I had the strangest encounter yesterday. I was out and about doing errands -- usual stuff, you know, Target, car wash, grocery store -- and at one of my usual pit stops, I had an older guy (read: Dad-age) ask me if my tee shirt was promo'ing the new Baz Lurhmann movie, The Great Gatsby, since I was wearing my Gatsby tee shirt. To which I said, "no, I'm promo'ing the book. I'm all for literacy!" His reaction? To look at me like I was weird. Dear Reader, I ask you, who was being the weirdo? A girl who is wearing an obvious ode to F. Scott Fitzgerald's greatest novel featuring the jacket illustration from the Scribner edition, or a guy who is my dad's age staring at my chest asking me if I'm promo'ing a movie that has been moved from Christmas 2012 to May 2013 starring Leo DiCaprio and Carrie Mulligan (and which I freely admit, looks pretty fantastic and I will see opening weekend probably wearing said tee shirt)? This is the kind of thing that is only confusing in Hollywood...
Anyway, if you want to promo the movie or the book or just plain literacy, I highly suggest out-of-print clothing. I own both the Gatsby and Pride and Prejudice tee shirts and will be probably be purchasing The Color Purple because it's both an excellent book and movie not to mention that purple v-necks look exceptionally good on me. But it's also a pretty good spot to find a little Christmas/Hanukkah something for that one literary friend or family member. If you live in the L.A. area, Out of Print clothing is carried at the Los Angeles Central Library! Awesomeness all the way around. (Except for the guy staring at my chest in the produce aisle. Creeper.)
