The Cut Off T-Shirt

There are times when I'm digging through my drawer of workout gear and I realize that it is a cut off t-shirt day. I own performance tank tops, and technical sweat-wicking t-shirts, colorful sports bras, and too many race t-shirts to count. I have all my old sorority gear and tanks I used to wear out until they were washed a few too many times. I have more shirts than I could ever need, so why am I wearing a ratty old Hanes t-shirt with the sleeves cut off? Because something about a cut off t-shirt makes me feel badass.

For most of my life, I never owned a cut off t-shirt or knew others who owned cut off t-shirts. The only time I saw them was on trips to the beach, and you'll see a lot of styles you wouldn't want to repeat on the south shore of Long Island. Then I went to high school (an over-priced, out-of-state prep school) and suddenly everyone and their coach was cutting the sleeves off of a school t-shirt. I preferred to wear t-shirts I had collected from aquariums in child sizes, with the sleeves still attached. Cut off shirts weren't my thing. They sell sleeveless shirts. Why would I want to cut mine up?

A few years ago I bought a package of men's Hanes t-shirts from Target. They fit nicely, look good with jeans and shorts, and you don't care when you accidentally spill your Slurpee all over the front of them. Basically they are perfect for me when I'm rolling casual. I wore them a lot, and then like most things in my life, totally forgot about them. Until one morning before boxing, when I just happened to be cutting tags off my new gloves. A few snips and I suddenly looked a lot like that aggressively tomboyish girl from day-camp who used to ditch arts and crafts to go to street hockey with the boys. Everyone knows that you ditch nature class to go with the boys to extra swim and tennis, duh.

Before you ruin your own t-shirts, remember to cut on the outside of the seam and leave a little extra because this will curl up in the wash.

Hopefully this t-shirt will get me through
the EIGHTEEN MILE run I have to do today.