Every week a different FADER staff member will pick a clothing item or accessory that he or she has lately been spending a lot of time with—or would like to—and write a little love letter to it. We would’ve done a column on who we’re dating but that seemed a little bit much. This week Duncan talks about his new sweatshirt from Pigeon Forge, TN.
I'm sorry, this may be the least useful Itemized column ever. It started a few years ago, when I was living in Maine. I was feeling chilly one day over the summer and, in order to get something warmer, stopped at a junky place that advertised how cheap their shirts were. They had a rack of $5 ladies sweatshirts, this weird kind of cardigan/sweatshirt hybrid that reminded me of my grandma's clothes. I found a light gray one with big soft pink buttons and winding flowers coming up from the hip pockets. It had this weird burn mark so I got them to give it to me for three bucks. I scratched off most of the flowers with the side of a quarter. That's not this sweatshirt, as you can tell. But over the years the gray one became my favorite article of clothing, the women's large a better fit for my build than just about anything I've ever owned.
A few weeks ago, I decided to see if I could find another. The company who made it is called Carolina Drive. I tried to look them up. Try it yourself: search for "'Carolina Drive' sweatshirt" or T-shirt or whatever they might've made, and see if you can find a single article of clothing—really, please, find something and post a link in the comments. I found just one, only one online instance to confirm Carolina Drive ever existed. The eBay store Meme's Megadeals listed a single red cardigan sweatshirt, new without tags, celebrating the Great Smoky Mountains of Pigeon Forge, TN. And so I bought it. (I always wear it unbottoned, but the design is more legible in this photo.) I don't like it as much as my gray one but I like it the second most, and in the grand scheme of clothes that's not a bad place to be.