As a beautiful spring springs all around us and the days finally grow longer, visions of leisure time fill our heads; mini-vacations, if you will. Well-deserved mini-vacations. No schedules. No nothings. They're T-shirt kinds of days.
No one piece of clothing says rest and relaxation quite like a great T-shirt. Some of us have been known to shop the world in search of the perfect T-shirt, the Holy Grail of garments. You know the one: It fits beautifully, it goes everywhere and with everything you own, it never has a chance to make its way to the bottom of the drawer.
Every year, the search begins anew. Like body styles for cars, T-shirt styles change regularly, too. Look for subtle differences: a little bit more of a crew neck here, a V-neck there, or a scoop neck over there. Sleeve lengths also go up and down from year to year, and so does fabric weight. We're already seeing a lot of layers of paper-thin cotton, great for us desert dwellers who have to layer to compensate for unyielding sunshine and temperatures that can fluctuate 40 degrees between night and day.
It helps that trendsetters the world over are embracing that California-chic look (jeans, T-shirt, flip-flops or sneakers), so we're bound to see a lot of cotton this season.
If you aren't sure of your appetite for T-shirts and want to do some exploration without spending a ton of cash, check out Target, The Gap and Old Navy. All three of these gems have great knockoffs of the popular styles from this season's trendsetters such as C&C California T-shirt Co., Three Dot and Juicy Couture. Find those brands and more at Talulah G, Musette and Still.
If you're pregnant and still want to wear cute, trendy T-shirts, check out the wares at Bellies & Blossoms. It carries the cutest maternity wear ever.
Of course, if you want your T-shirt to make a statement, look for vintage treasures at the local thrift stores, where concert shirts from the '80s and '90s are a little more difficult to find. But locating that Motley Crue Shout at the Devil or Black Sabbath Paranoid T-shirt for two bucks is worth the time-consuming effort that is thrifting.
Want something new that just looks old? Try Abercrombie & Fitch, where this season's humor T-shirts will make you laugh—and think—with funky color graphics and imprints such as "Puerto Rico Suave" or "I Brews Easily."
Anne Kellogg is a native Las Vegan with a thing for purchasing stuff. E-mail her at
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