ripping

When T-shirts go, they go completely. Not only do the collars fray, they rip, and separate from the rest of the shirt. When this happens, these T-shirts aren't even good for wearing around the house. They've had it.

But most of my T-shirts have sentimental value for me. I don't wear shirts that bear slogans that don't express my strongly-held opinions, and as a result it's also hard for me to part with them when they're no longer wearable. An entire section of my closet is filled with T-shirts that are either ripped, filled with holes, or have perhaps shrunk until I can't get them over my head, but that contain (mostly political) statements with which I identify. In the long run, shirts are made to wear out, and perhaps that's true of political opinions as well. But for me throwing these shirts out seems too much like throwing out the opinions they express.