"This is the sweatshirt, of all my clothes, that has logged the most hours attached to my person. I bought it maybe five years ago at Syracuse’s best thrift store—the Salvation Army on Erie Boulevard (but you knew that), and have worn it to bed every night it’s been cold enough to warrant extra heat. I love it because it’s warm, roomy, and oversized, and it conveys my feelings without me having to say one word.
"Sometimes, I think I love it so much as a subconscious replacement for another great sweatshirt of my past—a light-purple piece depicting dancing armadillos and the phrase 'Texas two-step'—but this sweatshirt is special all on its own. The phrase seemed so anonymous to me, but when I saw it on a bumper sticker in the background of Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, it made me love it even more.
"I move around a lot, so it’s an easy thing to wear to communicate to my new roommates that I have both great personal style and a winning sense of humor—at least when it comes to oversized sleepwear. Sometimes, I try to dress it up for wearing outside the home with tights and jorts. Though I can’t speak to how it actually makes me look, it makes me feel like the most hilarious person at the party. This sweatshirt may be boxy and shapeless—unflattering even—but, it’s bar-none my favorite thing to wear."