Plain T-Shirts

This weekend, my son went to get his hair cut (FINALLY!) and went shopping for some school clothes. He chose some loose-fitting jeans and several plain t-shirts (NO logos of any kind!). Apparently plain shirts are in now, or at least they are considered "safe" without the risk of getting the "wrong" kind of shirt. Last year, he had lots of shirts with logos and sayings on them. Many were meant to be sarcastic or funny in some way--some had The Simpson's or Family Guy themes. This year, those have been completely rejected in favor of plain, no logo shirts. I guess he feels that last year's shirts are unacceptable in some way--he refuses to wear them even though they still fit. The good news is that he hasn't been insisting on "designer labels" for his clothes, so keeping him happy with his wardrobe has been relatively inexpensive. The bad news is that I might as well get rid of all of his clothes from last year because he won't wear them. I am learning more about his "style" and what he thinks looks cool or not. I don't dare buy anything that he hasn't specifically picked because it more than likely will be "wrong." I may be more in tune with my daughter's style than his--I like a lot of the things that she likes--but I am beginning to see that remaining low-key without any drastically noticeable differences seems important to my son. Instead of wanting certain things that are "in," he would rather "fly below the radar" and not be noticed for his clothes. To him, plain is "in" and is less likely to stand out in a crowd. So shirts with nothing on them are "safe," but shirts with logos or sayings are vulnerable to rejection or teasing. He would rather wear "plain" than risk being teased about a certain logo. I get it! So plain it is--until he hits a new stage and begins to ask for expensive designer labels--at that point, he can get a job and decide if buying based on the brand is worth it (or not!). I imagine that he won't want to spend his entire paycheck on a pair of jeans and one shirt! I will just enjoy this current stage of "cheap and easy"--at least when it comes to his wardrobe--and then I will brace myself for the next stage and hope we can come to an agreement on these issues. Until then, I can definitely live with the plain t-shirts! :)