Arts | Comedy | Internet

Irony, to a T

How we got from the earnest "Dew it with Dewey" shirt of the 1940s to the "I'm getting really good at masturbating" one of today.

Adam Rosen

Whether you choose to admit it or not, chances are a critical reserve of self-esteem rests somewhere near the middle of your T-shirt drawer. For within this darkened, hidden quarter lies dormant a secret weapon so witty, so elusively allusive, or just so damn hip it finds itself swathing your chest on only the most important occasions. It could be a big date or a long-awaited night on the town with your equally clued-in friends. Truthfully, the circumstances scarcely matter because the goal remains the same: to inspire either seething envy or admiration deep inside the modishly challenged squares around you.