James, Brooklyn, NY

Who: James, 31
What: 100% cotton
When: Dec. 2009
Where: Nu Way Thrift in Michigan
Why: I got it because the shirt was so badly made. I used to collect crappy shirts: generic tourist shirts, shirts with irregularities, off-centered letters or pictures that are clearly meant to be centered. On this shirt, you can see the square of the iron-on, and it's a little off-kilter, and it's just two stock pictures of cars with generic non-descript lettering over it.

I like shirts like this because they're odd. Clothing is meant to be well done, and there's something about these cast-offs, like misfit clothing. They're like the Velveteen Rabbits of t-shirts.