One of my gifts for my birthday was a swanky looking t-shirt with the above caption printed on it. It's quite a nice t-shirt, but it raised a few issues when I wore it. This apparel is from the trendy fashion label FCUK, who I still haven't forgiven for making their name an actual acronym. It would have been a lot more fun if they were just called fcuk, with the implication that they were too stupid to spell a simple four letter swear word. The t-shirt is quite well tailored, and you can tell that it's got quality stamped all over it. Of course, when I say stamped all over it, I really mean stamped all over it except the print on the front, where a basic lack of thought by the fashion monkey who designed it has led to many people questioning both the accuracy of the statement that it makes, as well as my ego. I feel that I should clear up any misconceptions about the t-shirt.

At a first glance at the t-shirt, one can make the assumption that the statement made is one of vanity - that I (as wearer of said t-shirt) find it difficult to be one of the beautiful people. Of course, as I'm not classified amongst these ultra-beautiful people, a large amount of paying out goes on about how incongruous the t-shirt is in comparison to um.. me. However, after about half an hour of this verbal abuse, I decided that maybe I could not only actually defend the accuracy of the t-shirt, but of the intentions of the misguided designer who had decided to print a "witty" slogan on a t-shirt.

I think the t-shirt is actually begging a very important question as to what "this good looking" actually is. The spectrum of good looking-ness ranges from supermodel to beaten around the head by a plank of wood. I think the designer was really trying to make a statement about the harsh realities of modern life, where everyone from the bulemic catwalk princess to the feature challenged hobgoblin face challenges that transcend ugly, beautiful or unclassifiable. Clearly, if the designer had more flexibility with the design, he/she would have written the slogan "It is difficult to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous judgements on face value (especially so if you are ugly), and I empathise which each and every one of you (especially the ugly ones)".

The economy on words has clearly marred an otherwise impressive statement that could have been made. My favourite thing about this t-shirt however, is that such economy was shown in words that he/she decided to leave out the apostrophe in "it's". I mean, seriously. Its not that hard.