The Quest: Frequently Asked Questions

The Questions

  1. What the heck is this Quest thing all about?
  2. What makes you so uniquely qualified to determine "the 100 best American T-shirts"?
  3. Why are you limiting yourself to "American T-shirts"?
  4. What kind of shirts are you looking for?
  5. What kind of shirts won't make the list?
  6. How can I send you a T-shirt to add to the list?
  7. Can I just describe a T-shirt to you?
  8. What do I get out of helping you with The Quest?
  9. Isn't this just a big scam for you to make money?

The Answers

  1. What the heck is this Quest thing all about?
    I'm out to collect the best 100 American T-shirts. These are T-shirts I want to own and wear, as T-shirts are pretty much what I wear all the time. I already have a lot of T-shirts, of course, but being as I've been in the T-shirt collection biz for around 40 years now, some of them are wearing out or no longer fit, some wouldn't qualify as a top 100 anyway, and I don't have any way to replace some of the ones I really like/liked. In fact, that's one of the primary reasons I recently started designing my own T-shirts. I'm always looking for more T-shirts, and wanted to open up the search to the web community in general. I'm quite sure there are some very cool T-shirts out there that I haven't seen yet. One or two, anyway.

  2. What makes you so uniquely qualified to determine "the 100 best American T-shirts"?
    As mentioned above, I've been collecting and wearing T-shirts for around 40 years. I've become a pretty good judge of what is interesting, boring, offensive, etc. during that time. I'm very often complimented on my eclectic T-shirt collection, and even complete strangers will often comment on a T-shirt I'm wearing (or at least give me a smile).

    The best reason for me to decide what are the best 100 T-shirts is that The Quest is about supplementing my personal T-shirt collection, and I should have the most say in that anyway, right? I think most people will be impressed, amused, or agree with at least 80% of what I end up choosing.

  3. Why are you limiting yourself to "American T-shirts"?
    I'm not so arrogant as to think I can come up with a list that will satisfy everyone in the world. I've got a pretty good idea of what Americans like (being one, of course), and my shirts might even appeal to most Canadians too. I'm certainly not ruling out any T-shirt, no matter where it comes from, as long as it has American appeal. No doubt, most T-shirts sold in America are manufactured somewhere in Asia anyway, of course. So it's not about country of origin, just the audience to which the shirt will appeal.

  4. What kind of shirts are you looking for?
    I'm after the humorous, the attention-getting, the thought-provoking brand of T-shirt. If it's from a bar, restaurant, or other business, it needs to have a cool graphic too. Most choices of the best 100 are not likely to be business-related shirts though. Witty, tongue-in-cheek, and maybe even a little edgy are more what it's about.

  5. What kind of shirts won't make the list?
    There are definitely shirts that won't even be considered:

  6. How can I send you a T-shirt to add to the list?
    Basically you just send me the information on a T-shirt you want me to consider. The very best set of information would include:
    1. A picture of the T-shirt (something in the range of 325x325 pixels), not huge, but big enough so that details can be seen. If there's a front/back design, please send both sides, either as an animated GIF, or in two individual graphics.
    2. A link to where the T-shirt can be purchased, or a snail-mail address (although that is so last millenium!) It's totally OK with me if you get any kind of "cut" as part of that link reference, of course, and I'll honor that when I display the shirt on my best 100 page.
    3. Let me know whether or not you want me to credit you with the "find", should I decide that your candidate makes the list (just your name, or if you want me to link somewhere, or whatever). As already mentioned, any "click through" or other way that you get recompensed for a link you pass along will be left intact, whether or not you are mentioned as the finder.
    At a bare minimum, provide the details listed in #2 above and I'll go out and hunt it down (although that will obviously delay things significantly). I've put together a form (bottom of the page) to help gather this information.

    Some "easier" procedures for select audiences:

  7. Can I just describe a T-shirt to you?
    Please, no, don't just send me a description ("I saw this guy wearing this really hot T-shirt with a frog on it..."). The T-shirt may have actually been The Ultimate T-Shirt Of All Time(tm), but without useful information, I don't know what it looks like, where to get it, etc. And without that information, it's just useless to The Quest.

  8. What do I get out of helping you with The Quest?
    If you're a T-shirt designer, then you'll get not only a likely sale of your product to me, but you'll also get some amount of free advertising as well - the page that displays the top 100 includes information on how others can get one of these T-shirts for themselves. I'm all too happy to "spread the wealth" of information! And if you're not the designer, well, there are undoubtedly ways you can still profit from passing on such useful information, either financially from paid click-throughs (many T-shirt sites offer this incentive) or even just from a "karmic" point of view. Some people take great and genuine pleasure in just helping others out, with no material gains for themselves (It's true! I'm well-acquainted with many of such type!)

  9. Isn't this just a big scam for you to make money?
    You're partially right - that is one of my goals, although certainly not the primary one. I also want to supplement my existing (and aging, sadly) collection of T-shirts as well - you could even say that my primary goal is actually to spend money! Even though my intentions are admittedly not completely altruistic, they're also not completely selfish either. If I can help others (T-shirt designers, or those who get recompense for referring good shirts) succeed, improve and expand my own T-shirt wardrobe, and increase my own T-shirt sales all at the same time, then... why not? Who knows, I might even provide some entertainment value to others along the way...