A DREAMy graphic tee, worn four ways
A quick, fun prompt from NYC's progressive PAC, D.R.E.A.M. for NYC
In a New York T-Shirt state of mind
Non-New-Yorkers, beware—this post is local heavy. Although there is something for everyone when it comes to discussing The Graphic Tee, if you ask me.
Don’t Rank Evil Andrew for Mayor is the (now updated from “Don’t Rank Eric or Andrew for Mayor”) acronym from progressive PAC, D.R.E.A.M. for NYC. Their message is simple: don’t rank Andrew Cuomo for Mayor on your ballot come June 24th, which is the Democratic primary date for the mayoral election. And while I’ve lost essentially all faith in the voting system—similar to most Americans—the potential for daily NYC life to change for the better, by simply not having a corrupt sexual harasser in office, has me tentatively hopeful. Could this mean a rent freeze, or even *gasp* improved subway systems without insane delays? And, so sue me, I do still love great merch, of which D.R.E.A.M. NYC has a superb handful and all are USA union-made (another checkout magnet for yours truly).
I chatted with the D.R.E.A.M. team, namely its communications director, Lawrence Wang, over DMs (this is the part of social media I love; as NYC model darling, Alex Consani, stated on “Subway Takes”: “Sliding in the DMS is swag”) about how merch can have a snowball effect with spreading the word/knowledge. After all, I myself discovered D.R.E.A.M. through a mutual friend posting a mirror selfie in her DREAM tee to Instagram, where she linked to D.R.E.A.M.’s merch page, a link which I immediately clicked & purchased said T-shirt. And the spreading the word aspect in the case of D.R.E.A.M. for NYC’s clothing selection feels especially relevant, and dare I say important, since the clothes in question depict an actionable political message.
Or, technically speaking, action by inaction: AKA don’t rank Cuomo! As for the PAC’s messaging on who to rank, according to cityandstateny.com, “The union has released an unranked endorsement of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, state Sen. Jessica Ramos and Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani.”
When chatting with some native New Yorker friends recently about the mayoral election, they shared how their coworkers and family friends of various ages and locations within the city had no idea who Zohran was, and were clueless as to why Cuomo is so bad. Sometimes it still surprises me how much of a bubble I live in, within a bubble, within a bubble… If you’re curious as to some of the more insidious things Cuomo has done, watch the below video featuring comedian Cassie Willson, with whom D.R.E.A.M. has been collaborating. In the video, Cassie surveys Upper East Siders, giving them the option to pick if Trump or Eric Adams did the bad thing she mentions, and *spoiler alert*, Cassie surprises all surveyed with the fact that all wrongdoings she outlined were in fact done by former governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo.
The conversation on spreading the word through apparel naturally got my head spinning about the power of fashion, and more specifically, the purpose of the political graphic T-shirt. Thoughts like: “is it pointless” and fear that “merch is cooked” crossed my mind. And there has certainly been ample evidence for political slogan merchandise being dead, and often deeply embarrassing, throughout history.
But I kept coming back to three things in defense of my DREAM tee:
1) It’s a local issue seemingly many people are clueless on—for example, a woman who looked my age, was also white, and was in my neighborhood, literally yelled out from her car while I was taking the below outfit photos: “What does your shirt say?” which I read out for her, and I also said something like “say no to Cuomo”; to which she kinda just reacted with a “Huh…” hahah. And beyond the messaging being local, the proceeds are, too, as all sales will be used to fund the Don't Rank Eric or Andrew for Mayor campaign.
2) As I mentioned, it describes an action that any New Yorker of voting age, can ACTUALLY take. Don’t get me wrong, there has also been plenty of graphic T-shirt wearing through history where the message alone was important enough to just wear; with the wearer, the place and the issue being addressed as important variables in these instances. Vivienne Westwood having a fashion platform through her own designer line and using her voice to be a political advocate for human rights and critical of overconsumption and climate demolition, to name a few, is top of mind. Read more on Vivienne’s historical political activism on the brand’s site. RIP to Vivienne. However the majority of us don’t have the reach or the means to make much of a difference in what our T-shirt says; and it’s likely those around us already agree if it’s a hot button issue.
3) Last but not least is the most fun reason to engage in a political slogan T-shirt, such as mine: the design. For my “NEW YORK CITY: Don’t Rank Cuomo” T-shirt, I love the swaggy line-through text, and the union-made patch at the hem. And I had fun styling a white/black/green palette. D.R.E.A.M. also just released a black T-shirt with MTA subway-inspired text, which I also copped hehe. For my T-shirt pick, I went with an oversized look and chose the large, and I can happily report that I have slept in this tee many times since owning it for just over a month.
In CRACD fashion, I chose to give each of the four looks their own personality, which I’ll elaborate on to end on a fun note:
The Girls’ Girl: subscribes to the HBO Girls Rewatch pod's Patreon; so over natural wine; scarily close with her high school best friend
The Doer: inactive Lex Profile; always wants to borrow your car to go to Riis; active hate-commenter on r/diy
The almost-PHD: Loudly likes Emma more than Pride & Prejudice; uses her library card to get tickets to The Frick; has two boyfriends and dislikes both
The Club Kid: Frequents Mood Ring; has an opinion on Ivy Wolk; randomly, has never been vegan
Shopping links, if they weren’t obvious already:
In conclusion, if Cuomo wins, I’m gonna have to archive this post along with all my feelings about political slogan tees (just kidding, kinda).
xo Hannah
Hell yeah!!! Gonna buy one of these shirts. Just saw that video the other day, so good lol. We gotta spread the word to have at least some hope that nyc can improve 🥹
Go DREAM TEAM.