBay containing a Miami High Class of 78 T shirt, which has a skate on it. Is that merch-ish?
So excited to see this Miami High shirt!
😘
My favorite piece of recent merch is a ‘Brian lehrer show’ hat I got from wnyc. Not a unique or controversial love here in NYC, but I really do love his show and every time I wear it I hope someone talks to me about it!
Wow I also love who weekly. But also I love the framing as merch opening up the possibility of sincere connections you wouldn’t have made otherwise!
Wholigans coming out of the woodwork here! I love it
I have an Early Music Festival t-shirt, complete with puckish bearded recorder-playing man figure, from a Medieval/Renaissance music camp I attended in middle school. I wore it as a nightshirt in the 2010s when looser t-shirts were definitely not the thing, and I wear it with jeans now. Will never give it up!
Though I wonder, are these items — swag from events we actively participated in — merch in the sense described? Or are they rather tangible memories of participation? I do still love Henry Purcell and William Byrd compositions, but even if I didn’t I would still wear the t-shirt, for the memory of being a dorky middle schooler playing the harpsichord for fun. I also have a sweatshirt of my college, whose public politics I’ve since distanced myself from and don’t want to represent, but I do love that sweatshirt as a memory of good college friends and thoughtful classroom discussions. Hm.
You’re so right ! I think there’s a distinction between true “merch” and items associated with a specific event, but I’m not sure where I would draw the line (maybe the matrix needs a 3D element to include that, lol)